Long wait for teachers

More than 120,000 university graduates are waiting to be appointed to teaching positions in public primary and secondary schools, and it will not happen anytime soon.

The desirability of a permanent teaching position and the inflexible state university education have produced a glut of qualified graduates with nowhere to go. Many turn to private schools cramming schools and private lessons, or altogether different sectors, while still waiting for the desired appointment.

Some spend years as substitutes, covering for absences on a need basis. The average age of newly appointed physics teachers is 49, and the average age of those actually teaching physics in secondary education is 54.