Low teacher pay forces many to take second jobs

Many primary school teachers earn too little to work exclusively as teachers and are therefore taking additional jobs, Kringvarp Føroya reports.

“The teaching job should by itself be enough in terms of pay, but it is not for many teachers,” Bergur Samuelsen, a board member of the Faroese Teachers’ Association, writes in Skúlablaðið.

Jacob Eli S. Olsen, chairman of the association, says teachers’ salaries are not enough to meet their financial obligations, particularly in the capital area.

Teachers also have limited opportunities to increase their income through overtime because teaching only takes place when students are at school. Any additional job would therefore have to be outside the school, Olsen says.

Some workplaces have clear rules preventing employees from taking additional jobs. The primary school system does not have such a rule.