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.
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.