In the past, discussions about teachers often seemed relegated to World Teachers' Day—with teachers and teaching receding from prominence for the rest of the year. This year, however, feels different.

The global shortage of teachers—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and long simmering teacher frustrations with poor pay and working conditions—has cast a stark light on the existential threats to education that we can no longer afford to ignore.

UNESCO and teachers’ unions have long warned of the impending challenge of meeting 2030 teacher recruitment goals that require hiring 44 million new teachers across the globe.

Once seemingly confined to lower-income countries, teaching shortages are now globally pervasive occurring in both high- and low-income contexts. The core frustrations faced by teachers worldwide are remarkably consistent and demand immediate attention.

The quantity gap

This teaching crisis is two-fold, marked by a mass exodus from the profession and a lack of qualified new teachers. England, for instance, has seen over 40,000 teachers—nearly 9% of the workforce—leave the profession in just 2 years.

In Portugal, the 2023-2024 school year has been marked by teacher strikes and empty classrooms due to a severe shortage of educators: 34,500 for 1.2 million students. The United States is grappling with an unprecedented wave of teacher resignations due to politically charged parental rights movements, culture wars and fears of school shootings.

Students at low-income schools are disproportionately affected, with 40% of their teachers considering leaving the profession compared to 25% in wealthier schools. Even countries like Ireland, which traditionally enjoyed a surplus of teachers, are witnessing the rising cost of living drive many in its highly regarded teaching force to seek teaching opportunities abroad.

India alone has a shortfall of 1 million primary school teachers. Of the 44 million new teachers needed globally by 2030, sub-Saharan Africa needs one third of them (15 million) for its rapidly growing student populations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of primary and secondary education for all.

The quality gap

The teaching crisis extends beyond teacher quantity to concerns about teaching quality. To address these acute shortages, many countries have hired inadequately trained teachers, thereby exacerbating the problem and straining education budgets with additional salaries for unqualified educators.

Fewer than 50% of teachers in countries like Angola, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and South Sudan meet basic teacher training standards.

Poorly qualified teachers are often the norm in many low-income countries, with rural students suffering the most from inadequate teacher quality. In many countries, rural teachers in particular lack adequate (or any) coursework qualifications, resulting in poor educational outcomes, especially in mathematics.

Providing and improving teacher training pose significant financial burdens on education ministries that surpass the challenge of recruiting new teachers since developing skills for a majority of the teaching corps is often more expensive than hiring new teachers.

There’s got to be an easier way to make a living…

The above grim tale raises two fundamental questions: first, in the face of disrespect, poor pay and threats to their well-being, why would anyone still aspire to become a teacher? And second, how do we begin to address this global teaching crisis?

Since 2020, I have talked with over 100 teachers spanning both primary and secondary education from 17 countries across a spectrum of economic backgrounds: from affluent nations like the United States and Ireland, middle-income countries such as Jamaica and South Africa and teachers in rural schools in Zambia and India. These interviews form an integral part of the background research on teachers and technology for the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report.

Throughout these conversations, a consistent theme recurs: many teachers feel increasingly unprepared to accommodate the evolving knowledge landscape and multifaceted needs of their learners and to prepare their students for the demands of the 21^st-century workforce—feelings that make them question their effectiveness as teachers and that are highly demotivating.

Only then can they enhance their knowledge and skills, employing the most effective teaching methods and tools to better serve their students. Education systems are perceived as failing to provide these crucial elements to their teaching force.

The insights and experiences gleaned from these interviews will guide the content of my next 3 blog posts, each dedicated to exploring distinct aspects of teaching quality. The posts will examine pre-service education, ongoing professional development and the pivotal role of technology in improving access to and quality of education for both teachers and their students.

By tapping into teachers' wisdom, experiences and recommendations, we can craft effective solutions that inspire individuals to enter and remain in the teaching profession.

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Read our full blog series on teachers and teaching.