The Teaching Profession According to the OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators on September 29, presenting internationally comparable indicators on education systems.

The report includes internationally comparable data on the education systems of OECD member countries and partner economies. For a number of indicators, data are also presented in comparison with the EU25 average, calculated as the average of data from 25 countries that are members or accession countries of both the European Union and the OECD. These countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

For some indicators, a G20 average is also presented. It is calculated as the unweighted mean of the data from G20 countries for which data are available or can be estimated.

Armenia is not presented as a separate country in the Education at a Glance 2026 report.

The 558-page report focuses on teacher shortages as its special theme. It examines the prevalence and causes of teacher shortages and the measures education systems can take to respond to the problem.

Challenges

According to the report, 9.1% of primary and secondary teachers in OECD countries are not fully qualified. During the 2024/25 school year, 6.4% of fully qualified teachers left the profession, while 8.4% of secondary teachers started teaching as a second job.

The OECD notes that teacher shortages are also more pronounced in rural, remote and socio-economically disadvantaged communities, as well as in subjects such as mathematics and science.

According to the report, at the beginning of the 2024/25 school year, around 4% of secondary teaching positions were vacant in Latvia and Luxembourg, while in most countries reporting data, the share was below 3%. At the same time, one in four secondary teachers in the OECD is aged 55 or older, creating a risk of additional demand for teachers in the coming years.

Causes

The report stresses that the attractiveness of the teaching profession is not only a matter of salary. According to the report, competitive pay and manageable workloads can contribute to the attractiveness of the profession, but professional autonomy, support from school leadership, collegial relationships, career development opportunities and society’s attitudes towards the profession are also important.

Among the responses available to education systems, the OECD highlights making more effective use of teachers’ time and professional capacities, reducing administrative workloads, using digital tools and artificial intelligence, improving workforce planning, and reviewing the organisational structures of schools.