Towards a Better Future

Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System
In 2013, the average salary cost of teachers per student in OECD countries was $2,677 at primary
and $3,350 at lower secondary level. Ireland’s costs were higher than the OECD average at $3,426
at primary and $4,063 at lower secondary level. The pattern was the same in Ireland at upper
secondary level although a number of countries had higher costs at upper secondary. While Ireland’s
teacher salary costs per student were higher than the OECD average, they were by no means the
highest, with eight countries having higher costs at primary and 11 having higher costs at lower
secondary level (OECD, 2015, p.299).
As the OECD points out, teachers’ salaries
represent the largest single cost in formal
education and have a direct impact on the
attractiveness of the teaching profession. They
influence decisions to enrol in teacher
education, to become a teacher after graduation
(as graduates’ career choices are associated with
relative earnings in teaching and non-teaching
occupations, and their likely growth over time),
to return to the teaching profession after a career
interruption, and/or to remain a teacher (as, in
general, the higher the salaries, the fewer the
people who choose to leave the profession).
“
As the OECD points out,
teachers’ salaries represent
the largest single cost in
formal education and have
a direct impact on the
attractiveness of the
teaching profession.
”
Burgeoning national debt, spurred by governments’ responses to the financial crisis of late 2008,
have put pressure on policy-makers to reduce government expenditure – particularly on public
payrolls. Since compensation and working conditions are important for attracting, developing and
retaining skilled and high-quality teachers, Education at a Glance advises that policy-makers should
carefully consider teachers’ salaries as they try to ensure both quality teaching and sustainable
education budgets (OECD, 2015, p.426).
The OECD figures show that the financial and economic crisis that hit the world economy in late
2008 significantly affected the salaries for civil servants and public sector workers in general. On
average across OECD countries with available data, teachers’ salaries decreased, for the first time
since 2000, by about 5% at all levels of education between 2009 and 2013. In England, Estonia,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Spain, teachers’ salaries were significantly
affected by the crisis (see Figure 4 below for a picture of the OECD as a whole.
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