On World Teachers’ Day, new UNESCO projections reveal a serious global shortage of teachers in all regions of the world. 44 million new teachers are needed to meet the SDG goal of achieving primary and secondary education for all by 2030. While the new figure is significantly lower than the 69 million gap calculated in 2016, progress falls short.
While the shortage of teachers in primary education totals 12.9 million globally, secondary education requires 31.1 million to meet total needs — or 7 out of 10 teachers needed.
It also reveals that in Europe and North America, despite low birth rates, the teacher shortage is the third largest of all world regions with 4.8 million additional teachers needed. This is mostly the result of teachers leaving the profession coupled with little appeal for young people to become teachers. The same trend can be observed in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the majority of the 3.2 million additional teachers needed are also due to attrition. An analysis of attrition data from 79 countries from different regions of the world shows that the teaching profession is too often unattractive.
Globally, attrition among primary teachers almost doubled from 4.62% in 2015 to 9.06% in 2022. This affects students, educators, and institutions, hindering teacher performance, causing staff shortages and increased class sizes, and having knock-on effects on student attendance, learning and behaviour.
Teacher attrition is due to diverse factors, including salary disparities, working conditions, and personal circumstances. Low pay and poor working conditions discourage potential educators, while stress and burnout contribute significantly to departures.