Paris, Aug 26 (IANS): French teachers are to receive a considerable increase in basic pay and added compensation for putting in extra hours voluntarily, President Emmanuel Macron said at the start of the academic year.

New teachers will now be paid at least 2,000 euros ($1,990) a month, dpa news agency quoted the President as saying on Thursday.

Average pay in the profession is to rise by 10 per cent and teachers offering extra lessons are to receive an additional allowance effectively increasing pay by 20 per cent, he added.

Macron however, did not mention when the pay rises would go into effect.

Teaching has become a less attractive profession in France, with pay falling behind rates paid in neighbouring Germany, for example.

Many teaching posts remained unfilled at the start of the new academic year.

Apart from higher pay, Macron called for better teaching, greater equality of opportunity and improved replacements for teachers reporting sick.

Apart from reforms to the education sector, the President has indicated that he will tackle hospitals and the health sector in his second term of office.