12/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - Germany will have to face up to the fact that many teachers will be retiring in the next decade, and needs to define new guidelines as a matter of urgency, to attract newcomers to the profession and ensure good teaching standards for young people, says the OECD. Germany is one of the 25 countries taking part in the project entitled "Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers". Taking its inspiration from developments underway in different areas within the country, the OECD has retained six strategic priorities for the future, including redefining the profile of the teaching profession, making changes to initial training, helping teachers to become even better teachers, and improving their career development paths and the incentives available to them. When all of the national studies have been carried out, the OECD will then proceed to an international comparative study, to be published at the end of the year.