The number of foreign teachers in Lithuanian schools is increasing. For example, in the town of Zarasai, the shortage of English teachers was solved by hiring a specialist from Turkey.
Turk Senol Abbasoglu teaches English at Paulius Širvys Progymnasium in Zarasai. The man says he enjoys this job very much.
“I always try to talk to the children in a friendly way. In class, we not only learn English but also talk about life and travelling, which I like very much. I love this job very much, these children are wonderful,” Senol smiles.
He moved to Lithuania two years ago and settled in his wife’s hometown of Zarasai. Previously, he lived in Malta for several years, where he taught English to adults. When he was offered a job in Zarasai, he did not hesitate and learned Lithuanian on his own.
“I had no choice but to learn Lithuanian as soon as possible, as I also had to communicate with my wife’s parents,” Senol says. “Of course, I don’t speak very well yet, but I’m trying very hard. I like to communicate in Lithuanian, as this language is very old, and I‘m happy to know it.”
The teacher says he quickly adapted to the job in school.
“I hadn’t worked with children before, so it was challenging, but we got along very quickly. The students ask me so many questions and I like it. We even have our own traditions. For example, after every test we have a movie day – we watch English films and eat popcorn,” he shares.
Aldona Navickienė, the headmistress of the Pauliaus Širvys Progymnasium in Zarasai, says Senol saved the day when the previous English teacher left.
“He saved us, and the children like him very much. His colleagues are also very positive about him, and it would be fun to have more teachers like him. The teacher really tries very hard, he wants to study, he wants to be a teacher, so we help him,” Navickienė said.
To continue working at school, Senol must receive a pedagogical education. Although he has pedagogical-psychological certificates, they are not sufficient. The Zarasai District Municipality does not have any incentive programme to attract teachers and is not able to finance his education.
According to Sigita Keršienė, head of the Education Department at the Zarasai District Municipality, it is now considering following other cities in developing incentive measures.
“In Zarasai district, 85 percent of teachers are over 50. This is worrying because you don’t know when someone will decide to leave. The municipality’s strategic plan foresees that a procedure should be prepared to attract teachers, and of course, we would like to attract young professionals,” she said.
According to the Education Ministry, the number of foreign teachers working at the educational institution in Lithuania has increased over the last two years. Most of them are from Ukraine.
However, foreign teachers cannot completely solve the problem of teacher shortage, says Ignas Gaižiūnas, an advisor at the Education Ministry.
“It can help a school when there is a shortage of a particular specialist, but it is not a panacea that we can resort to and say that we no longer need to train teachers in our universities because we will bring them in from somewhere else. Teachers have a difficult job, and they need to know Lithuanian well, so this is only a partial solution to this problem,” he noted.
Some schools in the country employ teachers from France, Mexico, Spain, or Germany. All of them teach Lithuanian students foreign languages.
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