At €17,509, Average Maltese Teachers’ Salaries Are Seriously Trailing Other European Countries
Newly released statistics show that average starting salaries of Maltese teachers are lagging way behind those of their European peers.
Data compiled by the European Commission, Eurydice and EACEA and published by Euronews show that the average gross starting salary for Maltese teachers working in public schools at lower secondary level (ie Form 1 – Form 3) stood at €17,509 as of 2020/21.
This is behind the European average of €25,055 and lower than 18 other countries. In comparison, the highest teacher salaries in Europe can be found in Luxembourg (€69,076), Switzerland (€66,972) and Germany (€54,129), with the lowest in Serbia (€6,646), Bosnia & Herzegovina (€6,120) and Albania (€4,233).
Data: Euronews
Malta sinks further down the list when it comes to ranking salaries by the Purchasing Power Standard, an artificial unit defined by Eurostat to adjust for cost of living difference between countries.
With a PPS of 19,148, Malta is 23rd on the list – in comparison, Germany comes first with a 50,357 PPS, followed by Luxembourg (46,066 PPS) and Switzerland (38,601 PPS).
When it comes to comparing European teachers’s salaries to the minimum wage, Malta has a ratio of 1.9, on par with Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
Germany and Luxembourg once more come out on top, with Montenegro third.
Data: Euronews
Malta at least scored better when it came to changes in annual gross starting salaries over the past decade, registering an increase of 54% between 2009/10 and 2020/21.
This means that Maltese teacher salaries rose at the joint 11th fastest rate in Europe, but at a way slower rate than the likes of Lithuania (269%), Romania (193%) and Bulgaria (180%).
Turkey is the only country where starting teaching salaries declined over the decade, a factor which has been attributed to the recent collapse of the Turkish lira.
PN MP Justin Schembri
In a recent article on In-Nazzjon, PN MP and education spokesperson Justin Schembri argued that these statistics disprove PL “propaganda” that everything is rosy within the education system.
“The PL promised that teachers’ salaries will increase substantially so will we see increases comparable with countries that are truly investing in their educators? Time will tell.”
The government’s collective agreement with teachers is set to expire by the end of the year, meaning that a new deal will have to be negotiated with the Malta Union of Teachers.
Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged last March that teachers’ salaries will increase “significantly” if the PL wins the 2022 election, stating that teachers “deserve it for all they’re doing for our children”.
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