Over the decades, there is a steadily decline in teacher- preparation enrollments and completions. As a result, the supply of new teachers is down significantly, especially in terms of secondary schools. There are many reasons why teaching is no longer an attractive occupation.
The primary reason why most students lack interest in entering teaching professionals is the lower remuneration. In fact, the starting salary is too low to attract potential candidates and also requires a long period of time to extend the pay scale when compared to professions in other fields. Therefore, to tackle the problem of supplying new teachers for the education system, governments should increase the pay scale and additional benefits to make teaching become a more-attractive job.
Besides, becoming a teacher means that people have to struggle with workload in both on and off school hours. Working as a lecturer requires them to sacrifice their time to check students’ exercise, follow pupils’ progress or design lecture plans. They do not have time to heal themselves or maintain individual relationships, which results in stress and burnout with numerous tasks. Hence, it is essential for schools to improve the working environment to create less pressure and job satisfaction for teachers.
Moreover, the decline in teacher supply can be also explained by the students’ behaviours, particularly in secondary schools. The students at that age have a negative attitude towards their teachers, leading to the lack of respect. Facing misbehaviour of students affects the feelings of the teacher even when they go back home after work. Teachers do not deserve to receive bad attitudes while they contribute to building students’ futures. It is encouraging for society to make teaching become a more-respectable occupation which gains gratitude and appreciation for what they do.
In conclusion, the decline of enrolling in teacher-preparation is caused by the low salary and benefits, the stressful conditions with many tasks and the disrespect from students. It is urgent for governments, schools and society to make a collaboration to address the challenges creatively.