Employment

University teaching courses will be required to meet tough new national standards under a landmark agreement by state and federal governments to boost the quality of teachers in schools.

Education ministers discussed the idea during a telephone conference yesterday, amid growing public concerns that too many teachers are graduating ill equipped to deal with life in the classroom.

Big business has called for the top rate of pay for teachers to be almost doubled under a national system of accreditation to raise the status of the profession.

The Business Council of Australia also supports setting a minimum university entry score of 75 for teaching courses and is considering establishing a scholarship scheme to encourage the brightest students to become teachers.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to develop a new schools reform plan for the 21st century, targeting disadvantaged school communities, improved teacher quality, greater accountabilities and boosting parental engagement.

The decision is the next step in the Rudd Labor Government’s Education Revolution.

Almost half of all new teachers are planning to leave the profession within 10 years, a national survey has found.

The survey of 1732 public school teachers with one to three years' experience found that 47.9 per cent expected to leave the profession within a decade.

The survey adds to concerns about a looming teacher shortage, with half the permanent teachers in NSW due to retire by 2016.

Every school in Victoria needs a school nurse to cope with the rising number of anaphylactic children, the Victorian teacher's union has said.

The Australian Education Union state president, Mary Bluett, said teachers were anxious that they had insufficient training or time to cope with the numbers of children with allergies at dangerous levels.