Recruitment and Retention in the Education Sector

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN TRADE UNION COMMITTEE FOR EDUCATION COMITE SYNDICAL EUROPEEN DE L EDUCATION EFEE THE EUROPEA FEDERATION O EDUCATION EMPLOYERS Recruitment and Retention in the Education Sector Survey findings and Case studies Follow-up Conference Recruitment and retention in the Education Sector: A Matter of Social Dialogue Brussels, 25 September 2012 Mireille de Koning Education International

2 Project Overview Examine: (i) current situation in Europe regarding recruitment and retention of teachers; (ii) existing national policies and practices Identify (where possible): national best practices Develop: recommendations for Questionnaire: Developed by project Advisory Committee Carried out: 20 Nov Jan 2012; analysis: 1 Feb 2012 April 2012 Four case studies: Italy, Finland, Latvia, the Netherlands Literature list: lack of literature with a specific focus a joint approach among social partners 2

3 Questionnaire sections 1 Overview national education sectors workforce 2 Workforce planning and recruitment policies 3 Process for recruiting teachers 4 Measures to attract teachers to the sector 5 Measures to retain teachers in the sector 6 European dimension 4

4 Overview of responses 35 organisations: 11 EFEE & 24 ETUCE 21 countries (UK-ENG & UK-SCT separate) Combined responses: IT (3 ETUCE) & DE (2 ETUCE); NL & NO: EFEE & ETUCE member organisations respond together EFEE members varied: MoE, regional / local government, or employers organisations 74% of all organisations represent all levels of education: 34 lower- and 33 upper- secondary; 32 primary; 26 pre-primary 6

5 Overview: EFEE & ETUCE representation 7

6 Limitations Same country, different responses (factual q s!) Variations responses between education levels (not all levels represented) Unbalanced representation EFEE / ETUCE Difficult to compare opinion questions No EFEE members: CZ, EE, FR, GR, IS, LT, SL follow-up with EFEE organisations? Missing /inconsistent data (statistics) 8

7 Institutions responsible workforce planning / recruitment policy Responsibility different to involvement DE & ES: States & autonomous regions responsible SE (Lararforbundet): local gov. & local school leaders SK: Local gov. & school officials NL: Shared employers & MoE 10

8 % female teachers A female profession? CY DE EE IE IS IT LV MT NL NO SE SK SL UK-ENG UK-SCT Pre-primary Primary Lower-secondary Upper-secondary Women account for the majority of teachers at the pre-primary, primary and lower secondary levels. 11

9 No. of countries Workforce planning: Teacher shortages No shortages Current shortages Expected shortages Current & Expected shortages Missing Pre-primary Primary Lower-secondary Upper-secondary Teacher shortages are most common at the lower- and upper-secondary levels Same country, different answer: Pre-primary (MT); Primary (DK & SE); Lower- & upper-primary: (MT & SE) 12

10 Inadequate workforce planning? Figure 3.3: Have recruitment policies/workforce planning been adequate in your country? Effective workforce planning : sufficient data & recruitment strategies (UK-ENG; UK-SCT) Focused campaign (NO) No 68% (19 responses) Yes 32% (9 responses) Crisis: cut teacher numbers, oversupply trained teachers (UK-SCT) Lack of common state/local gov. policy (IS) Ineffective recruitment policies: oversupply certain areas & not proactively address shortages (NL, SE) No agency at national level to address shortages/recruitment (SE) Inadequate distribution of teachers (MT, NL) 13

11 Teacher shortages: challenges Subject-specific shortages: mathematics, sciences, and languages (DE, EE, IT, MT, NL, SE, UK-SCT) Expected shortages: ageing workforce in primary and secondary levels (DE, ES, IS, NL) Unattractive profession: salaries, career perspective, workloads Economic crisis: redundancies and/or unfilled vacancies as a result of budgetary cuts has led to, or exacerbated, teacher shortages Only 8 countries: Social partners involved in recruitment policy development and workforce planning (CY/ETUCE, CZ, DK, IT, NL, NO, SE, UK-SCT/ETUCE) 14

12 Attraction of teachers Figure 3.5: No. countries difficulty attracting teachers Pre-primary Primary Male teachers Both male and female No Lower-secondary Missing Upper secondary

13 Attracting teachers: challenges Pre-primary level: difficulty to attract teachers DK, GR, NL DE, FR, IS, NO, SE Missing Male & female teachers CY, UK-ENG, IT, MT, SE Male teachers CY, CZ, EE, UK-SCT, ES, LT, No Pre-primary level: Regarded as a female profession/few male teachers (CY, DE, UK-SCT, MT, SE) Low salaries (DE, IT); insufficient training (FR) No career perspective (DE); little social recognition (IT) Primary level: difficulty to attract teachers UK-SCT CZ, FR, NO Missing Male & female teachers DE, DK, EE, UK-ENG, IS, IT, Male teachers CY, ES, LT, LV, SK, SL No Primary level: Low pay & lack career opportunities compared to other levels or occupations (CZ, DE, EE, IS, IT, NL, SK) Low status (EE, FR, IT, NO) Male teachers not willing to work at primary level (DE, MT, SK)/lack of male students in teacher training (NL) 17

