Joel D. Sherman, Ph.D. Secretariat of Public Education – Mexico UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Nassau, Bahamas 9-10 December 2008

Questions to Analyze Concerning Teachers Salaries  Which countries have the highest starting salaries? salaries for teachers with more experience?  Which countries have the largest differential in salaries between starting teachers and teachers with more experience?  Do countries with higher national wealth consistently have higher teachers salaries? At all levels of experience?  How do teachers salaries stand in relation to national economies?  How have teachers salaries changed over the period between 1999 and 2005?

Organizing Tables to Address These Questions  Rank order countries on starting salaries, separately for WEI countries, OECD countries and all countries.  Analyze differences in starting salaries across countries.  Conduct the same analyses based on salaries at 15 years of experience and the top of the salary scale.  Examine relationship between starting salaries and salaries at 15 years and at the top of the salary schedule.

Organizing Tables to Address These Questions (continued)  Examine percentage change in salaries between starting salaries and salaries at 15 years of experience and salaries at the top of the salary schedule.  Conduct same analyses comparing salaries in relation to GDP per capita.  Examine relationship between GDP per capita and starting salaries, salaries at 15 years and salaries at the top of the scale.

General Findings: Teachers Salaries  Starting salaries range substantially across WEI countries – from $3,373 in Indonesia to $20,115 in Tunisia in Starting teachers in Tunisia earn nearly six times as much as their counterparts in Indonesia.  The differential in starting salaries across OECD countries is nearly as great, with teachers in Luxembourg earning over five times as much as teachers in Hungary ($70,908, compared to $13,706).  The differential increases dramatically for teachers with greater experience in both WEI and OECD countries. Teachers at the top of the scale in Malaysia have a salary over 6.5 times that of teachers in Indonesia, and teachers in Luxembourg earn over 5.6 times as much as teachers in Turkey.

General Findings: Teachers Salaries (continued)  Starting salaries are highly correlated with salaries for teachers with more experience. Countries with lower starting teacher salaries also tend to pay lower salaries for teachers with more experience, and vice versa.  Teachers whose salaries are relatively low in international comparisons do not always fare poorly in their compensation in relation to their own national economies (measured by their salaries relative to national average GDP per capita).  Among WEI countries, Peru, Jordan and the Philippines, teachers’ salaries are all below the WEI average. However, these salaries are still above their national average GDP per capita.

General Findings: Teachers Salaries (continued)  Among OECD countries, this is also the case for Portugal, the Republic of Korea and Turkey.  Teachers whose salaries are relatively high in international comparisons are not always well compensated in relation to their own national economies (measured by their salaries relative to national average GDP per capita).  Norway, for example, has above-OECD-average teacher salaries, but these salaries are below average compared to Norway’s average GDP per capita.

Country Focus: Argentina  Starting teachers salaries in Argentina ($9,734) fall below the WEI mean ($10,316) and well below the mean for all WEI and OECD countries with data ($24,346).  Teachers with 15 years of experience and at the top of the salary scale in Argentina also earn less than the average salary of teachers in all WEI countries and all WEI and OECD countries with data.  Starting teachers and teachers with 15 years experience have salaries that fall below the national average GDP per capita, but teachers at the top of the scale have salaries that are about 6 percent higher than this figure.

Country Focus: Malaysia  Teachers salaries in Malaysia are consistently higher than the WEI average, but well below the average for all WEI and OECD countries with data.  Compared to Malaysia’s national economy, however, Malaysia’s teachers are relatively well compensated. Starting teachers’ salaries ($11,680) are about 14 percent higher than national average GDP per capita ($10,265).  Teachers with 15 years experience ($20,445) earn nearly twice the national average GDP per capita and teachers at the top of the scale ($31,028) earn over three times this figure.

General Findings: Wealth and Teachers Salaries  Wealthier countries generally pay higher teachers salaries than less affluent countries, but teachers in wealthier countries are not always well compensated, compared to national standards.  Less affluent countries in which salaries for starting teachers exceed the national average GDP per capita include Chile, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines and Tunisia, among WEI countries, as well as Portugal, the Republic of Korea and Turkey, among OECD countries.  More affluent countries in which starting salaries for teachers fall below the national average GDP per capita include the following OECD countries: Austria, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.

General Findings: Wealth and Teachers Salaries (continued)  Teachers with greater experience are generally compensated at levels that exceed their national average GDP per capita.  Among WEI countries with available data, salaries for teachers with 15 years experience are higher than the national average GDP per capita in all countries except Argentina and Uruguay.  Among OECD countries with available data, salaries are above national average GDP per capita in all countries except Ireland and Norway.

Country Focus: Argentina  Starting teachers in Argentina are not well compensated relative to their national economy, earning only $9,734, or 73 percent on national average GDP per capita. Only teachers in Uruguay are less well compensated.  Teachers with 15 years experience are better compensated, but still only earn 92 percent of national average GDP per capita. Again, only teachers in Uruguay are less well compensated.  Teachers at the top of the salary scale in Argentina earn about 6 percent more than the national average GDP per capita, but teachers in all other WEI and OECD countries except Uruguay, Iceland and Norway fare better than their counterparts in Argentina.

