This is the UN press release released on 26 February 2024 on the occasion of the launch of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession during the Teacher Task Force 14th Policy Dialogue Forum.

Recommendations from the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, aimed at transforming the future of the teaching profession, were launched today at the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF).

“Teachers are central to nurturing every country’s greatest resource: the minds of its people. Yet today, we face a dramatic shortage of teachers worldwide, and millions of teachers who lack the support, skills and continuing training they need to meet the demands of rapidly changing education systems,: said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Building on the landmark UN Summit on Transforming Education in 2022 and supported jointly by the ILO and UNESCO, the High-Level Panel’s recommendations are based on six core imperatives, covering dignity, humanity, diversity, equity and inclusion, quality, innovation and leadership and sustainability.

“The High-Level Panel’s wide-ranging recommendations are premised on the need to value and respect the teaching profession – this requires decent working conditions, competitive wages, space for teacher voice in decision-making and opportunities for development and innovation,” said Paula Mae Weekes, Co-Chair of the Panel and former President of Trinidad and Tobago.

The recommendations are intended to create an enabling environment that allows teachers to become drivers of change in education, who can help learners critically navigate knowledge and gain the skills and competencies needed in today’s world. Teachers should not be simple conveyers of information but active and collaborative partners for learners, the Panel noted. Adequate financing of education systems and effective integration of technology for learning were cross-cutting themes in the development of the recommendations.

“Technology holds tremendous potential for both teaching and learning so long as it is put to use in ways that are supportive of teacher inputs over its pedagogical use, the integrity of the profession and is equitably integrated,” said Kersti Kaljulaid, Co-Chair of the Panel and former President of Estonia.

With new data from UNESCO showing that some 44 million primary and secondary teachers will be needed by 2030 to reach Sustainable Development Goal targets on education, issues of teacher working conditions, wages, autonomy, initial training and continuous professional development all featured heavily on discussions of teacher recruitment and retention. Panellists condemned the use of precarious teaching contracts and austerity policies that undermine teacher working conditions and the quality of education. Further recommendations relate to ensuring gender equity, promoting sustainable development and supporting teacher leadership. A push for greater diversity and inclusion in the teaching workforce, as well as greater social dialogue among partners on both the national and international levels were highlighted.

The full report of the High-Level Panel can be found here.

About:

The High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession was established by the UN Secretary-General in response to challenges facing the teaching profession and education systems worldwide, and as a key follow-up to the UN Transforming Education Summit of 2022.  The panel was supported jointly by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The 18 panel members include government ministers of education and labour, representatives of teacher trade unions, academics, civil society leaders and teachers and students representing every continent.

More information is available here: www.ilo.org/global/industries-and-sectors/education/teaching-profession

Media Contacts (interviews available upon request)

ILO: newsroom@ilo.org

UNESCO: Clare O’Hagan, c.o-hagan@unesco.org , +33145681729

In its 2022 advocacy brief, the Teacher Task Force brought to the forefront the work and recommendations coming out of the Transforming Education Summit, especially concerning the thematic action track on teachers. An essential observation came out of the work and reflections of all partners and Member States - there is a clear need for global initiatives on national teacher policies.

On 19 June 2023 the United Nations Secretary-General announced the establishment of a High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession which will build on the outcomes of the Transforming Education Summit to ensure that every learner has access to a professionally trained, qualified, and well-supported teacher who can thrive within a transformed education system. 

"We are facing an extraordinary global teacher shortage. 16.5 million primary and secondary education teachers need to be recruited in sub-Saharan Africa alone. We need to accelerate our efforts to improve the status of teachers and their working conditions to make the profession more attractive. The establishment of the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession marks a crucial milestone in our efforts towards this goal. The recommendations of this diverse panel of experts and stakeholders will support meaningful change and ensure every learner has a well-supported and qualified teacher," says Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education.

