Only 30 out of 197 countries are anticipated to have enough secondary school teachers by 2030

Key takeaways:

  • Sub-Saharan Africa faces the biggest shortage, with 40 countries struggling to fill teaching positions in secondary schools.
  • Europe & Northern America (33 countries) and Latin America & the Caribbean (29 countries) are also at risk, showing that the teacher crisis isn’t just a developing-world issue.
  • Eastern Asia and Central Asia don’t have a single country expected to have enough secondary school teachers, indicating a major educational gap in these regions.
  • The impact of teacher shortages goes beyond education—overcrowded classrooms, exhausted teachers, and declining educational quality will harm future economic and workforce development.
  • Solving this crisis requires urgent action, from better teacher training to improved salaries and working conditions to attract more people to the profession.

By 2030, only 30 out of 197 countries are expected to have enough secondary school teachers. This paints a troubling picture as the vast majority of nations will struggle to fill classrooms with qualified educators. The hardest-hit region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where 40 countries are expected to have a shortage, followed closely by Europe & Northern America (33 countries) and Latin America & the Caribbean (29 countries).

In contrast, some regions have a few countries expected to have sufficient teachers, like Europe & Northern America (11), Latin America & the Caribbean (8), and Sub-Saharan Africa (4). However, these numbers are nowhere near enough to balance out the shortage crisis worldwide.​

Source:

UNESCO and Teacher Task Force

Period:

2030
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