More than an apple a day

By R.L.W., K.N.C. and P.K.

How the social status of teachers stacks up

WHAT value and respect do different societies accord teachers? One way to gauge this is by identifying other professions that people associate with teaching. Among the top five are librarian (suggesting an administrative job) and doctor (evoking more prestige and importance). The most common profession was social worker, cited in 14 of 21 countries surveyed by Varkey GEMS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of GEMS Education, an education firm. America and Brazil leaned closest to librarian. The most interesting outliers are in Asia. The Japanese see teachers most like local government officials—understandable in an environment where public education is highly politicised. In China, by contrast, teaching is most associated with doctors, by more than one-third of people. In America and Britain, around 5% see it the same way.