Global teacher turnover surges, driven by low salaries and poor conditions

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the global teacher turnover rate increased from 4.62% in 2015 to 9.06% in 2022. The turnover rate among male teachers is nearly double that of female teachers (9.2% compared to 4.2%).

To achieve universal education by 2030, UNESCO estimates the world will need an additional 13 million primary school teachers and 31 million secondary school teachers.

"The increase in teacher turnover exacerbates the global teacher shortage," said Peter Wallet, an education expert and member of UNESCO's International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. One of the main factors driving this trend, he noted, is the uncompetitive salaries for teachers in many countries.

In more than half of the world’s countries, primary school teachers earn less than workers in other professions requiring similar qualifications. In Europe, this is true for 7 out of 10 countries, Wallet said during a policy and legal framework consultation for teachers in Hanoi last week.

In some low-income countries, while teacher salaries may be double the average salary in similar professions, they are often still insufficient to meet basic household expenses.

Other contributing factors to teacher turnover, according to Wallet, include poor working conditions, low job satisfaction, inadequate benefits, limited opportunities for career advancement, and personal challenges such as health issues or family responsibilities.

In Vietnam, as of April, the country is short of more than 113,000 preschool and general education teachers. Shortages are particularly pronounced in regions and subjects such as English, IT, Music, and Fine Arts. The Ministry of Education and Training attributes this shortage to the limited appeal of the profession, high turnover rates, and a lack of qualified teachers for specialized subjects—issues that align with UNESCO’s findings.

The draft Education Law presented to the National Assembly on Nov. 20 includes several key policies aimed at addressing the teacher shortage. These include placing teachers at the highest level of the administrative salary scale, with newly hired teachers starting at one salary level higher than the standard administrative scale. Preschool and primary school teachers will also receive higher job-related allowances—10% and 5% more, respectively, than they currently do.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong explained that these policies are partly based on international experience.

In China, teachers also receive special incentives. Li TingZhou, from the Teacher Training Center at Shanghai Normal University, shared that China has established a unified professional title system for teachers, similar to those for university professors and doctors. Primary and secondary school teachers can achieve high-level professional titles, which come with enhanced salaries and social benefits, raising the status of teachers in China.

Currently, China has around 11 million teachers, with approximately 30,000 holding professional titles equivalent to university professors. These teachers enjoy salaries and benefits on par with those of university faculty, helping to enhance the prestige of the teaching profession.