Supported by a joint UNESCO – International Labour Organization (ILO) Secretariat, the Panel will draw together ministries, teachers, students, unions, civil society, the private sector, and academia. The Panel’s report will serve as a contribution to broader efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, as an input to ongoing preparations for the 2024 Summit of the Future and help advance follow-up on the Transforming Education Summit.

As it did during the Transforming Education Summit, the Teacher Task Force will utilize its extensive and diverse network of stakeholders to harness knowledge, expertise, and resources in support of the High-level Panel. The first UNESCO-Teacher Task Force Global Report on Teachers, scheduled for release later this year, will both draw from the Panel's work and contribute valuable insights to it.

The Teacher Task Force will be represented at the High-level Panel by one of its co-Chairs, Ms Matsie Angelina Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education of South Africa, and will benefit from the contributions of TTF Steering Committee members; namely, ILO, and Education International.

The Teacher Task Force and its network are fully dedicated to providing support to the Panel and the recommendations that will be issued for the overall advancement of the teaching profession.

• More on the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession 
• Read the Teacher Task Force Advocacy brief which summarizes the main issues and recommendations which were developed as part of the third thematic Action Track on “Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession” of the Transforming Education Summit and proposed concrete strategies and recommendations
• Read the discussion paper on teachers identifying the ambitions, challenges, opportunities and possible solutions for the teaching profession prepared for the 2022 UN Transforming Education Summit

Photo credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

This blog was published on 5 October 2023 on the occasion of World Teachers' Day.

Education systems across the world face an ongoing teacher shortage. Increasing workloads, difficult working conditions and low salaries are helping to decrease the prestige of the profession, globally. These concerns result in fewer graduates wanting to enter the profession and often drive those already in the classroom to other jobs.

World Teachers’ Day 2023 focuses on reversing shortages by emphasizing teaching as a dignified and valued profession at the top of the global Education 2030 agenda and as one of the key levers for achieving SDG 4. As part of the activities and materials advocating for the critical role played by teachers, the Fact sheet for World Teachers’ Day 2023 analyses global data and trends to provide new projections of the teachers that need to be recruited as well as unpack the issue of teacher attrition. Understanding the scope and underlying challenges that cause teachers to leave the profession can serve as a launching point to estimate future teacher needs and to drive the development of teaching into a more attractive career in support of longer-term sustainability.

New projections estimate 44 million additional teachers are needed globally to meet universal primary and secondary education in 2030

The number of teachers needed globally has reduced significantly since estimates in 2016 placed the number at 69 million teachers. However, halfway through the SDG era the current pace falls well short of achieving goals set for 2030. For every additional teacher since 2016, two more are needed.

Sub-Saharan Africa has especially faced challenges meeting targets. The region needs approximately 15 million more teachers, which is only 2 million less than in 2016. Northern Africa and Western Asia (4.3 million) and South-eastern Asia (4.5 million) are also unlikely to hit their goals given current estimates. Meanwhile, Eastern Asia (3.4 million) and Southern Asia (7.8 million) have reduced projected need by nearly half since 2016, but urgent action is still required to meet 2030 targets. Globally we need to increase the number of teachers by 50% by 2030.

Teacher gaps can stem from either needing to fill newly created posts or replacing vacant positions caused by attrition. In sub-Saharan Africa, growing populations mean that 63 per cent of the teacher gap is due to the need for staffing new teaching positions. In regions such as Europe and Northern America (4.8 million more teachers) or Latin America and the Caribbean (3.2 million), anticipated attrition accounts for the vast majority of teacher shortages- 94 and 89 per cent of all needs, respectively.

Attrition is difficult to track, but the estimated rates recently doubled at the primary level

Many countries do not report enough data to estimate attrition rates for all regions. For example, UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS) only includes inputs from 79 countries at the primary level and 48 at the upper secondary level between 2012–2022 (UIS, 2023). For countries that do produce estimates, interpreting the data can be problematic due to teachers re-entering the profession soon after leaving or moving to different schools or districts within a country (UNESCO, 2023).

