Eurydice Study Shows Bulgarian Teachers Get Lowest Wages Across Europe

Bulgarian teachers are paid the lowest salaries among European countries.

This is shown by the latest annual report of Eurydice on Teachers' and School Heads' Salaries and Allowances conducted in 36 European countries during the 2014/2015 school year.

With an average wage of EUR 4970 per year, teachers in Bulgaria rank at the bottom.

Heads of schools in Bulgaria also receive lower salaries than their counterparts across Europe.

The trend has been for the teachers' minimum and maximum statutory salaries to increase across Europe in recent years.

In all countries, which have implemented reforms in the funding of the educational system, among which Bulgaria, the annual payment has increased with each consecutive year, although on a different level.

In Bulgaria, the average annual salary for one teacher amounted to EUR 4780 in the 2011-2012 school year, which compared to 2014/2015 shows a total increase of EUR 190.

Yet this increase of a little more than 1% is among the lowest registered across Europe.

Among the countries with highest annual salaries for teachers in primary and secondary levels of education, are the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, the UK and France where the annual salary starts from EUR 27 000 and can reach up to EUR 70 000.

School teachers in Luxembourg are the most well-paid. The minimum annual school teacher salary starts from EUR 72 000, while the maximum can exceed EUR 141 000.