The question of education and in particular that of the remuneration of teachers in France is at the heart of the campaign for the presidential election of 2022. Head to Germany, Finland and Israel to see how teachers are treated there.
Germany, a dream country for teachers?
Across the Rhine, the profession of teacher is particularly well regarded. The shortage of teachers linked to demographic changes is an additional factor in explaining the high level of salaries in the country. At the end of the career, the salary can reach 5,500 euros gross per month. But there are significant differences depending on the region.
Education in Germany is the responsibility of the Länder. They are therefore the ones who set the content of the programs and examinations, but also they who determine the level of salaries according to grids valid throughout the region. There is therefore no equivalent of National Education in Germany. Teachers apply directly to the establishments where they wish to work. It is the managers who conduct the job interviews and choose the candidates. Overall, wages are significantly higher than in France. A new primary school teacher earns between 3,500 and 4,000 euros gross per month. In secondary and high school, salaries vary between 4,000 and 4,600 gross per month. The prize goes to high school teachers at the end of their career in Baden-Württemberg with 5,665 euros gross per month.
There are no teachers on the streets, nor teacher strikes in the country. It is true that the status of civil servant prohibits teachers from demonstrating. However, there are dissatisfactions which are also linked to the strong variations in the status of teachers. Thus the city of Berlin, heavily indebted for several years, has ceased to grant the status of civil servant to its teachers, for lack of financial means. With a dramatic consequence for the schools of the city: the flight of teachers to neighboring Brandenburg, which practices higher salary levels.
A Finnish model that can be transposed abroad?
This Scandinavian country is often taken as a model when it comes to education. Since the start of the Pisa surveys, which test the knowledge of 15-year-old students, Finland has taken the first places for European countries, far ahead of France. But a question arises: would we be ready to accept all the cultural and social changes that this implies?
To answer this question, we can look at teachers. A Finnish teacher provides between 18 and 24 lessons per week, plus two hours devoted to educational meetings. He goes through a drastic selection – the success rate in the exam varies from 8 to 20% – at the end of which he must “sell” his skills to the directors and principals who will hire him. A Finnish school system also involves around twenty students per class and salaries of more than 3,000 euros per month.
In addition to this material aspect, there is also the question of pedagogy. While in France, we focus on discipline and grades, in Finland, the keywords are “student initiative” and “enhancement of their quality”. The teacher cannot rate below 4 out of 10, but he has total freedom to adapt his course. “I have to make sure that my students can communicate in English but with what method, it’s up to mesays Hemi, a language teacher in Finland. So if my class does better with projects, or through play, music, I do.”
No fear that an inspector will remind you of the program to follow, the inspection body was abolished in the 1990s. The Finnish model is trying to be exported. There is even an organization that sells Finnish know-how abroad – Education Finland – but it reminds us of the rules of any school reform: You need time, go gradually, and above all have a political consensus.
In Israel, derisory salaries in the public sector
In the Jewish state, there are different types of education: many private schools, outside of contracts, or even yeshivas, these schools where only religion is taught. But if we focus on the public, government schools, the teachers are pretty badly paid. At the beginning of their career, but also after several years, teachers in Israel – both in primary and secondary schools – have derisory salaries. According to an annual review of education in OECD countries, published in September 2021, teachers in the country are paid less than average, while Israeli classrooms are among the most overcrowded. In fact, they earn 6% less if we compare their salaries using a purchasing power scale, especially since life is very expensive in Israel. Sometimes their starting salary may be less than the usual server salary. According to a survey published by the Israeli business daily The Markerone in five Israeli teachers leaves the profession within the first three years.
Teachers have been protesting for a long time. They criticize in particular the fact that education administrators are not drawn from the teaching profession. They demand an increase in the salary or the general prestige of the profession and at each start of the school year, there are threats of strikes, led by the teachers’ union. As a result, there is a real shortage of teachers in Israel. A lack that already existed before the coronavirus pandemic, but which is only getting worse. The main teachers’ union also fears a difficult back to school next September if there is no agreement on salaries in June, citing closures of entire classes.