Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in secondary (headcount basis) by country
Average number of pupils per qualified teacher at a given level of education, based on headcounts of both pupils and teachers. Divide the total number of pupils enrolled at the specified level of education by the number of qualified teachers at the same level. A qualified teacher is one who has the minimum academic...
What the numbers show
Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in secondary (headcount basis) is currently reported for 41 countries. The highest value is 37.97 headcount basis in Rwanda; the lowest is 7.68 headcount basis in Kazakhstan.
The median across all reporting countries is 15.68 headcount basis, and the mean is 18.18 headcount basis.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.
Over the past decade 9 countries rose and 18 fell. The largest increase was in Cote d'Ivoire (up 29.4%), and the largest decrease in Palestine (down 60.4%).
Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in secondary: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rwanda | 37.97 headcount basis | 2019 | up 20.3% | rising |
| 2 | Nepal | 31.8 headcount basis | 2019 | down 13.3% | falling |
| 3 | Palestine | 31.1 headcount basis | 2019 | down 60.4% | falling |
| 4 | Niger | 29.73 headcount basis | 2017 | — | rising |
| 5 | Cote d'Ivoire | 28.86 headcount basis | 2019 | up 29.4% | rising |
| 6 | Djibouti | 26.83 headcount basis | 2019 | up 9.3% | rising |
| 7 | Thailand | 26.25 headcount basis | 2019 | down 11.1% | falling |
| 8 | Colombia | 26.13 headcount basis | 2017 | — | flat |
| 9 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 25.74 headcount basis | 2018 | down 57.2% | falling |
| 10 | Burundi | 25.58 headcount basis | 2019 | down 44.9% | falling |
| 11 | Belize | 25.26 headcount basis | 2019 | down 42.2% | falling |
| 12 | Philippines | 25.08 headcount basis | 2018 | — | falling |
| 13 | Tanzania | 24.29 headcount basis | 2019 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 14 | Peru | 22.87 headcount basis | 2019 | up 24.2% | rising |
| 15 | Burkina Faso | 22.46 headcount basis | 2019 | — | falling |
| 16 | Laos | 22.36 headcount basis | 2017 | — | flat |
| 17 | Ecuador | 22.24 headcount basis | 2018 | down 8.4% | flat |
| 18 | Suriname | 20.05 headcount basis | 2015 | down 12.2% | falling |
| 19 | Barbados | 17.51 headcount basis | 2019 | — | flat |
| 20 | Panama | 16.26 headcount basis | 2017 | — | rising |
| 21 | Jamaica | 15.68 headcount basis | 2019 | down 20.3% | falling |
| 22 | Bahamas | 15.03 headcount basis | 2018 | up 16.4% | flat |
| 23 | China | 14.18 headcount basis | 2019 | — | falling |
| 24 | Saudi Arabia | 13.57 headcount basis | 2019 | — | rising |
| 25 | Costa Rica | 13.45 headcount basis | 2019 | down 5.3% | falling |
| 26 | Cuba | 13.11 headcount basis | 2019 | up 25.2% | rising |
| 27 | Mauritius | 12.16 headcount basis | 2019 | down 19.8% | falling |
| 28 | Albania | 12.02 headcount basis | 2017 | — | falling |
| 29 | Qatar | 11.77 headcount basis | 2019 | up 21.7% | rising |
| 30 | Singapore | 11.31 headcount basis | 2018 | down 34.1% | falling |
| 31 | Seychelles | 11.1 headcount basis | 2019 | down 24.1% | falling |
| 32 | Hong Kong | 10.99 headcount basis | 2019 | down 22.6% | falling |
| 33 | Uzbekistan | 10.86 headcount basis | 2019 | down 17.4% | falling |
| 34 | Oman | 10.64 headcount basis | 2019 | — | volatile |
| 35 | Bahrain | 10.43 headcount basis | 2019 | up 1.3% | flat |
| 36 | Macao | 9.7 headcount basis | 2019 | down 26.1% | falling |
| 37 | Brunei | 8.85 headcount basis | 2019 | — | falling |
| 38 | Belarus | 8.57 headcount basis | 2018 | — | flat |
| 39 | Andorra | 8.07 headcount basis | 2019 | up 3.4% | flat |
| 40 | Serbia | 7.88 headcount basis | 2019 | down 12.5% | falling |
| 41 | Kazakhstan | 7.68 headcount basis | 2019 | — | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Least developed countries: UN classification 29.83 headcount basis
- IDA only 27.77 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 27.48 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 27.41 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa 27.41 headcount basis
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 27.14 headcount basis
- Pre-demographic dividend 25.49 headcount basis
- Lower middle income 24.01 headcount basis
- Low & middle income 19.29 headcount basis
- Middle income 18.92 headcount basis
- World 17.94 headcount basis
- IBRD only 17.82 headcount basis
About this data
Average number of pupils per qualified teacher at a given level of education, based on headcounts of both pupils and teachers. Divide the total number of pupils enrolled at the specified level of education by the number of qualified teachers at the same level. A qualified teacher is one who has the minimum academic qualifications necessary to teach at a specific level of education in a given country. This is usually related to the subject(s) they teach. In computing and interpreting this indicator, one should take into account the existence of part-time teaching, school-shifts, multi-grade classes and other practices that may affect the precision and meaningfulness of pupil-teacher ratios. When feasible, the number of part-time teachers is converted to ‘full-time equivalent’ teachers; a double-shift teacher is counted twice, etc. Teachers are defined as persons whose professional activity involves the transmitting of knowledge, attitudes and skills that are stipulated in a formal curriculum programme to students enrolled in a formal educational institution.