14 Attracting teachers: challenges CZ, DE, EE, FR, MT, NL, NO, SE DK, UK-ENG, IS, SE, SK CY, DE, UK-SCT, ES, GR, IT, LT, LV, MT, SK, SL CZ, DE, EE, FR, IS, IT, MT, NL, Lower-secondary level: difficulty to attract teachers Missing Male & female teachers Male teachers Upper-secondary level: difficulty to attract teachers DK UK-ENG, SK CY, DE, UK-SCT, ES, GR, LT, No Missing Male & female teachers Male teachers No Lower- & upper-secondary levels: Prospective teachers seek employment in private sector (CZ) Subjects (math, languages, sciences, ICT) (DE, IT, NL, SE) Low salary & status (EE, FR, NO, SK) High demand & workload (DE, EE) Rural areas/smaller districts lack of qualified/subject specific teachers (NL, NO, SE) 18

15 Factors attracting teachers to profession 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% EFEE ETUCE Commitment to education/contribution to society; salary; employment security; career opportunities; and, influence on job content are factors considered to be most important by both EFEE and ETUCE organisations in the attraction of teachers 19

16 Teachers recruitment policies 11 countries: social partners involved in addressing challenges related to the attraction of teachers Recruitment campaigns (DE, DK, NL) Provision of CPD programmes (ES) Improved salary and career perspective (function mix) (NL) X Recruitment of teachers without basic education requirements (CZ) 20

17 Teacher retention: factors very important important neither important/unimportant somewhat important Not important at all CY, DE, ES: few retention issues; ES: some drop outs at beginning of career before accorded civil status; NL: young teachers leave profession - contractual employment unattractive Social partners involved in policy development to retain teachers? Yes = 10 countries; No = 11 countries 21

18 Teacher retention: issues Across all levels, 13 countries reported not experiencing difficulty retaining teachers (related to status of teachers) Countries that do: CY, EE, IT, NL, MT, SE Challenges: low salaries, demanding work, stress, lack of pedagogical support, fixed-term contracts = job insecurity Concerns: particularly younger teachers leaving sector (NL); male teachers (CZ, SE, SK) Policy suggestions: improve salaries, working conditions, develop career perspectives for teachers 22

19 European level: proposals Sharing of best practices among members (EE, ES, LT, MT, SL) European involvement to counter cuts in education as result of crisis (GR, IT, SK) Set higher minimum qualification requirements (DE, DK, ES) Ensuring fair evaluation of teachers competences / qualifications (ES, UK-ENG) Improving mobility from other sectors (DE, DK, NO) Increase status of teaching: career opportunities (CZ, NL) Develop European policies on recruitment, appointment, evaluation & continuous professional development (CY, ES, IS) 23

20 European level: role of social partners Work towards better recognition (and advocacy) of role of education in contributing towards (economic) growth and societal development (DK, IT, NO) Support improvement of relations between social partners at national levels: sharing of data, inclusive discussions (DE, LT) Gender perspective attraction of male teachers - should play key role at European level (DK) 24

21 Case studies Three case studies: Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands Semi-structured interviews: employers & employee organisations Topics: Policies around recruitment and retention Perceived challenges to recruitment and retention Social dialogue structures 25

22 Latvia Social partners: unions & MoES Decentralised responsibility for teacher recruitment to municipal level, salaries set at central level Major issues: Hard-hit by economic crisis 2008: deep cuts in salaries and closure of schools, layoffs Demographic trends, major decline in student enrolments, teacher oversupply within system: passive recruitment Non-competitive profession: extremely low salaries, teachers taking up additional jobs Municipal variations in salaries following money-follows-students principle Teachers salaries based on lesson hours vs. 40 hour working week proposal to move towards latter Teacher recruitment & retention determined by municipalities: not part of social dialogue structure 26

23 Italy Social partners: MoE, unions Major issues: Precarious working conditions: temporary contracts for replacement teachers, not necessarily qualified to teach High mobility within sector: South to North Teachers motivation: low salaries, high workloads, short-term contracts Crisis impact: non-replacement of retiring staff, closing & merging of schools Stalled collective bargaining on salaries 27

24 The Netherlands Social partners: Unions, sectoral education councils, MoE Distinct features: decentralised funding & responsibilities recruitment, salaries & working conditions regulated and negotiated at school level Major issues: Projected teacher shortages for 2015: aging workforce, difficulty to attract new entrants Low status of profession: low-paid, frozen increments (2008), limited autonomy and career development, lowered teacher qualifications Primary level: limited regional and upward mobility Attempts to address challenges through function-mix (differentiated salary scales and positions); expand professional space & autonomy (career progression and development); labour flexibility: lateral entrants; lowered workloads new entrants 28

25 Teacher shortages: ageing population (projected shortages), gender balance, subject-specific teachers Status of profession: little career development, low salaries, low levels education Male teachers not attracted to profession lower levels Key challenges (young) teachers leaving profession: low salaries, unfavourable working conditions, contractual employment, limited career perspective & status, stress Economic crisis: austerity measures, limited collective bargaining, salaries cuts and freezing of increments, unfilled vacancies 29

26 and opportunities Initiatives to develop well-qualified teachers: setting standards for education qualifications Teacher training relevant to subject needs (e.g. math, science, ICT) Continued professional development: relevant to work content, diversity within classrooms Recruiting highest qualified teachers, requires incentives to attract them: salaries, status, career progression (research opportunities) Mobility (recognised recruitment) between sectors (qualified teachers), countries, states 30