THE highest-earning Cypriot teachers are the third best paid in the EU, according to a report released by the European Commission (EC) last week.

This was according to the Teachers’ and School Heads’ Salaries and Allowances in Europe, 2011/12 Eurydice Report – compiled for the EC on the Eurydice network’s 34 members, which include the 27 EU member states, as well as Croatia, Serbia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

Luxemburg topped all the lists, with the average teacher’s annual salary reaching €86,745, though the cost of living there is considerably higher.

The average Cypriot teacher’s minimum wage (€29,614), ranked seventh of the 34 countries, while the maximum salary – €64,839 – was the third highest, falling behind Luxemburg and Liechtenstein, with €110,132 and €85,210 respectively.

In upper secondary education, the maximum statutory salaries in Cyprus, Hungary, Austria, Portugal and Romania more than double throughout a teacher’s career. 

In France and Cyprus, the maximum teachers’ salaries are almost, or more than, double those of teachers just starting out, taking around 20 years to reach the max.

In Cyprus, in 2010 and 2011 – during the financial crisis –  teachers’ salaries were increased by around 4.0 per cent each year. For 2012, due to budgetary restrictions, no cost of living allowance (CoLA) or increment was given.

The study also showed that the highest maximum salaries for teachers in Cyprus amounts to 282 per cent of the per capita GDP. In  Portugal the figure is 271 per cent, and Germany 211 per cent

Cyprus Mail

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