Serbia is in the group of countries whose teachers are the least satisfied with their salaries. Only 18 percent of our teachers say they are satisfied with their pay, which is lower than the OECD average of 39 percent, according to the results of the TALIS 2024 survey.
Teaching and Learning International Survey (THALIS) is an international survey on teaching and learning under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Security (OECD), which offers an opportunity for teachers and school principals from all over the world to share experiences and views on their work with the aim of improving the quality of learning and teaching.
Research is conducted in six-year cycles, and our country has been part of this study since 2013. More than 50 educational systems participated in TALIS 2024.
Although the results were published in October last year, the national report was published in Serbia only recently Institute for Evaluation of the Quality of Education and Trainingwho realizes this study.
The sample consisted of 199 elementary schools, and the same number of principals and 3,993 teachers filled out the survey.
The analysis found that teachers who are satisfied with their pay are about 41 percent less likely to consider leaving the profession in the next five years than their dissatisfied counterparts, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics, as well as teacher intrinsic motivation and contract type.
Teachers in Serbia under the age of 30, as well as less experienced teachers, are more satisfied with their salary than their older and more experienced colleagues.
“Although teacher salaries tend to increase with years of experience, beginning teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries in 16 education systems.
The share of novice teachers who are satisfied with their salaries is more than 15 percentage points higher than among their more experienced colleagues in Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal and Serbia.
“In contrast, there are 13 education systems where more experienced teachers are more likely to be satisfied with their salaries,” the report says.
According to the researchers, these results indicate that pay is only one of many factors that influence teachers’ job satisfaction and their decisions to leave the profession.
Intrinsic motivation, such as social usefulness and enjoyment of teaching, and other employment conditions, such as material benefits, career advancement and work schedule, are more consistent ways to predict career intention, the analysis points out.
According to the research results, two out of three teachers “agree” or “completely agree” that they are satisfied with the working conditions (except for the salary), while in Serbia less than half of the teachers are satisfied with this (42 percent).
Those who are satisfied with working conditions are about 45 percent less likely to consider leaving the profession in the next five years than their dissatisfied counterparts, after accounting for teacher and school characteristics, as well as teacher intrinsic motivation and contract type.
In most education systems, teachers’ satisfaction with working conditions (apart from pay) does not vary by contract length. In Serbia, the situation is different, so teachers with fixed-term contracts are more satisfied with the employment conditions than their colleagues who are employed for an indefinite period by 11.5 percentage points.
The status of the teaching profession
High-performing educational systems often employ teachers who feel valued, and there is a positive correlation between the social prestige of the profession and student achievement. The higher social status of the teaching profession can help attract better candidates to the profession and retain experienced teachers, who serve as a key external motivator.
In Serbia, 16 percent of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that the teaching profession has a high social reputation, which is lower than the OECD average of 22 percent.
About 18.5 percent of our teachers believe that their views are valued by the creators of educational policies. Teachers’ perception of the appreciation of educational policy makers may be partly related to salary satisfaction.
Image in the media
Media coverage plays a key role in shaping public attitudes toward teaching and teachers.
Positive portrayals of teachers can enhance the social prestige and authority of the profession, while negative media coverage can weaken its reputation. This evidence is supported by the somewhat negative portrayal of teachers in the media
While more than eight out of ten teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in the media in their country/region in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, less than one in ten teachers state the same in the French Community of Belgium, Croatia, France, Japan and Poland, and in Serbia about 14 percent of teachers.
From the point of view of society
Teachers’ attitudes about the social value of their profession are often aligned with their perceptions of media representation and respect shown to them by educational policy makers.
While more than eight in ten teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, less than one in ten teachers state the same in the French Community of Belgium, Croatia, France, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. In Serbia, almost 16 percent of teachers believe that the teaching profession is valued in society.
Attractiveness of the teaching profession
Choosing teaching as your first career choice may indicate how attractive this profession is. Over six out of ten novice teachers on average, and over seven out of ten teachers in Serbia (with five years of teaching experience or less) state that teaching was their first career choice.
