“We must better recognize and better pay our teachers”, assured President Emmanuel Macron on April 20 during a trip to a college in Hérault. For this, the Head of State announced an increase of between “100 and 230 euros net” per month. All “without doing an extra hour”, he insisted. The measure will be effective from the start of the next school year and will concern all career levels. Thus in September 2023 teachers will earn on average 10% more than in 2020, assures the Ministry of National Education.
Added to this is the “teacher pact”, which teachers can choose to join or not, and which consists of offering additional remuneration – up to 500 euros net per month – to those who accept additional assignments: short-term replacements, orientation support, participation in the “Homework done” scheme, success courses during school holidays, etc.
Eric Charbonnier, analyst at the OECD’s education directorate, comments on what he considers to be progress, without losing sight of the path that remains to be accomplished.
L’Express: The ministry announces a “historic revaluation” of teachers’ remuneration. Is this step in the right direction?
Eric Charbonnier: Of course, better paying teachers can only go in the right direction. Even if the details of this plan deserve to be studied more carefully, it is clear that this measure will allow us to catch up a little. At the start of their career, the salaries of French teachers are 7 to 8% lower than the average for OECD countries. The gap will continue to widen thereafter since, after fifteen years of practice, teachers earn about 20% less than those in other countries. France has not always lagged behind, but it is true that since the 1980s our country has tended to invest less in education. However, we are not the only ones affected by this situation. In some countries, such as Italy or Belgium, teachers’ salaries are roughly equivalent to those in France. While German professors earn almost twice as much as their French counterparts. But Germany, like many other countries, does not escape the crisis of attractiveness of the profession. Like what compensation is not everything.
Part of the increase in teachers’ salaries will be unconditional, the other will be linked to the acceptance of new assignments. However, many National Education staff say they are already overwhelmed with tasks… Do French teachers work more than the others?
It is very difficult to answer this question since it is necessary to take into account all that is called “the invisible hours” and which are complicated to evaluate. In our calculations, we tend to estimate that for one hour of teaching, there is approximately one hour of preparation. Some national statistics also state that teachers work an average of 43 hours per week. But really I think it depends on the teachers. I imagine that a beginner has a lot more work ahead of time, that he also has to get used to correcting the copies but that as he goes along he ends up going faster. What is clear is that the profession of teacher is not limited to teaching in front of students.
One of the new missions, particularly highlighted by the Head of State, is that of short-term replacements. Does this measure seem easily applicable to you?
In some countries like Germany, working time is annualized unlike in France where it is calculated by weeks. However, annualization allows more flexibility in organizing replacements. It seems interesting to me to open the reflection and the debate on this subject in France. Keeping in mind that the quality of an education system is measured by the quality of its teachers. It is not enough to replace one teacher with another. For this to work, both must have equal and strong skills.
Will this replacement system be sufficient to solve, as of the next school year, the problem of the lack of teachers as promised by Emmanuel Macron?
No that will not be enough. The fact is that today, it is very difficult to recruit teachers. The rise in wages, even if it constitutes a first lever, will not be able on its own to solve the crisis of attractiveness of the profession. To keep the system going, we realize that we have to rely more and more on contract workers and this trend is likely to increase further in the years to come. Teachers must be able to have development prospects throughout their career, benefit from stimulating training, participate in a culture of cooperation in establishments… Beyond the salary, many other avenues deserve to be studied to so that this profession becomes exciting again and regains some of its letters of nobility.