Paris - (AFP) - From low wages to deteriorating working conditions, and from Germany to Niger through the United States, the teaching profession suffers from great difficulties in attracting teachers in a large number of countries in the world, in a phenomenon that has worsened since the Covid-19 epidemic crisis.

A document by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published in October speaks of a shortage of 69 million teachers worldwide to achieve "universal basic education by 2030".

Eric Charbonnier, an education expert at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, believes, "We can say that the Covid crisis revealed the importance of the teaching profession, and as a result, the issue of the attractiveness of the profession that existed before has gained importance."

"We have 4,000 vacancies for teachers this year in France, which is an increasing number, but the situation is not better anywhere else," he added.

In France, unprecedented recruitment difficulties prompted French Senator Gerard Longuet to extend the deadline for registration in competitions for the start of the 2023 academic year, two weeks in November, until Friday, due to a lack of candidates.

In a report presented in June, the right-winger Longuet spoke at the European level of the "attractiveness of the teaching profession" as "a general problem for countries, regardless of the level of wages".

According to national estimates, there will be a shortage of 25,000 teachers by 2025 in Germany, for example, and thirty thousand in Portugal by 2030.

Eric Charbonnier adds that Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Italy are facing "a large retirement wave, which will exacerbate the problem."

In detail, at the primary school level, sixty percent of teachers are over the age of fifty in Italy. This percentage is 37 percent in Germany, 42 percent in Portugal, 36 percent in Sweden and 23 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Various reasons can be pointed out, according to Reggie Malle, professor of educational sciences at the University of Bordeaux, among them "the low level of wages, especially in France, as well as the deterioration of working conditions and legal conditions, in addition to a dimension that has a strong significance that appears clearly, which is the lack of consideration and gratitude."

Malet, a member of the Institut de France Universitaire, told AFP that in a number of countries, particularly in France, a transition has taken place "from a profession with high social added value and prestige, to a form of uncertainty in the required tasks, a loss of meaning and finally a conflict" between school and life.

Other continents suffer from this deficiency as well.

In sub-Saharan Africa, "there is on average one qualified teacher for every 56 pupils at the primary level and one qualified teacher for 55 pupils at the secondary level," Berhane Chaqroun, director of UNESCO's Department of Education Policies and Systems, told AFP.

He added that by 2030, "Chad and Niger will have to double the number of primary school teachers they have."

In this part of the world, he added, the number of teachers being hired is "less than current and projected needs, and an additional 16.5 million teachers must be recruited by 2030".

The United States is experiencing an "unprecedented" crisis, according to Eric Charbonnier. At the end of August, the "Washington Post" newspaper reported a "catastrophic shortage," explaining that the country had "never witnessed such a dangerous situation."

The OECD expert stressed that the teacher shortage is "an issue of concern that must be acted upon" but that it is "not inevitable".

He added that "Finland, South Korea and Ireland are doing well, thanks to policies based on volunteerism, with appreciation of the profession by society."

In France, consultations to increase teachers' salaries began in October, and are supposed to end in late February or early March.