What is this world coming to? Is there no end to the demands made on teachers? As Kurtz in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” exclaimed as he lay dying, “Oh the horror, the horror”.

It’s too much to bear!

So what am I going on about, you may possibly ask.

Well, it looks as if “the federal government is going to make all new graduate primary and secondary teachers prove they are capable of teaching maths and English by undertaking a mandatory new competency test from 2016.” (Herald Sun)

In other words, teachers will have to demonstrate that they can read and write and count before they are let loose on the students at school. As I said, “Oh the horror.”

Call me a cynic, but I am looking forward to the protests by the Teachers’ Union. Imagine expecting a teacher to be familiar with literacy and numeracy. It’s the thin edge of the wedge, I fear.

This sort of expectation can only lead to more problems.

Will teachers have to prove that they can actually impart knowledge, motivate students and stimulate their minds?

This sounds too much like education to me and I can’t imagine that the Teachers’ Union will allow this sort of thing to eventuate. After all, what will happen to the thousands of teachers who are employed in the system right now? Will they have to face an audit of their qualification to develop the minds of our children?

If this kind of discrimination against useless teachers is allowed to occur then surely there will be a scarcity of teachers!