How is the teacher shortage in the EU impacting the quality of education?

As a caller schoolhouse twelvemonth begins and pupils instrumentality to classrooms crossed the EU, the contented of teacher shortages remains captious successful respective subordinate states.

Countries specified arsenic France, Portugal, and Belgium person disclosed their acquisition information for the 2025/2026 schoolhouse twelvemonth successful the aboriginal weeks of September.

France faces a shortage of astatine slightest 1 teacher successful much than fractional of its nationalist schools, with three-quarters of mediate and precocious schools reporting an incomplete teaching staff, according to the French National Union of Secondary School Teachers, SNES-FSU.

The French Minister of Education, Élisabeth Borne, stated connected 1 September that "the equivalent of 2,500 teachers" are missing. The national claims that "the figures she enactment guardant are apt underestimated".

Spanish, French, and Mathematics are among the astir affected classes.

"In the Aix-Marseille academy, astatine slightest 1 teacher is missing successful 41% of mediate schools and precocious schools, and portion this fig is 29.1% for the Dijon academy, it rises to 72% for the Créteil academy and astir 75% for the Lyon academy," the national stated successful a website post.

In Portugal, the concern is similar. Over 3,000 classes bash not person implicit staffing, with English, Portuguese and Geography classes being the astir affected, according to the Portuguese teacher union, Fenprof.

In superior education, much than 4,000 students are astatine hazard of starting the schoolhouse year, which begins betwixt 11 and 15 September, without a teacher.

The Portuguese capital, Lisbon, is among the worst-affected areas.

However, the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, claims that the numbers presented by unions are incorrect arsenic "in 98%/99% of schools, each teachers person been assigned, and students volition person classes successful each subjects".

Meanwhile, successful Belgium’s French-speaking schools, the occupation is astir persistent successful secondary schools, wherever up to a 4th of indispensable teachers are lacking.

As a result, immoderate schools person switched to a four-day schoolhouse week.

The teacher shortage successful Brussels is adjacent much acute than successful the remainder of Flanders—twice arsenic precocious arsenic successful Antwerp oregon Ghent.

It tin beryllium analyzable to get a bigger representation of the concern successful Belgium arsenic it is divided by connection communities: French, Dutch and German.

What are the reasons down this crisis?

UNESCO assessed that much than 90% of the estimated teacher shortage successful Europe and North America is owed to teachers leaving the profession.

Teacher shortages are costly, interaction workloads, and whitethorn deter aboriginal generations from joining the profession, which tin make a rhythm of low-quality education, perpetuating acquisition inequalities, according to UNESCO.

The deficiency of professionals besides has a toll connected however overmuch clip children walk successful class.

On average, the full fig of recommended hours successful full-time compulsory wide acquisition is 7,868.

However, the full was beneath mean successful 22 acquisition systems for the twelvemonth 2024/2025.