Most Lithuanian teachers highly confident, happy with their working conditions - ministry

VILNIUS - Lithuanian teachers have a high level of confidence in their teaching abilities and their ability to work with students with different needs, and are satisfied with their working conditions, according to the 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) published on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, most teachers are also satisfied with their work and conditions and are confident in their pedagogical talent - their ability to use digital tools and various teaching methods.

Lithuania stands out from other countries in that 99 percent of teachers in the country have a higher education degree, while the average for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which organizes the survey, is 95 percent.

However, Lithuania is similar to countries where the education system employees are older, and schools, as in neighboring Latvia, are dominated by female teachers.

An analysis into the working environment shows that as many as 60 percent of teachers in Lithuania work in schools also attended by refugee children. In the previous TALIS survey in 2018, this figure was 2.2 percent. The OECD average for 2024 is 47 percent. According to the ministry, the main reason for this jump is likely to be the war in Ukraine.

Thirty-eight percent of Lithuanian teachers work in schools where more than 10 percent of students have special educational needs, compared to the OECD average of 45 percent.

7 percent of teachers teach in classes where more than 30 percent of students come from low-income families. The OECD average is 21 percent.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, 79-90 percent of Lithuanian teachers say they often focus on developing students' social and emotional skills during lessons. Their colleagues in other countries do so less frequently - 68-84 percent. 79 percent of teachers in Lithuania say they are confident in their ability to develop these competencies. The OECD average is similar - 73 percent.

The average weekly workload of Lithuanian teachers is about 40 hours, slightly higher than the OECD average of 40.8 hours.

77 percent of Lithuanian teachers say they are satisfied with their working conditions, while an average of 68 percent of their colleagues in OECD countries say the same.

85 percent of teachers say they are generally satisfied with their work in schools, and the OECD average is very similar.

According to the ministry, Lithuanian teachers are satisfied with the quality of their teacher training as 79 percent believe that the quality of their teacher training was high, with 73 percent of recently graduated teachers saying the same.

In OECD countries, an average of 75 percent of teachers were able to say the same.

The majority - as many as 94 percent of teachers - say they are able to provide high-quality education and are successful in using a variety of teaching methods in their lessons, compared to the OECD average of 84 percent.

Over 60 percent of the teachers surveyed in Lithuania said they are able to motivate students, create tasks for children with special educational needs and collaborate with each other. These skills of Lithuanian teachers are almost identical to the OECD average.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the country's teachers would most like to improve their knowledge of the curriculum, the education of children with special educational needs, the assessment of students' achievement, the development of students' social and emotional competencies, artificial intelligence and other technologies.

According to the survey data, 99 percent of Lithuanian teachers surveyed enjoy the subject they teach, and 92 percent feel happy being teachers.

However, the teaching community faces challenges as it is one of the most "feminine" professions in Lithuania, with women making up 85 percent of all teachers, compared to the OECD average of 70 percent.

The average age of working teachers in Lithuania is 51, while in the OECD it is 45.

TALIS is the only international study that examines the working environment of teachers, their attitudes, views on teaching and the teaching profession and various aspects of working conditions in schools.

Fifty-five countries participated in the TALIS survey. In Lithuania, more than 4,000 teachers and more than 200 school principals participated in the TALIS 2024 survey. The survey was conducted in schools in February and March 2024.