Abstract:

Population aging has been a problem for some time, especially in developed countries, including the EU. In connection with the aging of the population, the teaching staff is also aging at various levels of the education system. The aging of teachers can be a problem associated with the natural renewal of the teaching staff at various levels of the education system. Although with increasing age of teachers, a certain increase in pedagogical skills or authority with respect to students can be expected, there may also be deficits in, for example, the involvement of new technologies in the educational process, which also affects the quality of education. The article therefore focuses on the issue of the age structure of teachers in selected EU countries at various levels of the education system in the period from 2013 to 2019. It identifies countries where the problem of teacher aging is most pronounced. It compares these data with data on the number of students in education or teaching-oriented study programs, which are available through the Eurostat database. The performed analysis thus identifies the degree of intensity of the problem of aging of pedagogical staff in connection with the possibilities of renewal of the pedagogical staff by young teachers leaving teacher training with an effort to capture the outlook for the near future.

Keywords:

Teacher’s age structure, aging of teachers, entrants to education study.