Education and Skills

These are the countries where teachers spend the most time in the classroom

Schoolchildren are seen watching television, with their teachers, inside a school in Costa Rica.

On average, school teachers in OECD countries have to teach 723 hours per year in public institutions. Image: Reuters/Juan Carlos Ulate

Niall McCarthy
Data Journalist, Statista
  • On average, school teachers in OECD countries have to teach 723 hours per year in public institutions.
  • However, the actual number differs vastly for countries around the world.
  • In Costa Rica, teachers can expect to spend 1,228 hours a year in the classroom.
  • In Poland, teachers spend around 500 hours.

The OECD's latest edition of its "Education at a Glance" report provides an insight into education systems on all of the organization's member states. One interesting aspect of the research is the amount of time teachers actually spend in the classroom. On average, school teachers in OECD countries have to teach 723 hours per year in public institutions (average of primary and secondary instruction hours), though there are big differences in teaching time between countries.

Generally, teachers spend between three and six hours each day in the classroom, though there is no set rule on how teaching time is distributed throughout the year. Also, annual teaching hours vary widely, even within Europe. Dutch school teachers have to teach for 790 hours per year which is almost 70 hours more than the OECD average, while those in Poland teach 220 hours less than the average.

Have you read?

The following infographic provides an overview of the annual net hours workers across eight selected countries. In Costa Rica, a public school teacher works 1,228 hours per year on average with the U.S. close behind with 979 hours. The situation was much the same in OECD member countries Colombia and Chile.

Asia's advanced economies are further down the list with Japan and South Korea counting 624 and 579 hours of instruction time, respectively. Only four countries have instruction hours lower than Korea's, the lowest being Poland at just 500 hours of teaching per teacher and year.

Where teachers spend the most time in the classroom.
Costa Rican teachers spend around 1,228 hours in the classroom. Image: Statista
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Education, Gender and Work

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Education, Gender and Work is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why younger generations need critical thinking, fact-checking and media verification to stay safe online

Agustina Callegari and Adeline Hulin

October 31, 2024

Skills for the future: 4 ways to help workers transition to the digital economy

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum