Teacher Attrition on the Rise in the Western Balkans
According to the OECD’s 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey, although teachers in the Western Balkans have high professional motivation, the sustainability of the teacher workforce is becoming an increasingly important issue in the region. The TALIS 2024 study, which included Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, revealed striking findings regarding teachers’ classroom experiences, working conditions, and professional learning opportunities.
According to the research, teachers in the region have stronger professional motivation compared with their colleagues in European Union and OECD countries. Except for Serbia, teachers report lower levels of stress and higher job satisfaction. However, the report notes that motivation declines with experience in North Macedonia and Serbia, while more than one-quarter of teachers in Montenegro and Serbia say they intend to leave the profession within the next five years.
The report emphasized that the overall teacher supply remains stable except in Montenegro, but the shortage of teachers capable of supporting students with special educational needs has become a serious problem. In all systems except Albania, school principals reported difficulties in finding teachers with sufficient competence in this area. In Kosovo and Montenegro, the shortage of teachers who can work in multicultural and multilingual environments also stood out.