A crisis in schools: the number of young teachers has halved
Serhiy Babak, chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, spoke about the critical situation and ways to resolve it in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Alarming statistics: where are the teachers disappearing to?
According to Serhiy Babak, an analysis of teachers’ age groups reveals a catastrophic trend. Although universities consistently produce the required number of graduates, fewer than 20% enter the profession.
“Every year, 8,000 future teachers do not go on to work in their chosen profession; they choose other jobs. This is critical for us, as 10,000 new specialists is precisely the number needed to maintain a stable number of teachers in the country,” the official emphasised in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Currently, the average age of a Ukrainian teacher is 47–48 years. This means that the system is being kept afloat by an experienced generation, some of whom are already over 70, whilst there is practically no influx of new blood. For objective reasons, older professionals will be leaving the profession, and there will be no one to replace them.
Pay reform: ‘Three minimum wages’ as a solution
Babak believes that the only real way to retain young people is a radical overhaul of the pay system. The idea is that a young teacher’s starting salary should be competitive in the labour market:
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Base level: 3 minimum wages (around 25,000 UAH), which is almost equal to the national average wage (27,000 UAH).
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Prospects: As experience and qualifications increase, pay should reach 40–50,000 UAH.
International experience and quality of education
The committee chair refers to OECD studies confirming a direct correlation between pay levels and the quality of education. When young, motivated teachers who are proficient in modern teaching methods join a school, this automatically improves pupils’ results. Without adequate funding, schools cannot compete with the private sector or the international market for talented young people.
