The 2018 TALIS study shows young people are not interested in becoming teachers. (source: Sme)
Slovakia took part in the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS), conducted by OECD, for the third time last year. It shows that only 4.5 percent of Slovak teachers think their work is appreciated by society, as reported by SITA.
But after Education Minister Martina Lubyová (SNS nominee) saw the results, she said Slovak education is not as bad as it is perceived by Slovaks.
“Our standards are at the level of more developed countries in the world and in some aspects, we are even ahead of them,” she said, as quoted by SITA.
In total, 3,046 Slovak teachers from 181 schools partook in the 2018 TALIS study. OECD studied 260,000 teachers in 48 countries, of which 23 are EU member states.
The study, which comes out every five years, has among other things shown young people are not keen to become teachers.
Young teachers missing
The results also pointed out that in Slovakia, as many as 82 percent of all teachers are female, although the OECD average is 68 percent.
The average age of teachers in the country is 44, while the average age of headmasters is 52 years. Nearly 60 percent of teachers are between 30 and 49 years of age, which is a slightly higher percentage compared to the OECD average.
“Given age structure, the situation is not that critical, but we realise the number of young teachers is dropping,” said Lubyová, as quoted by SITA. In Slovakia, young teachers make up 15.8 percent, the study shows.
The minister stressed the ministry's bill on the increase of young teachers' wages, which is to help resolve the problem, is already in the second reading in the parliament.
Motivation and problems
Of all those who decided to dedicate their life to teaching, 93 percent said their motivation to become teachers was the opportunity to form children and the youth. The possibility to contribute to society with something valuable was emphasised by 92 percent of teachers in Slovakia.
While teachers described their motivation, headmasters identified the biggest problems they are facing in education. Up to 44.6 percent said the lack of and inappropriateness of study materials, including textbooks, is the most serious issue in Slovakia's education system.
