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COUNTRY CASE STUDY-INDIA:

Study of Teachers for Children Marginalized by Social Origin, Economic Status or

Location

Submitted to the United Nations Children’s Fund

8 July 2013

Prepared by

Amita Chudgar

James Pippin

Michigan State University

The research reported here was supported through a Project Cooperation Agreement (PCA)

between Michigan State University and UNICEF. The opinions expressed are those of the

authors and do not represent views of UNICEF. KanuPriya Jhunjhunwala provided excellent

consultancy support and gathered all the data in the field. Without her diligent efforts and

extensive knowledge about the Indian education landscape this report would not have been

possible. The authors would like to thank representatives of UNICEF India, UNICEF state

offices in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the Azim Premji Foundation who

provided invaluable assistance in identifying and contacting participants, as well as all

participants in our interviews. We also acknowledge the very helpful advice and assistance of

Thomas Luschei. Madhur Chandra provided excellent initial research assistance on this report.

India Country Case Study: Teachers for Marginalized Children

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Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 3 Policies and practices matter ............................................................................................................... 3

Inadequate and inconsistent teacher education and training ............................................................... 4

Teachers of marginalized children work in difficult situations........................................................... 4 Teachers care about their living and working conditions ................................................................... 4

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 6

1.1 Contributions, objective and organization of this report ............................................................... 7

2. Education in India ............................................................................................................................. 10

2.1. Teachers in India ........................................................................................................................ 10

2.2 Teacher-related policies .............................................................................................................. 11

2.3 State background ......................................................................................................................... 12

2.3.1 Karnataka ............................................................................................................................. 13 2.3.2 Madhya Pradesh ................................................................................................................... 14

2.3.3 Rajasthan .............................................................................................................................. 15

3. Methods and data .............................................................................................................................. 17

3.1 Obtaining approval from institutional review boards ................................................................. 17 3.2 Identifying interview samples and conducting interviews .......................................................... 17

3.3 Transcribing the interviews, coding and analysing the data ....................................................... 20

4. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 22

4.1 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in the three study states ............................................. 24

4.1.1 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Karnataka ....................................................... 24 4.1.2 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Madhya Pradesh............................................. 28

4.1.3 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Rajasthan ....................................................... 33

4.1.4. A brief cross-state comparison ............................................................................................ 36

4.2 Teacher education in India, a cause for concern? ....................................................................... 39

4.2.1 Teaching eligibility tests, an unrealized promise to improve teacher education? ................ 39 4.2.2 Pre-service teacher education, lack of rigor? ....................................................................... 40

4.2.3 In-service training, lack of relevance? ................................................................................. 42 4.3 Uneven teacher distribution, what are some key reasons? .......................................................... 43

4.3.1 Inadvertent inequities created during teacher recruitment ................................................... 43

4.3.2 Teacher transfers, a constant churn of teachers in marginalized areas ................................ 45 4.3.3 Difficult and undesirable working conditions ...................................................................... 45

4.3.4 Teacher preferences and the draw of home .......................................................................... 47

5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 49

5.1 Key implications of the India case study .................................................................................... 49

5.2 Limitations and areas for future research .................................................................................... 53

References ............................................................................................................................................. 55

Appendix A: Consent form ................................................................................................................... 57

Appendix B: Interview protocols .......................................................................................................... 60


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Executive Summary

This case study, based on interviews from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, provides

evidence supporting the claim that teachers of marginalized children in India may be on average

less experienced, lower-performing, often less educated and trained, and often more likely to be

male than teachers of other children. This pattern stems from a system of seniority that gives first

choice of teaching assignments to more experienced teachers, coupled with teachers’ preferences

to work in urban areas or to work closer to home and female teachers’ concerns for safety in their

living situation. In part this is also driven by explicit policies which require teachers to identify

one district/location where they wish to be considered for employment. This may lead lower-

performing teachers to select ‘less competitive’ or more marginalized locations. As these

teachers gain experience, they often request transfers to schools in more desirable locations,

leading to a constant churn of teachers in the most marginalized areas and perpetuating further

inequities. These patterns are also exacerbated by the practice of hiring teachers on a contract

basis and the practice of assigning teachers with limited qualifications to work in hard-to-staff,

remote or tribal schools.

Additionally, in India a theme that has clearly emerged is the concern with the quality of

teacher pre- and in-service training. Given the important unaddressed challenges of teacher

education and the resultant teacher quality, a focus on teacher distribution as a stand-alone issue

may be less productive. A comprehensive teacher reform in India will need to actively consider

both these areas of teacher policy jointly.

In this report, through a rigorous qualitative research process, we describe these patterns

and identify several determinants of uneven distribution. We find that (a) teacher hiring and

transfer policies and practices, (b) the presence of patronage-based politics coupled with difficult

working conditions, and (c) teachers’ preferences to work in more developed urban areas or

areas closer to home are all associated with the possibility that teacher distribution is uneven, and

those who are most marginalized do not necessarily have access to the same quality teachers. We

also offer some observations on the broader concerns about the challenges facing teacher

education in India. We recognize and discuss the limitation of this study and suggest future

research needed in the area of teacher distribution and teacher education in India.

