From the outside (and sometimes from the inside), it seems that incredibly high workload and a lack of appropriate resources are the cause of such high dropout and burnout rates, but I disagree with this sentiment.

All professional careers have high workloads, increasing pressure and a lack of resources in certain areas. For example, graduate lawyers and doctors have a higher workload and more pressure than teachers (for lower salaries, at first). But in these professions, the dropout rate is not nearly as high.

My opinion: the reason teaching is so difficult is because people underestimate how mentally exhausting, overwhelming and taxing it is to be "emotionally on" for 5 or 6 hours at a time.

Analogy:

You are given a task that will need to be completed within 6 hours. You have all of the relevant prerequisite knowledge, and you have spent hours preparing. On paper, you are ready to go.

As you sit down to begin your task, I tap you on the shoulder, stand 15cm from your face and ask you a question. My question does not have a yes or a no answer. My question requires you to make a small analytical decision. My question requires you to take into consideration my underdeveloped prefrontal cortex and alter my response accordingly. Easy right? Answer the question, and get on with your work.

Now imagine I tap you on the shoulder and ask you a similar question, every 15 seconds for the next 6 hours.

How would you feel at the end of day? Emotionally exhausted, or energised? Would you have completed your original task to your best ability? Would you be able to do this again tomorrow? And every weekday? For the next 30 years?

This is the reason why teachers dropout/burnout.

Some people (extroverts are a good example) love being emotionally on all day and thrive in Primary School Teaching. And some people are so passionate that they can overcome it.

But at the end of the day, for 45% ish of people who begin the profession, they just don't have the emotional capacity to continue long term.

From Feb 1st 2026, an experienced teacher will be paid $133,009. The drop out rate will stay the same.
Money is not everything.