Ukraine is facing a severe shortage of teachers: what are the reasons?
11 April 20:19
Over the past 10 years, the number of teachers under the age of 30 in Ukraine has halved. Although the country produces 10,000 certified teachers every year, the vast majority of them never end up working in schools.
Serhiy Babak, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation, spoke about this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
How the number of young teachers in Ukraine has changed over 10 years
According to Serhiy Babak, the situation with young teachers is now critical for the survival of education. He and his colleagues analyzed how the number of teachers of different ages has changed.
“Over the past 10 years, the number of teachers under the age of 30 has halved. They are not entering the profession. Every year, we train and graduate 10,000 students with teaching degrees who have completed university. On average, slightly less than 20% enter the profession. 8,000 future teachers are not going to work as teachers; they are taking other jobs. This is critical for us,” Babak noted.
He emphasized that 10,000 new specialists is not a figure plucked out of thin air, but precisely the number of people needed each year to maintain a stable number of teachers in the country. According to the official, this problem can only be solved through wage reform.
How a pay raise would retain professionals
Serhiy Babak is convinced that wage reform is the key to addressing the issue of young teachers.
“Why was the figure of three minimum wages once enshrined in law? That’s three minimum wages for a young teacher. It’s important that a young teacher, after graduating from university, can start their first job and receive a decent salary. Three minimum wages is nearly 25,000, and the national average salary is currently 27,000. That’s a good starting point. And as they gain experience, they would earn more and more, up to 40–50,000. This is what we demanded from the Cabinet of Ministers, and this is what we have been demanding for the past four months,” the committee chair emphasized.
He also drew attention to international experience, citing OECD studies that confirm a direct correlation between teacher salary levels and the quality of education.
This study indicated that raising salaries for young teachers to approximately the national average has a positive impact on the quality of education. Because young, motivated teachers who teach using modern methods are coming in.
“The average age of teachers in our schools is currently 47–48 years old. This is the exact average age, meaning there are young people fresh out of university, and there are those over 70. And we will lose specialists for objective reasons: older teachers will leave the profession, but young people will not be coming in,” he concluded.
Earlier, it was reported that another pay raise is being prepared for teachers in Ukraine.
