the ruralurban gap in the quantity and quality of teaching staff is particularly large in albania and qatar only in a few countries including australia brazil bulgaria croatia japan mexico romania serbia and spain are urban teachers considerably older and more experienced than rural teachers despite the multiple challenges faced by rural teachers that could potentially lead to a higher staff turnover there is no clear evidence across countries that urban teachers in lower secondary education spend more years teaching in their schools than rural teachers except in croatia japan korea romania serbia and spain