The quality of teachers can, of course, never be too high but that does not mean there is a problem; certainly not a greater one than in any profession where there are inevitably “duds” who don’t perform as they should (e.g., over-prescribing doctors, dodgy accountants, corrupt lawyers).

No profession other than teaching is subject to comments that malign significant portions of the entire profession. It is unheard of for politicians to make sweeping uninformed critiques of other professions.

Ironically, when comments aimed at drawing attention to the deficits of teachers are made ostensibly with a view to improving teacher quality, the result is likely to have the opposite effect.

Consider how Minister Robert’s recent comments might sound to a bright Year 12 student thinking about becoming a mathematics teacher – someone we desperately need.

They hear that at least 10 per cent of their peers in their teacher education course will be illiterate and that they will enter a profession in which such people will be their colleagues. Neither of these things is true. No-one graduates from a teacher education program without passing the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education, and entry requirements and accreditation demands have never been more rigorous – but that is not what our prospective mathematics teacher hears.

Beyond the specific nonsense of the Minister’s statements, the message to prospective teachers is clear: teachers are not respected, their expertise is not acknowledged or adequately rewarded, and they are blamed for educational outcomes the causes of which include systemic issues beyond any teacher to counter.

The leaders of our nation seem unable to speak respectfully, or even factually, about teachers.

Like many Year 12 students, our excellent potential mathematics teacher will have choices about the university courses for which they apply. Students with strong maths, for example, have options in engineering, medicine, IT, business – professions that are respected and remunerated accordingly.

The desire to make a difference in young people’s lives may not be sufficient to overcome these negative messages and to persevere with becoming a teacher.

Perversely, measures supposedly motivated by a desire to improve the quality of teachers may have precisely the opposite effect, deterring talented potential teachers and exacerbating existing and worsening shortages in areas of critical need.

In relation to the quality of teaching, the issue that demands immediate and sustained attention is the growing number of teachers required to teach subjects in which they are not an expert.

It is unthinkable in other professions – imagine a medical specialist in one area being required to work in another without substantial retraining.

Similarly, out-of-field teachers are not poor teachers. They are excellent teachers of a subject other than the one they are required to teach. They simply do not have the requisite knowledge, confidence, or passion for the subject they are required to teach.

Nor are these teachers adequately supported with the comprehensive retraining opportunities that they need. The problem is a direct consequence of insufficient numbers of students choosing to become teachers and is most severe in areas like mathematics and the sciences that depend heavily upon mathematics. Political rhetoric around quality teaching is making the problem worse.

In the case of mathematics, the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute noted that less than a quarter of Australian students have an appropriately qualified mathematics teacher in each year from Year 7 to Year 10.

Seventy-six per cent will be taught mathematics by an inadequately qualified mathematics teacher in at least one of those years, 35 per cent in two, and 8 per cent will never be taught by an appropriately qualified maths teacher in the first four years of secondary school.

It is important to note that the rates of out-of-field mathematics teaching referred to here are averages.

The chance of a student never meeting a well-qualified mathematics teacher is much greater if that student lives in a rural, regional, or low socio-economic area.

There are Australian schools in which there is not a single well-qualified mathematics teacher.

Ill-informed remarks from policymakers that declare a significant chunk of the teaching workforce are failures are not going to improve the situation.