PHOTOGRAPH BY THE VARKEY FOUNDATION
The general public systematically underestimates how many hours teachers work per week
BY THE VARKEY FOUNDATION
Most people around the world have no idea how hard teachers work. Research by the Varkey Foundation into the social status of teachers in 35 countries worldwide has found that the general public systematically underestimates how many hours teachers work a week. The survey of over 40,000 people, first published in 2018, found that most people around the world believed that teachers worked between two and 10 hours less in a week than they actually did. The disparity was particularly pronounced in Latin American countries, where respondents in Argentina, Panama and Peru underestimated the number of hours worked by teachers in a week by over 10 hours. The findings should be a cause for concern for policymakers and teacher advocates alike, as governments begin to reopen school systems closed by the COVID-19 global pandemic.