The shortage of teachers in the canton of Lucerne is so acute that the education department is already trying to persuade retirees to return to work (zentralplus reported). The reasons for the situation are varied. Again and again the high workload is mentioned, which makes the job unattractive.
The Federal Statistical Office has now published new figures on how much work is done in Switzerland. The following is striking in the area of “education and teaching”: Across Switzerland, the weekly working time of full-time teachers with permanent contracts has steadily decreased over the past ten years from 43.3 to 39.8 hours today.
Number of working hours is stable – or rather decreasing
Is there a lawsuit at a high level? Do Lucerne teachers work less than ten years ago? “The hours to be worked vary from year to year – depending on the location of the public holidays,” writes the department for elementary education at the request of central plus.
Ten years ago, according to the job description, an average of around 1,900 working hours were worked per year. During the austerity measures, it was 1,942 hours – that’s an extra working week. In the current year there are 1,886 working hours. “The teachers work accordingly no less than ten years ago,” concludes the department.
There is an age bonus during the holidays
However: As far as the holidays are concerned, the Lucerne teachers are better off today. Ten years ago they were entitled to four weeks of vacation up to the age of 50, today it is five. “Teachers have six weeks of vacation from the age of 50 and seven weeks from the age of 60,” adds the Department for Primary Education.
However, since an additional week of vacation was added, 1½ public holidays were also cancelled. For teachers, the additional vacation weeks from the age of 50 are referred to as age relief.
Good work-life balance: part-time work is the norm
There are a total of around 6,000 teachers at primary schools in the canton of Lucerne. What is striking is that only just under 20 percent work full-time. Is that because a high workload can hardly be managed?
“The trend is clearly towards part-time work,” confirms the agency. However, the trend towards part-time work is not only to be observed in the education sector. “It is apparent throughout society and in almost all sectors. The part-time work model is widely recognized and accepted by society.»
The department does not name the high workload as a possible reason for the increasing number of part-time jobs. The canton does not answer the question of how many teachers in the canton of Lucerne were on sick leave in 2021 due to burnout. “Due to the protection of privacy”, as it is called.
Wages are increasing year after year
Could it be because of unattractive wages that the teaching profession has lost some of its luster? It is not entirely clear how the figures in question have developed over the past ten years: “It is not possible to give exact figures here that apply to the teachers as a whole,” says the agency. This is because the wage system is a “very complex structure”. Transparency looks different.
One thing is clear: since 2012, all elementary school teachers have been classified at least one wage class higher (kindergarten teachers even two wage classes). “It can therefore be said in general that there has been a systematic wage development,” the agency said. There were annual wage adjustments of between 0.5 and 1.5 percent. Many in the private sector can only dream of this.
Nevertheless, the dropout rate is high
Although the time workload for teachers tends to decrease, many leave the profession soon after graduating from the University of Education (PH). “There are many reasons why teachers leave the PH after a few years or shortly after graduating,” says the agency.
“In addition to the time burden, there are also individually different and differently perceived burdens,” writes the department for elementary school education. This can be, for example, difficult class situations, but also family or professional reasons. “Since we have a great deal of flexibility/permeability on the labor market today, such new orientations and reorientations have become commonplace.” This is a phenomenon that occurs throughout society.
This may be. The problem of the shortage of teachers in Lucerne is certainly not getting any smaller because of this.
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