Page 5 - IDEA Studie 4 2015 Platy ucitelu

Study 4/2015
Teachers’ pay: consistently low and
unattractive3 SEPTEMBER 2015
DANIEL MÜNICH, MÁRIA PERIGNÁTHOVÁ, VLADIMÍR SMOLKA, LUCIE ZAPLETALOVÁ4
Summary
The level and structure of teachers’ salaries significantly affect overall interest in the teaching profession and play a part in determining the structure of those interested in the profession. The quality of new recruits to the teaching profession in turn determines the long term quality of education and educational results in the given country.
Salaries for teachers at Czech public primary schools, in a relative comparison with salaries for highly qualified employees, have long been among the lowest in the world’s thirty most developed countries. As far as teachers’ general skills are concerned, these are still relatively good in the Czech Republic compared to many other countries. This is however undoubtedly determined to a large extent on the high numbers of older teachers in the profession, who began their careers decades ago. Interest in the teaching profession among talented younger Czechs is currently very low.
The vast majority of university educated employees in the public sector are still paid more than an average teacher’s salary. The pay differential in comparison with jobs in the private sector is even higher. Pay would be much higher in alternative professions for female teachers, and even more so for male teachers.
3 The authors of this paper would like to thank the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for allowing them to use ISPV data, and the several colleagues and experts from TREXIMA Company who offered them advice and comments on the working draft of this study. The study forms part of the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Strategy AV 21.
4 IDEA at CERGE-EI: Daniel Münich, Mária Perignáthová, Lucie Zapletalová, TREXIMA: Vladimír Smolka 3