Teacher labor force issues in the achievement of SDG 4

• In Event: Countdown to 2030 – Global Education Monitoring Report 2026: What explains progress in access to education in the past 20 years?

Proposal

Teacher issues are deeply connected to conversations around SDG 4, including equitable educational access. In line with the emphasis on equitable education access, this presentation focuses on a number of teacher policy issues and developments. To increase education access, many countries have expanded teacher staffing through different contractual arrangements. It highlights the important phenomenon of contract teachers, who are generally assigned to the most difficult areas to personnel, such as rural or less secure areas. It also highlights the importance of teachers with special qualifications, skills and languages to educate children in precarious living conditions, such as those who are internally displaced or refugees. Additionally, it highlights the pressing shortages at the secondary level and in STEM subjects, and issues of teacher preparation that impact access and quality simultaneously.

Overall, the session summarizes the global picture on the teacher labor force, and highlights how teacher remuneration, teacher preparation and geographics of teacher labor markets create complex constraints that can be system specific.

Author

• Amita Chudgar, Michigan State University