UIS does make global estimations when enough information is available. Estimates from 2022 at the primary level put attrition rates at 9.06 per cent this means that attrition nearly doubled since 2015. Regional comparisons of teacher attrition are difficult to achieve due to a lack of data and year-to-year fluctuations.

Attrition rates can also vary within countries at different levels of education and from year to year (see Figure 1). Many factors can lead to this variation, including schools or districts in remote locations or facing emergency situations - which can put added stressors on teachers (Falk et al., 2019).

Figure 1. Teacher attrition rates in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary, 2022 or most recent

Men are more likely to leave teaching than women and younger teachers leave teaching at higher rates

In general, male teachers leave the teaching profession at a higher rate than their female colleagues. For example, global male attrition rates in 2021 were 9.2 per cent for primary teachers compared to 4.2 per cent for female primary teachers. At the lower secondary level, males had an 5.9 per cent attrition rate while the female rate was 5.6 per cent (UIS, 2023).

The causes of men leaving the profession vary by context, but they often have more employment opportunities than women in other fields such as construction, business or manufacturing. Teaching at lower levels of education is also often viewed culturally as a profession for women. In 2022, women made up 94 per cent of pre-primary teachers and 68 per cent of primary teachers globally (UNESCO, 2022).

In some circumstances, women do leave the profession more often than men. The causes again vary, but some reasons can include unsafe or unsanitary working conditions or negative views on women’s role in the workforce (UNESCO, 2022).

Few countries track data about when teachers leave the profession, but some studies show that younger teachers are more apt to leave the profession than older ones. An OECD study found that across systems, attrition rates were much higher for teachers younger than age 35 than those aged 35 to 54. Young teachers may leave the profession for a variety of reasons, but many cite low hours or poor leadership as factors (OECD, 2021).

COVID-19 enhanced stressors already present in the teaching profession

The pandemic and subsequent school closures caused stressful working conditions for teachers, with surveys showing increased fatigue and the growing need for support for teacher well-being. This led to widespread reports of teacher shortages, increased absenteeism around the world and trends on social media demonstrating low morale.

While global attention on teacher shortages grew during the pandemic, studies showed patterns of teacher shortages well before COVID-19 closed a single school. In Latin America and the Caribbean, enrolment rates in initial teacher education programmes remained flat from 2015 to 2020 even though teacher shortages persisted in the region during this time.

More recently, trends are still emerging post-COVID as data continue to be collected. Some localized reports have shown that attrition rates dipped during the height of school closures, returning to near pre-pandemic levels or slightly above in the years since. Other surveys show that attrition could soon rise in some contexts, with only 59 per cent of teachers in England (United Kingdom) expecting to still be teaching in 3 years compared to approximately 75 per cent before the pandemic.

Attrition can have wide-ranging impacts

Teacher attrition can have adverse effects on students, other teachers or even entire educations systems. Studies have found that more experienced teachers not only positively impact student test scores, but they also can help improve behaviour and lower absences. When a high number of teachers leave, those remaining may have to pick up extra classes or face larger class sizes. Research in Rwanda found that high rates of turnover led to 21 per cent of teachers teaching in subjects for which they had no training. At the system level, attrition can cause a constant churn of training new teachers, adding extra costs and complexity to teacher management.

Factors that drive teachers away

Many different factors can cause teacher attrition, including low pay, poor working conditions or personal and demographic factors such as an older teaching force nearing retirement. This is the case for example in Italy and in Lithuania where more than half of primary teachers are at least 50 years old.

Low salaries can especially lessen the prestige of a teaching career. And yet, about 50 per cent or more of countries globally pay primary teachers less than professions requiring a similar level of qualifications. Many high-income countries pay upper secondary teachers less than 75 per cent of what comparable professions make, while some teachers in low-income countries live at or near the poverty line.

