19% of Ukrainian teachers plan to leave the profession by 2030. Meanwhile, only half of the students currently studying in pedagogical specialties are intending to work in schools in the near future.
This is according to the study Teachers of Ukraine: Human Resource Potential, which surveyed 10,000 school teachers and students.
According to the authors, the number of teachers in Ukrainian schools has significantly decreased since the start of the full-scale invasion—teachers have reduced by 12%, which is almost 40,000 people.
At the same time, among the respondents, only a slight majority (58%) plan to continue working as teachers until 2030. Another 19% of teachers want to leave the profession, and 23% remain undecided.
Plans for the future in the profession are partly related to the teachers' age—teachers aged 60 and older are the most likely to plan retirement, with 57% of them intending to leave.
Sociologists have also noticed another trend—younger teachers are less likely to say they intend to continue working in secondary education institutions.
"For example, 71% of educators aged 46-55 plan to stay in the profession until 2030, while only 42% of those under 25 say the same. This difference in responses between younger and older teachers indicates a risk of further aging of the teaching staff in Ukraine," the study concludes.
