Total teaching and non-teaching staff in formal education during academic year 2023-2024 amounted to 20,176, an increase of 0.1 per cent when compared to the previous academic year, the NSO said Friday.

Of the 20,176 personnel working in formal education, 10,461 were in teaching and academic roles, while 9,715 were in non-teaching and administrative roles. The majority of all teaching and non-teaching staff were females, amounting to 70.0 per cent.

Classroom teachers and academic staff 

Classroom teachers and academic staff in pre-primary to tertiary education institutions during academic year 2023-2024 increased by 1.2 per cent over the preceding academic year, totalling 10,461. The increase was driven by an increase observed in academic staff in tertiary level education, an increase of 9.0 per cent when compared to the previous academic year. Of all teaching and academic personnel, 27.0 per cent were teachers at the tertiary level, while 24.8 per cent were teachers at the upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary levels level. The largest share of teaching personnel were females, at 65.4 per cent. Full-time teachers accounted for 79.4 per cent of the total. When comparing with academic year 2022-2023, foreign classroom teachers and academic staff increased by 14.0 per cent.

In all levels of education below tertiary education, the percentage of female teaching and academic staff was higher than their male counterparts. At tertiary level, the percentage of male academic staff was higher than their female counterparts at 61.0 per cent of academic personnel (1,723 persons). More than half of full-time classroom teachers and academic staff were engaged in lower secondary, upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (52.9 per cent of full-time classroom teachers and academic staff). The majority of part-time classroom teachers and academic staff were engaged in tertiary education (84.2 per cent).

During the academic year under review, 16.0 per cent of all teaching staff were aged between 30 and 34 years, followed by the 35 to 39 years age-bracket, at 15.4 per cent. The largest proportion of foreign classroom teachers and academic staff were engaged in private institutions, with 42.2 per cent of classroom teachers and academic staff working in private institutions being foreign. The absolute majority of teachers and academic staff working in pre-primary to upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education were Maltese. At the tertiary level, 75.1 per cent of academic staff were Maltese, while 24.9 per cent were foreign.

The overall pupil-teacher ratio stood at 9.1 pupils per teacher during academic year 2023-2024. The highest ratio was recorded in private schools, at 11.8 pupils per teacher, whereas the lowest ratio was in state schools at 8.1 pupils per teacher.

Non-teaching staff

During academic year 2023-2024, non-teaching staff in education amounted to 9,715, a decrease of 1.1 per cent when compared to the previous academic year. Females represented 74.9 per cent of the total non-teaching staff. More than half of the non-teaching personnel were teacher aides, totalling 5,028, or 51.8 per cent of all non-teaching staff. Furthermore, there were 351 research assistants and 374 persons working in other pedagogical, health and/or social support during academic year 2023-2024.

Around a third of teacher aides were aged between 30 and 39 years, 33.9 per cent. The majority (64.8 per cent) were engaged in state-run institutions. About 2 in every 5 teacher aides were engaged in primary education (43.5 per cent of teacher aides).

The total number of persons engaged in school level management and higher level management roles stood at 1,429, registering a decrease of 3.6 per cent when compared to academic year 2022-2023.