"The aim of the survey was to find out how Czech teachers perceive the appreciation of their work—both financially and non-financially—after the demanding Covid period, what they enjoy about their job, and what, on the contrary, annoys them. Somewhat surprisingly, half of the teachers expressed satisfaction with the current level of their salary, and one-fifth had a neutral stance on it. They are more irritated by other things, such as burdensome administration or the approach of some parents, who, according to the teachers, shift their own responsibility for raising children onto the school," summarized Radek Schich, director of GTS Alive.

Dissatisfied or rather dissatisfied with the amount of their salary are “only” just under one-third of teachers, many of them from Prague, where they face higher living costs. On the other hand—when asked in more general terms whether current salaries in education are sufficiently motivating—three quarters of them answered that they are not.

One of the survey questions focused on how much a teacher’s salary should be influenced by the quality of their performance as assessed by the school leadership. More than half of the respondents believe this aspect should play a greater role than it currently does. Just under a third of teachers would keep the current system unchanged, and only a small minority would reduce the influence of work quality on salary.

And what do teachers enjoy most about their work? The answers were very clear: working with children, young people, and students – in other words, teaching itself and passing on knowledge to the younger generation. Many teachers appreciate that the results of their work are quickly visible, and that they receive direct or indirect feedback. They take pride in their students’ successes. Young people give them energy, and teachers often learn from them as well. Their work is varied, diverse, and creative. Every lesson is different. Some teachers also openly admitted that they very much enjoy having school holidays.

When asked what frustrates them most about their job, teachers frequently mentioned the excessive paperwork and bureaucracy. Many feel more like office clerks at times, with some of the documents they’re required to fill out seeming entirely pointless.

Another major complaint was the general lack of respect for their profession. According to teachers, their societal status is poor, and some even feel embarrassed to admit they’re teachers. The public often perceives them as people who “do nothing,” leave work at 1 p.m., and are always on vacation.

This dismissive public attitude also ties into how many parents behave. Teachers see this as one of the most pressing problems. While some also complain about students – citing lack of interest or increasing arrogance – it’s the parents they criticize more often. Many parents are quick to blame the school rather than reflect on their own approach to their child. Some parents seem uninterested in their children’s education, while others are overly involved to the point of micromanagement.

Some teachers also directed criticism at their peers, saying certain colleagues are stuck in outdated teaching methods and resist adapting to more modern, progressive approaches.

The anonymous online survey conducted by GTS Alive included 300 teachers from across the Czech Republic. Of those surveyed, 42% work at elementary schools, with slightly more teaching at the upper level than the lower. Over 17% teach at grammar schools, while the rest are at vocational secondary schools and trade schools. The survey was carried out in June 2022. In addition to this teacher survey, GTS Alive regularly conducts research among pupils and students.

A selection of specific typical responses from teachers to the open-ended question “What do you like most about your job?”:

• Working with students – when I see they enjoy it and have learned something.
• I work with young children and see great progress – I teach them to read, write, and count; I try to influence their behavior positively, offering not just education but also other life-beneficial activities. It makes me happy when they return years later, and I see what I invested in them and they appreciate my efforts – even just with praise and fond memories.
• The variety of the job, working with students, and the opportunity to continue learning.
• Working with young people; seeing their progress in thinking, skills, and self-confidence.
• Passing on experience to the younger generation.
• Diversity and variety, new stimuli, the energy of students.
• The variability – every lesson is different. Meeting young people who are still forming and shaping their views of the world.
• Immediate feedback. With students, you immediately see whether the activity you’ve prepared has engaged them or not. And you quickly find out whether they’ve taken anything away from it.
• When students tell me later that thanks to a strong foundation from high school, they have no problem at university.
• Working with children is different every day. Even with classes from the same grade level, you have to approach the same subject differently, and I see that as a challenge.
• Being able to open the world of my field to children and share the joy it brings me. Seeing them grow not just in knowledge of the subject, but also as people.
• The holidays.

Selection of typical answers from teachers to the open question "What annoys you most about your job?":

• Public and parental attitudes toward school and teachers.
• Society’s view of education and the teaching profession.
• Excessive paperwork and administration!
• Paperwork, inconsistency in procedures, lack of cooperation and support from colleagues.
• Too much administration, parents who’ve given up on raising their children.
• Bureaucracy.
• Unethical employer behavior, low wages, low social status, worsening conditions and increasing demands without support, larger class sizes, little room for personal growth, buying supplies from personal funds, endless working hours, unrealistic parent expectations, outdated socialist leftovers like FKSP (can hardly use it; was forced by circumstances to assign it to a pension plan), Covid rules, and among the fewest vacation days in Europe – we’re simply at our limit
• Inflexibility of some colleagues and outdated systems
• Some parents undermine our work and shift many of their responsibilities onto us. Constant changes that bring no improvements, lots of paperwork that eats up time we could use more meaningfully.
• Some parents – the kind who think they know everything, and their child is untouchable. And the paperwork.
• Parents unwilling to cooperate with the school.
• It’s hard to get rid of incompetent staff.
• Inflexible systems and colleagues.
• Apathy or indifference – sometimes from students, sometimes from parents
• Not enough personal time (I'm a Czech teacher – always correcting papers, bringing work home on weekends and holidays…), under-equipped schools, personal attacks from some parents (don’t overload them, but make sure they pass their finals and get into university)
• Not enough funding for equipment
• Comparison of teacher salaries with other university-educated professionals or similar jobs in the private sector.
• Attitude of some colleagues – they cling to old teaching methods and don’t try to orient themselves toward newer, more progressive approaches to education, a certain mutual hostility among colleagues.
• Huge increase in administrative tasks, problematic students and uncooperative parents. Also bothers me when I have a student in class with reduced outcomes, in 8th grade studying 6th grade material, I teach them according to different curriculum and it is at the expense of other children. I can’t split myself in two.
• Those who never taught decide what and how we are to teach.
• I feel more like a clerk than a teacher, when the paperwork is in most cases useless. Inadequate financial compensation. The problem is not working with children, but often communication with parents.
• Class books, excuse notes, GDPR and other declarations, filling out goals, competencies, and cross-sectional topics.
• Bound by the RVP and therefore we cannot enjoy the subject matter and have to rush to make it to the next part.
• Colleagues who don’t care about students. Poor support from the Ministry of Education, inappropriate “boundaries,” missing unified curricula – instead, we have individual ŠVPs for each school, which causes problems when students transfer from one school to another, e.g. due to moving.
• The state has no unified concept of education and keeps making changes for the worse, dumping everything onto school leadership and the teachers themselves.

Notes for editors:

GTS Alive s.r.o. in the Czech Republic issues and manages ISIC student cards and ISIC Scholar pupil cards, ITIC teacher cards, and, to a lesser extent, other cards. The company was founded in August 2000. Its predecessor in the Czech Republic was GTS International. GTS Alive s.r.o. is part of the international GTS Alive Group, headquartered in Prague, with branches in seventeen countries on four continents.

GTS Alive, through the ISIC PORT chip identification system, also provides many elementary and secondary schools with secure access to their buildings and an electronic attendance system. The company also facilitates travel or accident insurance for students.

For more information, contact:

Jan Šimral, media representative of GTS Alive
Tel.: +420 737 944 370
E-mail: info@jansimral.com