New dataset on teacher requirements around the world.

 

The UIS has assembled a new database to document the differences in teacher requirement policies around the world. This dataset was collected in response to decisions made at the UIS’s Technical Cooperation Group (TCG 9)to “Approve suitable country coverage (prevalence rate) to be used to determine the global metrics for minimum standard teachers’ qualification to teach a specific level of education (ISCED 02, 1, 2, 3)”. Multiple data sources were used to develop this database. First, data reported to the UIS through its regular country survey was collected and provided the primary source of information. In cases where there were gaps in this data, additional information was collected using sources available on-line from national legal documents (Table B1). The scope of the data collection included pre-primary, primary, lower and upper secondary teachers. The policy information collected in this dataset generally applied to public schools as well as private schools that receive funding from government. However, the extent to which private schools are included vary by country. In countries where teaching requirements are set by sub-national entities (e.g., provinces or states rather than nationally), the policies of the largest sub-national entity were used. The data includes 170 to 200 different countries, depending on the type of information.

The most common requirement to become a teacher is a bachelor’s degree or higher percent of countries requiring a bachelor’s degree increases with the level of education being taught. Analysis of the UIS’s new dataset on teacher requirements shows that, for all levels of education being taught, the most common requirement is a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent tertiary education level qualification (ISCED 6) or higher. The proportion of countries with this requirement increases with the level of education being taught. For instance, four in ten countries require pre-primary and primary teachers to have an ISCED 6 qualification, while five in ten countries require an ISCED 6 qualification at the lower secondary, while six in ten do so at the upper secondary levels, respectively (Figure 4).

Disparities in teaching requirements exist between regions especially at the pre-primary and primary level particularly in Africa and South and East Asia. Few countries require a qualification less than a bachelor’s degree for teachers teaching upper secondary, with significantly more diversity at the pre-primary level (Figure 5).

Source: UIS database on teacher requirements. Note: ISCED 1-Primary education; ISCED 2-Lower secondary; ISCED 3-Upper secondary; ISCED 4-Post-secondary non-tertiary; ISCED 5- Short-cycle tertiary; ISCED 6- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent tertiary; ISCED 7- Master’s degree or equivalent tertiary; ISCED 8-Doctoral degree or equivalent tertiary

At the preprimary level, the most prevalent minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree for most regions except Central and South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. At the primary level, the most prevalent qualification required in sub-Saharan Africa is upper-secondary (ISCED 3). This is the only region where the most prevalent qualification required is not a bachelor’s degree (ISCED 6). Seventeen percent of sub-Saharan African countries have lower secondary (ISCED 2) education as the minimum required qualification to teach (Figure 6); by contrast, the lowest accepted qualification in Europe and North America is a short cycle post-secondary qualification (ISCED 5) and only in 1 out 10 countries.

Minimum qualifications for teaching are much lower in countries with lower income. The regional disparity in teaching qualifications is also reflected in terms of countries’ income classification. About four percent of low-income countries have set a minimum qualification for teaching pre-primary to be a bachelor’s degree or higher and just 10 percent of low-income countries request for teaching primary a bachelor’s degree or more (ISCED 6); whereas, nearly 7 out of 10 high-income countries require a bachelor’s degree to teach pre-primary and nearly 8 out of 10 require a bachelor’s degree to teacher primary (Figure 6). Only about 3 our 10 low-income countries require a bachelor’s degree for teaching lower-secondary level (ISCED 2) while this is a requirement for over 8 out of 10 high-income countries. At the upper secondary level (ISCED 3), 3 out of 10 high-income countries require teachers to have a master’s degree (or equivalent tertiary education level, ISCED 7) to teach, while only 1 one out of 10 of low-income countries have this requirement.