One in three Swedish teachers plans to quit
The Local/ms - [email protected]
Published: 12 Nov, 2014 CET.
Updated: Wed 12 Nov 2014 09:29 CET
Sweden's teaching crisis will continue unless local authorities do more to encourage young people to stay in the profession, according to a new survey for Sweden's teaching union, Lärarförbundet.
One in three teachers in Sweden 'probably' or 'definitely' won't continue working in schools until they retire, according to a survey carried out by pollsters Novus. Among teachers under the age of 40, the figure rises to almost one in two (45 percent). The survey results come as Sweden continues to face a teaching shortage, with almost 56,000 unfilled vacancies in education in October, according to Sweden's Employment Service. "This is remarkable because we need more younger teachers who can take over from those who are retiring," union chair Eva-Lis Siren told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Many teachers say they are put off by the amount of administration they need to do alongside their classroom duties. "I was very surprised at all the paperwork. There are records for children in need of special support, reviews, surveys and papers for the municipality," 29-year-old teacher Andreas Björkman told the newspaper. "It's the most fun job to teach in classrooms. But I often feel that I am not able to give students the time they need. That's what makes me the most stressed out, I do not know how long I can feel that way". The Novus survey also asked local authorities if they had a strategy for recruiting more teachers in the future. Out of 193 areas, 43 said they did not have a plan in place and 44 said they did not know how to tackle the problem.
Comments
See Also
One in three teachers in Sweden 'probably' or 'definitely' won't continue working in schools until they retire, according to a survey carried out by pollsters Novus.
Among teachers under the age of 40, the figure rises to almost one in two (45 percent).
The survey results come as Sweden continues to face a teaching shortage, with almost 56,000 unfilled vacancies in education in October, according to Sweden's Employment Service.
"This is remarkable because we need more younger teachers who can take over from those who are retiring," union chair Eva-Lis Siren told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Many teachers say they are put off by the amount of administration they need to do alongside their classroom duties.
"I was very surprised at all the paperwork. There are records for children in need of special support, reviews, surveys and papers for the municipality," 29-year-old teacher Andreas Björkman told the newspaper.
"It's the most fun job to teach in classrooms. But I often feel that I am not able to give students the time they need. That's what makes me the most stressed out, I do not know how long I can feel that way".
The Novus survey also asked local authorities if they had a strategy for recruiting more teachers in the future.
Out of 193 areas, 43 said they did not have a plan in place and 44 said they did not know how to tackle the problem.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.