“Examining how many teachers choose this profession as their first career choice, by age group, can illuminate changes in its attractiveness over time. In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the proportion of teachers aged 50 and over who say teaching was their first career choice is over 20 percent higher than among teachers under 30. These systems face an aging teaching population, a high risk of attrition among teachers under 30, and a decrease in the attractiveness of this profession.” profession”, the analysis points out.
In Serbia, approximately the same number of younger (75 percent) and older teachers (79 percent) state that teaching was their first career choice, while slightly more experienced teachers state this compared to those with less experience in teaching (82 versus 72 percent). In this regard, the difference in favor of female teachers in Serbia is nine percentage points compared to male teachers.
Two out of ten teachers under the age of 30 intend to leave teaching in the next five years, and it is similar in Serbia, where that percentage is 24 percent.
Teachers under the age of 30 are more likely to want to leave teaching in the next five years than their colleagues between the ages of 30 and 49.
About 15 percent of teachers between the ages of 30 and 49 on average, and 19 percent in Serbia intend to leave teaching.
In many fields, younger workers (under 35) are more likely to look for another job than their older counterparts, driven by factors such as changing social norms, changing career goals and lack of support.
Where after school?
TALIS 2024 asked teachers how likely they were to leave teaching within five years due to employment outside education, continuing education, personal or family reasons, or retirement.
On average, teachers under the age of 30 most often cite personal or family reasons (46 percent), work outside of education (46 percent), and further education (42 percent).
In Serbia, teachers under the age of 30 most often plan to leave teaching because of work outside education (55 percent), non-teaching positions in education (34 percent) and for personal or family reasons (32 percent).
For teachers aged 30 to 49, the most common reasons are personal or family (44 percent), work outside education (39 percent) and non-teaching positions in education (36 percent). In Serbia, the most common reasons are work outside of education (47 percent), personal or family reasons (42 percent) and transition to non-teaching positions in education (35 percent).
Teachers’ intention to leave teaching in the next five years does not differ between genders in most education systems.
However, there are differences in Serbia: 20 percent of female teachers and 30 percent of male teachers under the age of 30 intend to leave teaching. When it comes to teachers between the ages of 30 and 49, the number of female teachers who intend to leave teaching remains the same – 20 percent, but the number of male teachers halves – 15 percent.
The research also showed that 84 percent of teachers in Serbia believe that teaching matches their abilities and that they like working with children.
More than three out of five teachers (in Serbia, it’s about 75 percent) state that influencing the next generation and making a valuable contribution to society are factors of “great importance” to them.
The proportion of female teachers citing social utility as a very important factor for teaching tends to be higher compared to male teachers. In Serbia, even 78 percent of female teachers and 68 percent of male teachers report this. However, in Japan and Shanghai (China), male teachers are more likely to think that influencing the next generation is very important.
Enjoying the lesson
Almost all teachers in all education systems have this enthusiasm, feel happy while teaching and love the subject they teach.
In addition, 90 percent of teachers who completed the survey “agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement that the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction. In Serbia, as many as 99.4 percent of teachers like the subject they teach, and 96 percent teach with enthusiasm and feel happy, while 91 percent say that the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction.
Compared to their colleagues under the age of 30, teachers aged 50 and over are, according to the international average, more likely to report that the interesting challenges of teaching give them satisfaction.
However, in Serbia there is no difference between younger and older teachers.
Temporary work
On average, four out of five teachers have a contract for an indefinite period, and in Serbia 73 percent.
The proportion of teachers employed on fixed-term contracts is significantly higher among teachers under 30 years of age) and novice teachers (those with five years of teaching experience or less) compared to their colleagues over 50 years of age) and more experienced colleagues (those with more than ten years of teaching experience).
In Serbia, the difference between younger and older teachers, when it comes to fixed-term contracts, is as much as 81 percentage points, or 76 percentage points, when it comes to teaching experience.
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