Teachers’ salaries are generally continuing to rise in Europe. This is the result of a report drawn up by the European Commission’s Eurydice network and published today to mark World Teachers’ Day.
The report, which is published every year, shows that salaries have increased in 24 countries over the past year, sometimes as the result of salary adjustments for all public employees, in other cases due to salary increases aimed specifically at teachers Compared to significant increases in 2016 for instance in Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Austria and Romania, salaries remained at about the same level in France and Belgium and are still frozen in Italy, Cyprus and Liechtenstein.
The report shows that pay and conditions vary considerably between European countries: this concerns not only the level of basic salaries but also for example the difference between minimum and maximum basic salaries and the number of years’ service necessary to achieve the maximum. Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, said: “Good teachers and school leaders are crucial for the educational success of our children. We therefore need to ensure that these professions are attractive and well respected in countries across Europe. Working conditions and pay are key factors in getting the best candidates to join and for keeping excellent teachers and leaders in the profession.”
The report is a comparative analysis, which covers all EU Member States as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey. It also includes detailed country information. More information on the distribution of teaching staff by gender at primary and secondary level was published by Eurostat.
