Switzerland expects lower demand for primary-school teachers

The decline in pupil numbers in the coming years should be observed in all cantons, according to statistical authorities. Keystone-SDA

The number of primary-school pupils is expected to fall sharply from 2027 onwards, according to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. As a result, the need for new teachers at this level should fall sharply.

This trend is linked to the fall in the number of births in Switzerland from 2022 onwards, the statistical office said in a statement on Thursday. As a result, the number of primary school pupils is expected to stop growing rapidly, and then to fall sharply (by 7% between 2025 and 2034).

This decline in pupil numbers should be observed in all cantons. As for teachers, the statistical office estimates that their numbers will fall by around 4,500 in ten years, a drop of 6%.

Almost no teacher shortage

This should have an impact on the annual need to recruit new teachers. From a level of 6,000 new professionals hired in 2022 and 2023, the need should fall to around 5,000 this year. This figure should then gradually fall to around 3,000 by 2034, according to the reference scenario. This represents a decline of 40% between 2025 and 2034.

From 2032, the supply of newly qualified teachers could meet the need at primary level in almost all regions of Switzerland. Only in north-western Switzerland could there be an insufficient number of new graduates in 2034, with 10% less supply than required.

To be interpreted with caution

The statistical office cautioned that it is difficult to predict exactly how many new teachers Swiss schools will need. Many factors need to be taken into account, including the time at which teachers leave the service, part-time work and career breaks due to parenthood or returning to work.

+ Swiss schools abroad threatened by government cuts

The results of the models should therefore be interpreted with caution and should be regarded as trends, it said. Structural measures, reforms and changes in the behaviour of the various players could have an impact. The trend in the number of births is also uncertain.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail].