The number of teaching vacancies in Slovakia has fallen by 31 percent year on year. But schools are still struggling to find teachers. According to data from the Edujobs job portal, primary and secondary schools across the country are currently looking to fill 343 teaching positions. The biggest shortage is in the Bratislava Region, with 137 vacancies, while the fewest are in the Žilina Region, with just 13. The disparity is largely linked to the higher cost of living in the capital.
Education Minister Tomáš Drucker (HLAS-SD) says that in areas where schools struggle to attract teachers, they are competing with other professions offering better salaries. Therefore, teachers in Bratislava, Trnava and Košice receive additional monthly payments to help bridge the gap.
Demand also varies by subject. While schools are struggling to find teachers of subjects such as mathematics and English, there is an oversupply of physical education teachers. According to Pavel Ondek, Chairman of the Education Workers’ Trade Union, making the profession more attractive could require financial incentives, particularly for teachers of subjects such as mathematics and physics. He says such measures could encourage more graduates of teacher-training faculties to enter the profession.
Data from Alma Career Slovakia, the country’s largest provider of job-search products and employee education services, shows that demand is currently strongest for lower-secondary teachers. On average, eight applicants respond to each teaching vacancy. However, Alma Career Slovakia PR manager Ľubica Melcerová explains schools are seeing much stronger interest in non-teaching positions. According to her vacancies for teaching assistants, cleaners and other support staff, including kitchen workers, attract between 40 and 60 applications on average.
Source: STVR
