Several African nations are incorporating Chinese into their national curricula, with Tunisia, Cameroon, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria leading the way. Egypt and Kenya are also planning integration. However, a significant shortage of qualified teachers is hindering these efforts.
Queensland's state-run special schools are understaffed, with 92.5% of allocated full-time teachers filled, compared to 102.8% in mainstream primary schools. Concerns are raised about university training programs no longer offering specific special education degrees, impacting recruitment and the availability of qualified relief teachers.
Scotland's secondary schools are reducing timetables and cutting subjects due to a shortage of specialist teachers, particularly in maths, science, design technology, and computing, with over 4,000 unfilled PGDE training spaces in the past nine years.
France's Education Ministry fears a significant teacher shortage in September 2026 due to a new parental leave policy. The "congé de naissance" allows parents extra rest, potentially leading to 15,000 absent teachers if all eligible apply simultaneously.
The article questions the widespread use of the term "teacher shortage" in Taiwan, arguing that while specific areas like special education, early childhood education, and rural schools face difficulties, general academic positions in public schools remain highly competitive. It suggests the real issues are misallocation of human resources, a distorted substitute teacher system, and insufficient support for specialized fields, rather than a universal lack of teachers.
