Shortages of teachers should be addressed by raising the prestige of the profession - UNESCO

RIGA - Shortages of teachers should be addressed by raising the prestige of the profession, which would attract young people and representatives of other professions to work in education, UNESCO representatives said at a meeting of Saeima Education, Culture and Science Committee on Tuesday.

Most countries in the world will face a shortage of teachers in the near future, UNESCO estimates. By 2030, there could be a shortage of 44 million teachers worldwide. The problem is not only the number, but also quality: teachers' motivation to continue working in the profession and the level of training are declining.

The need to raise the prestige of the profession in society is a key solution emphasized at the committee's meeting.

Carlos Vargas, Head of the UNESCO Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, pointed out that the role of the teachers in society had diminished over time: in ancient civilizations, teachers were the community intellectuals who sought solutions to the community's problems.

The expert also drew attention to the responsibility of parents of children: "As parents, we also have a responsibility to maintain the prestige of teachers - we define the role of the teacher in society."

We also need to think about the training process and working conditions of teachers to ensure that they are appropriate. In addition to pay rises and professional support, Vargas also mentioned integration of technology to reduce teachers' workload and strengthening of the school management teams.

In turn, effective management information systems help understand not only how many teachers there are, but also their needs. They are also important to ensure equitable deployment of teachers, the expert added. It has been observed that the best teachers, educational institutions and students are concentrated in more affluent areas, while in other places there are under-qualified teachers or their working conditions are difficult.

In Latvia, shortages of teachers could become more acute in the future, as some teachers are approaching retirement age and there are not enough young teachers to replace them. This was pointed out at the committee's meeting by both members of Saeima and representatives of the Education and Science Ministry.

"There are, there were, and there will be shortages of teachers in Latvia. (...) We do not have teachers to replace [the retired ones]," said opposition MP Ceslavs Batna (United List).

Vargas pointed out that a teacher today must not only impart knowledge, but also teach students what to do with it. Furthermore, we need to think about what we want to teach children.

"There are more plans and more content in the curriculum now than there are days in a year, so we need to understand what the key elements are that need to be included in the curriculum," the expert said.

Vargas agreed that AI tools could help reduce the administrative burden on teachers, but they could not replace the presence and role of teachers in shaping personalities.

"Seeing the great shortage of teachers, the question arises what technologies we can use to replace teachers. (...) But we believe that the work of teachers is irreplaceable," said the expert.

UNESCO estimates that hiring the 44 million teachers needed by 2030 would cost around USD 120 billion annually. International recommendations call for countries to allocate at least 6 percent of their gross domestic product to education, but the current global average is 4 percent.