Poor working conditions, which can range from a lack of supplies to poor leadership to too many administrative chores, can also increase stress and push teachers out of the job. Surveys have found that teachers who experience ‘a lot’ of stress at work are more than twice as likely to want to leave teaching in the next five years.

Policy responses will need to consider local and regional factors driving teachers from the profession to best improve retention rates in each context. The data and analyses presented can enable countries to develop improved policies that ensure the dignity and value of teaching as well as support and sustain qualified teacher workforces.

Building on the outcomes of the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, the United Nations Secretary-General announced the establishment of a High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession. Supported by a joint UNESCO – International Labour Organization (ILO) Secretariat, the Panel drew together ministries, teachers, students, unions, civil society, the private sector, and academia. The Panel’s report will serve as a contribution to broader efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, as an input to ongoing preparations for the 2024 Summit of the Future and help advance follow-up on the Transforming Education Summit.

Meanwhile, in 2024, UNESCO and the TTF will be publishing the first Global Report on Teachers solely dedicated to monitoring progress towards SDG 4.c with a thematic focus, new data and examples of good practice to address teacher shortages and improve the attractiveness of the profession.

Useful links:

• World Teachers’ Day event page
• Teacher Task Force & UNESCO fact sheet

 Photo credit: UNESCO/Diana Quintela

This blog was authored by David Childress, a senior consultant to the first Global Report on Teachers, launched during the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum, on 26 February 2024.

Teachers are at the heart of providing a quality education for all students. And yet, systems around the world continue to face shortages and struggle to attract and retain enough teachers. New projections show that 44 million additional teachers are needed globally to reach the goal of attaining universal primary and secondary education by 2030. Encouragingly, this number marks a significant decrease from the 69 million teachers projected by UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics in 2016. However, the ongoing gap remains about half the size of the existing teaching workforce. Some regions also continue to face large shortages, with sub-Saharan Africa requiring 15 million additional teachers by 2030 – or about one out of three of all teachers needed globally.

To help address the worldwide challenge of shortages, the Global Report on Teachers aims to support the international community in making progress towards SDG 4’s aim of providing inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Initially, the report presents new projections and in-depth analysis to clearly place context around global teacher shortages. Based on this analysis, the report then offers policy solutions and implementation strategies to reverse these trends.

Overall, the Global Report on Teachers aligns with the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession’s recommendations and six imperatives for the future of teaching: Humanity, Sustainability, Dignity, Teacher Quality, Innovation and leadership, and Equity. It also joins calls from the International Commission on the Future of Education and the 2022 Transforming Education Summit to valorise and diversify teaching, turning it into a more collaborative and innovative profession.

Putting teacher shortages into global context

Global teacher shortages stem from a combination of teacher attrition and the need to fill newly created teaching posts. Teacher attrition, or the number of personnel leaving the profession in a single year, accounts for 58 per cent of the projected teachers needed by 2030. Recent estimates have also shown that teacher attrition rates are on the rise, with global averages among primary teachers nearly doubling from 2015 to 2022, jumping from 4.62 to 9.06 per cent.

On the other hand, regions with rapidly growing populations have the highest rates of projected shortages due to newly created teaching positions (see Table 1). Systems with growing school age populations must then work to both retain the teachers they have while also increasing recruitment to meet growing need. This is especially vital for secondary schools, as 31 million teachers– or about 7 in 10– are needed at this level by 2030.

Table 1. Total teacher recruitment needs by region for 2030, by level (in thousands)

SDG 4 remains an aspirational goal, but countries have also set national benchmarks to define their own targets based on context, starting point and pace of progress. These benchmarks project teacher need based on the estimated 84 million children (or about 5 per cent) that will remain out of school in 2030. Projections based off national benchmarks reduce the number of teachers needed globally by about 5 per cent at the primary level (12.3 million vs. nearly 13 million) and about 12 per cent at the secondary level (27.5 million vs. 31.1 million). While still ambitious, these benchmarks may offer some countries more achievable goals.

