Something is rotten in tertiary education – not in the classrooms, but in the boardroom. Every glossy announcement masks the same reality: cuts, closures and a hollowing-out of the very institutions meant to serve the public good.
I am a lecturer in education at University of Technology Sydney. My colleagues are outstanding, the students dedicated. And yet, despite newly developed and accredited teacher education courses and courses that have been delivered for 35 years, our education programs are being “temporarily” suspended from autumn 2026.
While the announcement avoids the term “closure”, in this sector that is what’s likely to follow. This means the suspension of secondary and primary education degrees, alongside teaching English to speakers of other languages (Tesol) and applied linguistics – the very programs designed to address teacher shortages.
And the justification? “Low student enrolments.” But these numbers come from auditors looking at spreadsheets, not classrooms. Education and commerce students, for example, are coded separately, even though in practice they sit within the education or business cohorts for all of their subjects. On paper the numbers might look thin; in reality, the rooms are full.
Once these programs are paused, they are almost impossible to bring back. Student intake stops, momentum is lost, expertise disperses, partnerships dissolve and whole areas of knowledge are lost. The consequences will be far-reaching. Schools and communities will be left without a trusted partner; aspiring teachers will lose access to high-quality, practice-based training. Nationally, we will lose vital research capacity – especially in the areas related to vulnerable and multilingual communities. What has taken decades to build can be dismantled in a single budget cycle.
UTS is a public university with a legislated obligation to “meet the needs of the community”. Its charter clearly states that the university exists for the public good. If preparing teachers for New South Wales schools during an ongoing teacher shortage isn’t a public good, what is? The NSW Department of Education reports a daily shortfall of nearly one-third of its casual teachers. Primary and secondary teachers are the second and third-largest occupations in shortage, according to the Australian government’s 2024 Occupational Shortage List. And yet, one of Australia’s leading universities is suspending the very programs that feed this workforce. The burden of proof should be on the university to explain how cutting teacher education fulfils its mission.
Beyond the numbers, it is worth remembering who these programs serve. For years UTS has been a pipeline for teachers equipped to work with refugee-background students, newly arrived migrants, learners from linguistically diverse communities, and “second chance” adult learners with basic literacy and numeracy needs. As an English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) teacher and researcher, I have seen the difference that skilled, culturally responsive teachers can make. Suspending these courses doesn’t just threaten teacher numbers – it threatens the right of some of our most vulnerable students to an equitable education.
The social justice implications are profound. UTS is one of the preferred providers of EAL/D-trained and adult literacy and numeracy teachers to government and other schools, and adult education centres. In a state as multicultural as NSW – with more than a third of students from language backgrounds other than English – gutting these subjects is indefensible. Closing down or “suspending” programs like these doesn’t just affect UTS. It removes national capacity in areas core to access, equity and social cohesion, as well as economic productivity.
Once more it seems that teacher education is in the firing line. If the public is constantly told, “Teachers can’t read and write! They only need an Atar of 50!”, why would anyone sign up? If hardworking and dedicated teachers are told they’re “only in it for the holidays”, why would they stay? And now, a university is seemingly dismantling the courses that educate the teachers themselves. This is more than shortsighted – it’s self-sabotage. When we hollow out the teaching profession, we undermine our children’s future. When we strip away specialist programs like Tesol, adult literacy and numeracy and EAL/D, we deepen inequality, leaving the most vulnerable students further behind.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And the question is: what happens to the state of NSW when there are no teachers left to hold it up?
Dr Isobel Crealy is an academic and educator with expertise in EAL/D and refugee education
