Global teacher shortage threatens education 2030

Data show that 33 countries still won’t have enough teachers to provide every child with a primary education by 2030 if current trends continue.

The world will need to recruit 25.8 million school teachers to provide every child with a primary education by 2030, according to a new paper from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). This total includes the creation of 3.2 million new posts and the replacement of 22.6 million teachers expected to leave the profession.

Today, an extra 2.7 million teachers are needed to reach the 59 million children excluded from education and accommodate them in classrooms with not more than 40 pupils per teacher, according to UIS data.

The new data highlight the challenges ahead in reaching the new Sustainable Development Goal to provide every child with 12 years of quality education by 2030. However, 96 countries are still struggling to achieve universal primary education. According to UIS projections, only 37 countries (39%) will have enough primary teachers in classrooms by 2020 and the share will rise to 56% by 2025. However, 33 countries (34%) will still not have enough teachers to achieve UPE in 2030.

7 out of 10 African countries face an acute shortage of teachers

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the greatest challenges, with a total of 2.7 million teachers needed in schools today. And the situation will likely get worse, as the region struggles to accommodate a growing school-age population. For every 100 children of age to start school today, there will be 142 in 2030. As a result, countries across the region will need to create 2.2 million new teaching positions by 2030 while filling about 3.9 million vacant positions.

In the rush to recruit more teachers, many countries are forced to hire people with little or no training. UIS data show that in one-third of all countries, less than 75% of teachers were trained according to national standards.

Credit: UNESCO