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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Education staff responsible for guidance in early childhood and school education

Iceland

10.Management and other education staff

10.3Education staff responsible for guidance in early childhood and school education

Last update: 27 November 2023

All teachers for all school phases now undertake five-year master’s level initial training. The law in Iceland requires a 180-credit bachelor’s degree and a 120-credit master’s degree to gain a licence to teach in pre-schools. Act no 87/2008 on Education and Appointment of Teachers and Principlas in Preschool, Elementary School and Upper-Secondary School states that educated preschool teachers should account for at least two-thirds of the staff.  This is however, quite far from the truth, but the proportion of licensed teachers in pre-schools was under one-third. The number of non-licenced teacher is therefore high. It varies but in 2016 the landscape presented the following picture: unskilled staff (around 2,700), and around 1,700 pre-school teachers (including those who are part-time) and 990 staff members have other educational training (Statistics Iceland, 2016).

All pre-school practitioners who work with the children, whether core-practitioners (pre-school teachers), practitioners with other qualifications, or staff with no education, work under the job description of core-practitioners. While regulation states that all pre-school staff who work with the children must have finished pre-school teachers' education (ISCED 7), staff with other qualifications or staff with no formal education may be hired if circumstances so dictate.