Teacher shortage a ‘global phenomenon,’ UN agency warns

As Canada continues to face a teacher shortage, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says the issue is a “global phenomenon” and more action must be taken if its goal of primary and secondary education for all is to be reached by 2030.

The new report, released Tuesday, comes just before World Teacher Day on Thursday, which UNESCO proclaimed in 1994 to celebrate the work of teachers.

According to the UN agency, most countries are dealing with the issue with many needing millions more teachers in order to reach its goal.

In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 15 million teachers are needed, making up the biggest shortfall globally, the report said. Europe and North America — the third largest teacher shortage of all regions — sits at 4.8 million. Another 3.2 million is needed in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In addition, secondary education needs more teachers than primary, the report notes, with about seven out of 10 recruits needed globally.

But, the agency notes, the numbers may not be as concerning as they were seven years ago when its 2016 report said 69 million teachers would be needed.

Several countries have seen improvements to hiring of teachers, with southern Asia seeing the biggest boost by halving its shortfall to 7.8 million.

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In trying to determine causes of the teacher shortage, UNESCO conducted research including an analysis of the attrition rate — the proportion of teachers who decide to leave the profession permanently — from 79 countries that included information from different regions and levels of development.

It found among primary school teachers, the attrition rate doubled to 9.06 per cent in 2022 from 4.62 per cent in 2015.

Through its analysis, the organization determined teaching is seen as a profession that is “too often unattractive” and, as a result, creates difficulty in recruiting young people to the job and sees a high rate of dropout early on in their career.

UNESCO notes in its report that some studies have shown early career teachers are more likely to leave the profession than their more experienced colleagues.

Education researcher and Kansas State University associate professor Tuan Nguyen said there are several factors at play when it comes to turnover. In the U.S., where multiple states have seen an increase in turnover compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, Nguyen — who teaches at the university’s College of Education — said they’re also facing the issue of not enough people wanting to come into the profession.

“So then there are less people coming into the pipeline and more people retiring or leaving the pipeline,” he said.

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That conclusion is similar to what some teachers and union officials told Global News last month.

“It’s well known we have this five-year burnout rate, but to be honest with you, it’s probably sooner,” B.C. teacher Annie Ohana said in September.

Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Ryan Lutes added pay and working conditions can add to that, with him noting substitute teachers — which can often be how new teachers start in the profession — make about $32,000 to $35,000 a year.

“We’re asking people to want to get into this teaching profession, which can be a beautiful profession,” he said. “And then we’re saying to folks, ‘OK you’re going to have to work a couple of years on not a living wage’ … So it’s not enticing our newest teachers into the profession.”

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UNESCO said its findings pointed to three main factors: poor working conditions, high levels of stress and low pay.

It went on to note that a lack of supplies to added administrative responsibilities and even poor school leadership that can undermine teachers’ morale are among the working conditions that can create strain. Meanwhile, teachers who experience “a lot” of stress at work are more than twice as likely to want to leave the profession, especially in the first five years.

Nguyen said addressing pay and working conditions could help in solving the shortage.

“That would be more attractive to people coming in and that will help retain more people from leaving the profession,” he said.

However, Nguyen expressed concern over the narrative of “what it means to be a teacher in this day and age.” He said in the past few years, he’s seen teaching become potentially less respected with rhetoric and even legislation surrounding what teachers can and cannot teach. He referenced issues surrounding teaching about racism, social-emotional learning or even book-banning taking place in some states.

“It’s painting this picture of like, hey, teaching is not a profession where you get to be a professional, where you have the autonomy and the skills of doing what you need to do,” he said. “So we need to change the narrative of what it means to be a teacher in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and all across the world.”

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In response to its findings, UNESCO made seven recommendations it says should be implemented to make teaching a more attractive profession.

These recommendations include improving initial teacher education and establishing mentoring programs, ensuring teachers receive competitive salaries and benefits and promoting a healthy work-life balance, promoting strong and supportive school leadership and providing access to mental health services, and streamlining administrative tasks so teachers can “focus more on teaching and less on bureaucracy.”

UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement Tuesday that with a lack of candidates in some parts of the world, and others seeing a high dropout rate during the first few years of teaching, the profession is facing a “major vocations crisis.”

“In both cases, the answer is the same: we must better value, better train and better support teachers,” she said.