More male teachers in secondary than primary schools, EU data shows

Teachers across Malta and the EU remain predominantly female • Share of male teachers in secondary schools stood at 36% in 2014, compared to the 14% at primary level

The absolute majority of teachers in Malta at both primary and secondary levels are women, mostly aged less than 50, data released by the European Union’s statistical office reconfirms.

Split between men and women, the data shows that male teachers were more engaged in secondary schools (36%), as opposed to primary schools (14%) in 2014.

The percentage of female teachers in primary schools stood at 86% whilst reaching 64% in secondary schools.

The number of teachers aged 50 or over in primary and secondary schools stood at 12% and 15% respectively.

The share of teachers across the EU
The share of teachers across the EU

On the occasion of the World Teachers' Day, celebrated each year on 5 October, Eurostat published data on the gender and age structure of the teaching staff in the EU.

In 2014, 2.1 million persons worked as primary school teachers in the EU. Women were largely predominant, accounting for 85% (1.7 million teachers). In secondary schools, including both lower secondary and upper secondary levels, there were 3.6 million teachers, of which 64% (2.3 million) were female.

Of the primary school teachers working in the EU, 0.2 million persons (11% of the total) were under 30-years-old, while 0.7 million (around 32%) were aged 50 or older.

In secondary schools, the share of teachers aged 50 or older was higher – 38% or 1.4 million people –, and the share of young teachers under 30 was lower – 8% or 0.3 million people.