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Australia is facing an 鈥溾�� teacher shortage. The federal government projects a shortfall of more than 4,000 high school teachers by 2025, but shortages are being felt across the board, especially in聽, and in聽.听

One of the possible solutions being touted by politicians is bringing in more teachers from overseas. This has happened before: in response to teacher shortages in Australia in the 1970s, teachers were brought in from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.听

Education Minister Jason Clare聽聽Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to fast-track visas for those with teaching qualifications. As he said earlier this month:聽

One of the things that we鈥檝e got to do is prioritise visas for teachers from overseas who want to come and work here.

New South Wales Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has even proposed聽聽for teachers. But how realistic is this strategy when similar countries have their own teacher shortages?聽

Teachers from New Zealand have automatic recognition of their qualifications. But those from other countries need to meet conditions imposed by state teacher registration boards, or similar bodies.听

For urgent cases, employers can apply for limited registration, for individuals who do not (yet) meet such requirements. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership also provides聽聽for overseas trained teachers, and it is also possible to do a聽bridging course.听

The signs from overseas, where COVID made pre-existing shortages worse, are not encouraging.听

In England, a聽聽revealed 70 percent of teachers had considered resigning, with poor pay cited as a key factor by more than half of respondents. Another聽聽showed almost 50 percent of head teachers or principals planned to resign after the COVID pandemic, citing crushing workloads, poor pay and difficulties recruiting staff.听

Lack of staff has already lead the UK to combine classes and it is now聽聽foreign teachers, including from Australia.

The US is following a similar trend: widespread teacher shortages compounded by the COVID pandemic. A pre-pandemic聽聽in 2018 estimated the shortage at 112,000, particularly in maths, science and special education.听

础听聽has since revealed 75 percent of school principals and districts were having trouble finding enough substitute staff to cover teacher absences.听

States are having to resort to extreme measures to fill teaching positions during the pandemic. One school district in Texas asked聽聽to fill the shortage. Some Texan schools have also moved to a聽.

Meanwhile, New Mexico has used聽聽and state employees as volunteer substitute teachers to cover COVID shortages. Arizona now allows聽聽to begin teaching (as long as they鈥檙e enrolled in a degree).听

Several states are already聽聽to find qualified foreign teachers.听

Canada is also suffering from a significant teacher shortage, especially in special needs, early childhood and at the upper secondary level.听

High levels of teacher attrition (as much as 40 percent in the first five years of service in some provinces) is聽.听

The pool of substitute teachers has also shrunk. In Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario, school boards are contacting retired teachers and instructors without certification to fill gaps. Saskatchewan and Ontario are offering final year education students temporary permits as substitute teachers.听

Manitoba has introduced a 鈥溾�� of 30 hours, that promises to teach basic classroom skills to those with a limited teaching permit.听

Canada is also聽. Somewhat like the priority accorded to skilled workers in Australia鈥檚 migration scheme, Canada鈥檚 Federal Skilled Worker program allocates substantial points to those with foreign education credentials, including teachers.

So, if migration is seen as a solution to Australia鈥檚 teaching shortage, the question needs to be asked: where are they going to come from?

Although poor pay in the UK and some states in the US might make Australia seem attractive, current teacher shortages in England, the US and Canada make it unlikely that many will be found there.听

While it is possible teachers can be found in other countries, such as India, Malaysia and Singapore, they are unlikely to be found in significant numbers, partly due to lengthy聽聽and some discrimination when seeking employment.听

A more likely scenario is of聽聽for a shrinking pool of qualified teachers around the world.

This article was written by Professor Anthony Welch from the School of Education and Social Work and was originally published in .听

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