Country Focus: Malaysia  Teachers in Malaysia are consistently well compensated by national standards. Starting teachers earn 14 percent more than the national average GDP per capita, teachers with 15 years experience earn nearly twice the national average, and teachers at the top of the salary scale earn over three times the national average.  Among WEI countries, starting teachers are better compensated than their peers in Indonesia, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, but less well compensated than teachers in Peru, Jordan, the Philippines, Paraguay, India and Tunisia.  Teachers at the top of the scale in Malaysia are better compensated than similar teachers in Indonesia, Uruguay, Peru, the Philippines, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Only teachers in Jordan, India and Tunisia are better compensated than their counterparts in Malaysia.

General Findings: Salaries for Teachers with More Greater Experience  Teachers with more experience earn higher salaries in all WEI and OECD countries with data except Peru and Paraguay.  Among WEI countries, teachers with 15 years experience earn less than 10 percent more than starting teachers in Tunisia and Uruguay.  At the other end of the spectrum, teachers in Malaysia with 15 years experience earn 75 percent more than starting teachers and teachers in Thailand earn almost 2½ times more than starting teachers.

General Findings: Salaries for Teachers with More Greater Experience (continued)  There is no relationship between a country’s starting salary and the increments that are paid to teachers with additional years of experience.  In most WEI countries, which all have relatively low starting salaries, the salary increase for teachers with 15 years experience is below the 37 percent average increase for all WEI and OECD countries with data. Only Thailand, Jordan and Malaysia have above-average increases.  OECD countries, which generally have higher salaries, are split, with about half showing above-average increases for teachers with 15 years experience. These countries include Japan, Ireland, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.

Country Focus: Argentina  Teachers in Argentina with 15 years experience earn about 25 more than starting teachers and teachers at the top of the scale earn about 45 percent more.  Salary increments for teachers with more experience fall below the average increase for WEI and OECD countries with data – 37 percent for teachers with 15 years experience and 66 percent for teachers at the top of the salary scale.  Salary increments for teachers with more experience fall in the mid-range compared to other WEI countries. They are generally larger than the increases in Uruguay, Peru, the Philippines, Paraguay and Tunisia, but smaller than those in Indonesia, Thailand, Jordan, Chile Malaysia and India.

Country Focus: Malaysia  Teachers in Malaysia with 15 years experience earn about 75 more than starting teachers and teachers at the top of the scale earn about 2½ times as much as starting teachers.  Salary increments for teachers with more experience are higher than the average increase for WEI and OECD countries with data – 37 percent for teachers with 15 years experience and 66 percent for teachers at the top of the salary scale.  Salary increments for teachers with more experience fall are much higher than in other WEI countries. Only Thailand provides larger increments for teachers with greater experience than Malaysia.

General Findings: Changes in Teachers Salaries – 1999 to 2005  Starting salaries increased in most WEI and OECD countries between 1999 and The increases ranged from 2.1 percent in Thailand to nearly 180 percent in Indonesia. However, even with the increase, Indonesia still had the lowest starting salaries of all countries in  In four WEI countries – Argentina, Uruguay, Malaysia and the Philippines – starting salaries declined over the period. Declines exceeded 25 percent in Uruguay and 32 percent in Argentina.  Similar changes in salaries occurred for teachers with 15 years of experience and for teachers at the top of the salary scale.

General Findings: Changes in Teachers Salaries – 1999 to 2005 (continued)  Starting salaries tended to increase more in countries with lower salaries in 1999 in both WEI and OECD countries.  Four WEI countries with relatively low starting salaries in 1999 – Argentina, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay – all had declines in salaries between 1999 and  Four other WEI countries – Chile, Jordan, Thailand and Tunisia – all had below-average increases in salaries over the period.  Only Peru had a salary increase for starting teachers that exceeded the country average of 31 percent.

Country Focus: Argentina  Argentina had the third-highest starting teacher salary among WEI countries in 1999 ($14,426). With a decline of 32 percent between 1999 and 2005, Argentina dropped to the middle of the WEI rankings in  Salaries of teachers decreased by 42 percent for teachers with 15 years experience and by 44 percent for teachers at the top of the salary scale.

Country Focus: Malaysia  Salaries for starting teachers in Malaysia decreased by 8 percent between 1999 and 2005, but Malaysia still ranked third among WEI countries in starting teachers salaries in  In contract, salaries for teachers with more experience, increased over the 1999 to 2005 period. Salaries increased by about 2 percent for teachers with 15 years experience and by ab0ut 12 percent for teachers at the top of the salary scale.  As a result, teachers at the top of the salary scale had the highest salaries of WEI countries with data in 2005.