The multiple challenges associated with teacher shortages

The causes of teacher shortages are complex, due to a combination of factors such as motivation, recruitment, training, working conditions and even social status. Unattractive salaries and difficult working conditions can make teaching unappealing to both future and current teachers, leading to shortages in countries across all income levels. For example, results from TALIS 2018 showed that in participating countries, only 67 per cent of teachers reported that teaching was their primary career choice.

Teacher shortages can have wide-ranging consequences. High rates of attrition can directly impact students, as research has found that experience improves teacher performance relating to student test scores, absences and classroom behaviour. Schools experiencing high levels of shortages also face ongoing disruption and added demands throughout the year as they seek to recruit and train new colleagues. Vicious cycles can emerge in systems with lots of departures where systems struggle to keep up with constantly training and deploying new teachers.

Strategies to transform teaching and reduce shortages

Effective policies to address teacher shortages should form parts of a holistic strategy to improve the status and attractiveness of the profession. Initially, systems need to pay teachers an adequate salary. Globally, half of all countries pay primary teachers less than professions requiring similar qualifications while this reduces to 3 in 10 countries in Europe and North America. Systems should also strive to improve working conditions through policies that regulate working hours or involve teachers in more decision-making processes.

To continue to raise the prestige of teaching, systems need to find and recruit the right candidates that are drawn to teaching as a vocation or a calling. Workforces should also reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Developing gender equality is especially important, as women are often underrepresented in leadership roles while fewer men tend to work at lower levels of education.

Professionalizing a career in teaching can further raise its prestige and improve teacher motivation. This process may start by ensuring proper qualification frameworks and opportunities for all teachers, especially those working on temporary contracts. For example, efforts in Mexico and Indonesia have integrated large numbers of contract teachers into civil service positions. By providing attractive career pathways and access to quality professional development, systems can also better motivate teachers throughout their professional life.

Developing a new social contract for education could serve as the lynchpin to further raise the prestige of teaching moving forward. This process involves creating opportunities for collaboration, incorporating social dialogue, and promoting teacher innovation. These strategies allow teachers a larger voice in their profession, while also creating more communities of practice across local, national or even international levels.

Financing the teaching profession and fostering international cooperation

Adequately funding education is vital to combat teacher shortages, as the largest share of education budgets typically goes towards teacher salaries. Spending on teachers can reach up to 75 per cent of budgets in low-income countries. The Education 2030 Framework for Action established financing targets for governments of 4 to 6 per cent of GDP and 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure allocated to education. Global averages for education spending were 4.2 per cent of GDP in 2021. However, there remain significant gaps in funding between country income groups, ranging from 5.0 in high-income countries in 2021 (latest year with data available) to 3.1 per cent in low-income countries in 2022.

International cooperation can play a key role in combatting spending disparities and work towards reducing global teacher shortages more generally. International aid partners can support teacher policies in collaboration with governments by providing financing, training or advocacy. Cooperation is also occurring more frequently through South-South or triangular cooperation, where Global South countries can pool and share resources to build capacities and develop self-reliance.

Based on its analyses and new findings, the Report proposes key six recommendations to address global teacher shortages and transform the profession, ensure sufficient teachers for universal education goals, accelerate SDG4 and target 4.c achievement, and advance the Education 2030 Agenda.

Links:

• Read the Global Report on Teachers: Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession
• Visit the event page of the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum

Report front cover credits:

© UNESCO/Ilan Godfrey; © UNESCO/Santiago Serrano; © UNESCO/Erika Piñeros; © UNESCO/Nadège Mazars; © UNESCO/Rehab Eldalil; © UNESCO/Anatolii Stepanov

This article has been jointly authored by the Teacher Task Force and the Department of Basic Education of South Africa, following the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum which took place on 26-29 February 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On behalf of the South African Government, the Department of Basic Education, UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (Teacher Task Force) jointly hosted approximately 400 participants from across the globe, attending the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum (PDF) from 26 to 28 February.

