Public education crisis in France: Why are teachers increasingly quitting their jobs?

French public school teachers are quitting their jobs at a concerning rate. In the space of just a decade from 2012 to 2022, the number of departures has quadrupled.

While the number of resignations is still relatively moderate in comparison to the total number of teachers in France, the exponential growth in the number of teachers quitting is concerning.

The French public education system, which serves 80 per cent of the country’s students, is grappling with significant staffing shortages.

As of July, 3,185 teaching positions remained unfilled for the 2024-2025 school year. The previous school year alone saw 15 million teaching hours lost due to absent teachers.

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Why are teachers in France quitting their jobs?

Educators in the European nation are facing overcrowded classrooms, excessive workloads, and insufficient pay, according to a report by France24.

French teachers’ salaries regularly fall below the average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), comprised of 38 countries. This is happening despite the French government spending more per student than other OECD countries.

Low pay is exacerbated by long hours and one of the worst pupil-teacher ratios in Europe. Many teachers also face the added burden of performing administrative tasks in large classrooms, often with more than 30 students.

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Government policies aren’t helping

In an attempt to address the shortages, the government launched a scheme in 2022 to hire contract teachers on short-term contracts. However, many of these contract teachers, often without prior teaching experience or sufficient training, left the profession shortly after starting. This has left public schools heavily dependent on young, inexperienced teachers, many of whom struggle with the challenging conditions and low pay.

To make matters worse, school administrations are not very helpful, leaving the educators feeling like they are stuck in an ugly middle position.

Despite years of promises from various administrations, reforms have failed to address the core challenges of the profession.