Teachers are often revered as heroes to be respected, but in many countries, it is not as if there is any real respect for them, as teachers are unhappy with their pay and working conditions.
In early September, thousands of people marched in Budapest calling for higher wages. Teachers in the UK are also planning to strike for better pay.
But how much are teachers paid in Europe? Which countries pay them the most and the least? And how much have teacher salaries changed over the last decade?
There are significant differences in teacher salaries between European countries.
Pagat zyrtare vjetore bruto për mësuesit që sapo fillojnë punë në shkollat ??publike në arsimin e mesëm të ulët (ISCED 2) variojnë nga rreth 4,233 € në Shqipëri në 69,076 € në Luksemburg për vitet 2020-2021, sipas të dhënave për secilin vend, të përpiluara nga Komisioni Europian / EACEA / Eurydice.
Paga mesatare për mësuesit në vendet e Bashkimit Europian (BE) është 25,055 €.
Mësuesit në Francë dhe në Itali paguhen sa gjysma e pagave të mësuesve në Gjermani
Duke mos llogaritur Luksemburgun, paga fillestare vjetore ishte mbi 50,000 € në vetëm dy vende, konkretisht në Zvicër (66,972 €) dhe në Gjermani (54,129 €).
Paga vjetore në Francë dhe në Itali ishte sa gjysma e pagës së mësuesve në Gjermani.
Bulgaria had the lowest annual teacher salaries of all EU countries, at €7,731. Teachers' salaries are also below 10,000 euros in several other EU countries, such as Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland.
The purchasing power standard (PPS) is "an artificial currency unit" defined by Eurostat, where one PPS unit can theoretically buy the same amount of goods and services in any country. Calculating wages using the PPS eliminates some of the differences in the cost of living between European countries, but, even with the application of this standard, large disparities are observed.
Teachers' salaries, seen from this point of view, ranged from 7,824 PPS in Albania to 50,357 PPS in Germany. Although the gross annual salary of entry-level teachers is generally between PPS 20,000 and PPS 30,000, it remains below PPS 20,000 in 10 EU countries: Estonia, Malta, Czech Republic, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia, respectively.
Balkan countries such as Montenegro and North Macedonia, which are not part of the EU, have higher salaries for teachers compared to some EU countries, according to the PPS gauge. Surprisingly, Turkey ranks significantly better on the PPS indicator (28,455) than on the nominal wage (€8,330). It was ranked 28th out of 36 countries by nominal figures, but ranked 11th by PPS.
How are teacher salaries in Europe compared to the minimum wage?
The teacher salary to minimum wage ratio shows how much teachers earn compared to the minimum wage in each country. This ratio is calculated by dividing the teachers' gross salary by the minimum gross salary.
This ratio is highest in Germany, with a figure of 2.8, while Poland has the lowest ratio of 1.1.
In other words, the starting salary of teachers in Poland is very close to the minimum wage level, while teachers starting work in German public schools earn almost three times the minimum wage.
The average ratio in the 21 EU countries is 1.86, while the figure remains at the level of 1.4 only in France and Greece.
Read the full article in the Monitor.