Education stakeholders from around the world gathered in Johannesburg for the Teacher Task Force's 14th Policy Dialogue Forum, themed; "Addressing teacher shortages: Dignifying, diversifying, and valorizing the profession."  The Forum brought together policymakers, educators, and renowned experts to tackle one of the most urgent challenges facing education systems worldwide.
 

Acknowledging the crucial role of educators

During the official opening address, Deputy President of South Africa, Mr. Paul Mashatile expressed gratitude to the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, “for recognising South Africa as a key player in the journey to achieving quality education for all by the year 2030.” Furthermore, he expressed the need for the crucial role of educators to be acknowledged.

“We need to acknowledge the inherent worth of teachers and the crucial role they play in shaping the future of our nations. Beside teaching and imparting knowledge to the future generation, teachers play a crucial role in nurturing, fostering critical thinking, inspiring dreams, and pushing the limits of human potential. We thus owe it to these titans of our society to recognise, honour, empower, and value them, as well as the job that they do.

"Most importantly, significant consideration must be made on how we should improve their working conditions and remuneration as a way of appreciating their hard work, so that they can be able to fulfil their important task without getting discouraged," said Deputy President, Mr. Paul Mashatile.

In her address to the Forum, Ms. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education spoke on the importance of the Forum achieving its goals of making learning and teaching accessing and appealing for both educators and learners.

"The 14th Policy Dialogue Forum represents a pivotal moment for collaborative action in tackling global teacher shortages. As we gather to exchange knowledge and drive impactful solutions, this forum underscores our collective commitment to strengthening education systems worldwide, ensuring every learner has access to a qualified, motivated, and well-supported teacher," said Ms. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education.

A roadmap for transforming the teaching profession

The first day of the Forum featured the official launch of the Recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, which sets out the roadmap for transforming the teaching profession and meeting the needs of the future.

Following the opening remarks by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Paul Mashatile, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina Mohammed, South Africa’s Minister of Basic Education, H.E. Ms. Matsie Angelina Motshekga, and UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, Ms. Stefania Giannini, the Forum assembled into breakaway sessions for further deliberations.

A milestone report on addressing teacher shortages

Central to the Forum's agenda was the launch of the Global Report on Teachers produced by UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force. Revealing the need for an additional 44 million teachers to reach universal primary and secondary education by 2030, the report underscores the urgency of the teacher shortage crisis. This landmark report with new data, including on financing the profession, not only sheds light on the subject but also proposes actionable strategies to enhance the teaching profession.
 

A ministerial panel on dignifying, diversifying, and valorizing the teaching profession

A highlight of the day was a ministerial panel moderated by distinguished speakers from various Member States, including from South Africa, China, Ecuador, Ghana, and Finland, as well as the African Union. The panel delved into strategies for dignifying, diversifying, and valorizing the teaching profession.
 

A unique opportonity for collaboration and knowledge-sharing on effective teacher policy-making

Across three days of plenaries and discussions, this unique global Forum on effective teacher policy-making is also providing a platform for networking and side events of the world’s most prominent actors on teachers and teaching. Fostering collaboration and exchange of best practices, and promoting international cooperation to address global teacher shortages and to make the teaching profession more attractive, the Forum is a pivotal event which highlights the key role of South Africa in the region. 

A full summary report on the outcomes of the Forum will be published here shortly.

A resource pack will also be available here soon, featuring, among other assets, the presentations given during the Forum.
 

For more information:

• 14th Policy Dialogue Forum event page
• Global Report on Teachers: Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession
• Recommendations of the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession
• South Africa Department of Basic Education

For media inquiries:

Teacher Task Force: Anna Ruszkiewicz, ae.ruszkiewicz@unesco.org

South Africa Department of Basic Education: Elijah Mhlanga, Chief Director Communications, Mhlanga.e@dbe.gov.za