England goes shopping abroad for teachers

When Yana Buchkova was studying British poetry at her university in Bulgaria, she never imagined what inspiration she would one day draw from those verses.

"My specialism in Brontë poetry has taught me to be more contemplative in my reactions when teaching children with behavioral difficulties," says Ms. Buchkova, now teaching at a school in a tough London neighborhood.

She is among about 15,000 schoolteachers recruited from abroad and now filling shortages in England, where the profession is experiencing an all-time low in attracting new graduates.

The trend reflects a growing global market for teachers, as schools compete for a shrinking pool of talent. A decade ago US schools began importing staff, who now hail from at least a dozen countries, from Mexico to the Philippines. In a report last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned of increasingly severe shortages as the teaching workforce ages. In Sweden, for example, 49 percent of the teachers in upper secondary education are 50 or older.

In a report last month, the British government's inspectorate for schools, called Oftsed, notes that imported teachers make up almost a fifth of the staff in areas where shortages are most acute. Education experts say England's deficits began in math and science but now extend to all subject areas. Vacancies occur more frequently in impoverished inner cities, often home to immigrants.

The National Union for Teachers (NUT) says the shortages have increased annually since the early 1990s, the trend exacerbated by retirements in a profession where two-thirds of its members are over the age of 40. "We're not creating the right conditions to attract new teachers," says General Secretary Doug McAvoy. The reasons parallel those in the United States: Mr. McAvoy cites poor salary levels compared with other professions, work overload,and deterioration in pupil behavior.

Such factors are a sufficient deterrent to the 300,000 qualified instructors who are not teaching, known as the Pool of Inactive Teachers. Ten years ago, more than half of all entrants to the profession were returning teachers. But now they make up only a third of the numbers required.

This year, the overall target for recruiting instructors is the highest in a decade, according to the Teacher Training Agency, which recruits teacher trainees for the British government.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has concerns about filling those vacancies with foreigners, says the union's senior assistant secretary, Kerry George. "First, it highlights that we are not producing enough of our own. And morally and practically, we have a concern about taking teachers from countries which need those skills."

But Ian Penman, chairman of Timeplan, which, as England's largest recruiter of foreign teachers, brings in 3,000 to 3,500 instructors a year – most of them from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Jamaica, and the US – sees the world as fair game.

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