Visa laws add to schoolteacher shortages by forcing overseas staff to work on farms

If you’ve noticed a shortage of teachers at your school, an Australian law that forces some of them to work on farms could be to blame.

Teachers from overseas are being made to stop teaching in Australian classrooms and help farmers pick fruit and vegetables instead.

Many experienced, fully trained teachers here on working holiday visas* must do 88 days of agricultural* labour* to be allowed to stay and work for a second year in Australia.

School principals and companies that recruit teachers are calling for the national laws to be changed to allow the teachers to remain in the classroom instead of harvesting* food.

Irish teacher John Treanor spent the past three months sorting potatoes instead of educating kids despite widespread* staff shortages in Victorian schools.

Mr Treanor, 28, spent five years working full time in Dublin as a teacher before coming to Australia with his girlfriend Kate Walsh, 27.

He said the three months they spent on the potato farm in Tasmania were “miserable although there were some good times”.

“We were close to throwing in the towel* a few times and had to remind ourselves why we were there,” he said.

Mr Treanor said he’d prefer to be working in a rural school rather than sorting potatoes.

“The regional schools are crying out for teachers, and we should be able to do three months there instead,” he said.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Australians schools have struggled to find enough permanent teachers to fill all their classrooms.

Tim Arnold, managing director of Free Agency, which places substitute teachers in schools, said the rules showed a “serious lack of common sense*” and the rule should be changed for teachers.

“Anyone can sort potatoes or pick fruit. Only a small number can educate our next generation,” he said.

Wodonga Secondary College principal Vern Hilditch said teacher shortages in rural areas were “pretty dire*”.

“We are down 15 teachers and use casual relief teachers from countries such as Ireland and South Africa to fill these roles,” he said.

“The Irish fit in extremely well and have a very similar education system.’’

Jobs currently on offer for working visa holders to meet their agricultural requirement include picking mangoes in Darwin, picking bananas in Cairns, and harvesting pearls in Broome.

GLOSSARY

• working holiday visas: allows you to work while in a country on holidays
• agricultural: relating to the land
• labour: work
• harvesting: picking
• widespread: common in lots of places
• throwing in the towel: giving up
• common sense: something most people would agree is right
• dire: very serious

EXTRA READING
Students called on to become teachers of the future
Migrant population shrinks for first time in decades
Do you know your vegetables?

QUICK QUIZ
1. How many days do working holiday visa holders have to work on a farm?
2. What job did Irish teacher John Treanor have to do in Tasmania?
3. Where did he teach in Ireland before coming here? For how long?
4. Why do Irish teachers fit in well in Australian classrooms?
5. Name three types of agricultural jobs now on offer for working visa holders.

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. New teachers
With the current teacher shortage in Australia, work with a partner and brainstorm some ideas of how to entice other people, from Australia or overseas, into the profession.

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Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and social, Critical and creative thinking

2. Extension
Do you think teachers should be given an exemption from the agricultural labour requirement of a working holiday visa?
Write a letter to the Prime Minister stating your reasons why or why not.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Critical and creative thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
1. Creative vocabulary
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any ‘said’ words with more specific synonyms?

Have you outdone yourself and used some really great vocabulary throughout your writing? Firstly, well done. Secondly, let’s ensure everyone can understand it by adding a glossary of terms. Pick three of your wow words and create a glossary for each word to explain what it means.