Annual Eurydice report on teachers’ and school heads’ salaries
Published:
This year's edition of the annual Eurydice report on teachers' and school heads' salaries and allowances shows that about half of the 33 surveyed European countries have applied salary cuts or salary freezes for public employees during the period 2009-2014. In these countries, teachers' purchasing power in 2014 is still below the 2009 level. Furthermore, the report finds that the basic salaries for new teachers in primary and lower secondary education are lower than GDP per capita in around 75% of the countries investigated.
This also holds for the majority of countries when looking at upper secondary education. In 16 of the 33 European countries that feature in the report, teachers' salaries have increased compared to the previous school year (2012-2013). The increase in salaries is the outcome of salary reforms and adjustments to the cost of living.
The ETUCE is deeply concerned about the severe cuts in education expenditure that have taken place in many European countries in recent years. The ETUCE believes that the only sustainable way out of the crisis is not to introduce cuts in education but to invest in it and ensure quality education for all.