A primary school teacher in Malta has a starting salary that falls just below the average of 42 European countries analysed in a European Commission study.

The starting salary of a teacher in Malta is €22,603 per year, without allowances, while the European average for primary school teachers stands at €25,668.

A Maltese teacher earns more than his/her counterpart in Portugal and slightly less than an Italian educator. The starting salary in Portugal is €22,290 and that in Italy is €23,729.

When allowances are added on to the basic starting salary, Maltese teachers earn as much as their Italian counterparts.

The study by Eurydice, a network of 42 educational systems participating in the Erasmus+ programme, took into account the salaries of full-time teachers in public schools and covers the period 2017/2018. The Erasmus+ programme includes non-EU countries as well.

The exercise published this month was based on starting salaries, bereft of allowances and other payments. It shows that Malta falls within the mid-range.

Teachers in Malta earn more than those in Slovenia, Greece, Croatia and other eastern European countries but there is a chasm when compared to richer countries in northern Europe.

The starting salary for a teacher in Luxembourg is a whopping €72,437, followed by Denmark and Germany, at €52,517 and €48,698, respectively.

In France, the starting salary is €26,140, while in England (as distinct from the United Kingdom), the starting salary for a teacher stands at €25,903.

These figures do not take into account the level of taxation and the cost of living in the respective countries, both of which impact the take-home pay and spending power teachers have.

Teacher salaries in Malta received a boost last year after a sectoral agreement introduced new allowances and upped the pay packet. Increases will continue yearly until 2022, contributing to the improvement of Malta’s standing in the European ranking.

The report also includes a comparison of actual salaries teachers receive, including allowances, with the respective countries’ GDP per capita for the years 2016/2017.

Teachers in Malta in that period (which is before the sectoral and public service agreements of 2017) earned slightly more than the GDP per capita.

In Portugal, where teachers earn less than their Maltese counterparts, actual salaries were more than 10 per cent higher than per capita GDP.

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