European teachers' pay on rise: report

After several years of stagnation and sometimes decreases, teacher salaries are increasing again in 23 European countries, said the European Commission on Monday.

The tendency was indicated in the latest annual update on teachers' and school heads' salaries around Europe compiled by the European Commission's Eurydice network.

"It is encouraging that countries invest in this important profession. Europe relies on highly motivated and qualified teachers. They are crucial to provide quality education to the next generations," said Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

In many European countries, in 2014/15 teachers' salaries increased in comparison to 2013/14, with salary reforms and adjustments to the cost of living cited as the main reasons, said the report.

In the majority of countries/regions, teacher' minimum annual statutory salary for primary and lower secondary education levels is lower than the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

For upper secondary education, this is also the case in more than half of the countries studied. However, the minimum annual basic statutory salary for school heads in primary and lower secondary education is higher than the per capita GDP in most of the countries.

The same is true for upper secondary education, where school heads are better remunerated than those at lower education levels, and only a few countries register a minimum salary lower than GDP per capita, said the report.

In particular, the difference between the minimum and maximum salaries is usually positively correlated to the number of years' service needed to reach the maximum salary.

In some countries such as Hungary (secondary level), Austria and Romania, the difference between the minimum and maximum salaries is larger, and many years of service are needed to reach the maximum salary, noted the report.

In other countries such as Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and the United Kingdom (Scotland), the difference between minimum and maximum salaries is smaller and the length of service needed to reach the maximum salary is short.

Besides, almost a third of the countries/regions offer salary allowances and complementary payments for reasons including further formal qualifications, further Continuing Professional Development (CPD) qualifications, positive performance appraisal or good student results, additional responsibilities, geographical location, teaching pupils with special educational needs or in challenging circumstances, participation in extra-curricular activities and overtime. Endit