Policies and practices matter

Government policies and practices can make qualified teachers more accessible to marginalized

children. We place these policies and practices in three broad categories: teacher hiring and

placement, teacher transfer and retention, and monetary and non-monetary incentives. While

policies rarely intend to create unequal distribution or hardship for marginalized children, the

ultimate outcome of these policies may be different than intended due to lack of transparency,

monitoring or quality control. We find that teacher hiring practices are closely related to the

presence or absence of inequities in teacher distribution. Teacher transfer policies are also

importantly related to teacher distribution.

In this case study, we learned that in many instances, teachers view their first teaching

assignment as a way to enter the system, but once there, teachers actively seek to transfer to

more preferred locations with better amenities or those closer to their home and family. To

address this trend, the various state governments in India could use teacher transfer policies

proactively to ensure an equitable teacher distribution. Similarly, we note that use of incentives

in India is rather limited. Yet we know that adjustments in salary are the most common and

perhaps the most influential incentives in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. The state


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governments could consider offering monetary and also non-monetary incentives for teachers to

accept placement in difficult areas or schools.

Inadequate and inconsistent teacher education and training

Although all teachers must receive relevant and high-quality training, the many challenges of

teaching marginalized children demand even stronger and more focused preparation and support

for teachers working with these populations. Yet our research finds exactly the opposite. Our

case study research finds that the initial preparation for teachers is often inadequate or

irrelevant to the classroom conditions that these teachers will face; this may create special

challenges for the teachers of the marginalized. As an example, teachers of marginalized

children often find themselves working in classrooms with multiple grades and ages of children.

Yet their training may not adequately prepare teachers to work in ‘multi-grade’ schools.

The logical means to address inadequate initial preparation is through focused and high-

quality professional development, but again we find deficiencies in the availability and quality of

such opportunities for all teachers including teachers of marginalized children. Frequently, the

remote locations of marginalized environments impede teachers’ participation in training. Other

times, professional development opportunities are simply not available for any teachers. To both

improve and support the teachers of marginalized children, governments must focus and improve

initial preparation and professional development of teachers to address the demands and

conditions of working with marginalized children. They must also make a more general effort to

provide a high level of training for all teachers, because if all teachers are highly qualified, then

the likelihood of marginalized children having access to qualified teachers will increase.

Teachers of marginalized children work in difficult situations

Teachers of marginalized children face many adversities in their personal and professional lives.

It is clear that these teachers must contend with living and working conditions that are far more

difficult than those faced by other teachers. In our case study, we repeatedly heard how teachers

posted in remote, hard-to-staff environments cope with lack of resources, isolation, loneliness,

and even fear. These teachers commonly express dissatisfaction with their work and actively

seek opportunities to transfer out of such positions. Together, these findings demonstrate the

importance of considering the working conditions of the teachers of marginalized children.

Unless they address the conditions under which teachers of marginalized children work, it is very

unlikely that governments will be able to reverse the broad patterns of inequitable teacher

distribution. To ensure an equitable distribution of teachers, governments must recognize and

address the very challenging environments that teachers of marginalized children face.

Teachers care about their living and working conditions

The most revealing insight from this research is perhaps the most obvious: Teachers are human

beings and they care deeply about their living and working conditions. For example, teachers

commonly express their desire to be near their families and communities and to have access to

daily amenities. The preferences and choices of individual teachers have a profound impact on

the composition and distribution of the teacher labour force. Just like members of any other

occupation, teachers make choices about where they work based on both monetary and non-

monetary factors. All else equal, teachers are more likely to choose to work in schools and

communities with more pleasant work environments and greater resources. Teachers also

respond to their living and working conditions by making short-, medium- and long-term


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decisions, such as whether to be absent on a specific day, transfer to another school, or leave the

profession altogether. If governments wish to attract and retain the best and brightest teachers,

they must understand the multitude of factors guiding teachers’ decisions about whether and

where to teach.


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1. Introduction

Research consistently shows that teachers are the single most important school-related factor

associated with student learning (e.g., Global Campaign for Education [GCE], 2006; OECD,

2005; Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain, 2005). A recent report by GCE and Education International

(EI) asserts that a “severe lack of well-trained, well-supported teachers” is the key reason why

educational quality has remained poor in many developing countries (GCE and EI, 2012, p. 2).

Teachers are also important in educational planning and policymaking because teacher salaries

represent one of the most significant expenditures in most education budgets (OECD, 2005).

Thus, national approaches to teacher policy are important to understand from both an educational

and an economic standpoint.

As developing nations confront a global teacher shortage, governments have responded in

several ways. Some systems have increased class sizes, thereby serving more students with fewer

teachers. There has also been an increasing reliance on less trained and less educated teachers or

locally available young men and women to fill teaching positions. Several systems have moved

to contract-based hiring of teachers, marked by lower teacher salaries and a lack of job security

for these teachers. Contract-based hiring has been especially prominent in countries and regions

with large, previously underserved student populations like India and sub-Saharan Africa, where

teacher shortages are severe (e.g., Duthilleul, 2005; Fyfe, 2007).

The 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which focused on reaching

marginalized children, noted that teacher shortages have led to severe negative consequences for

marginalized children (UNESCO, 2010). In particular, marginalized children in many countries

must contend with a ‘teacher quality gap’, in which these children have less access to qualified

and experienced teachers than more advantaged students (Akiba, LeTendre and Scribner, 2007;

Jaramillo, 2012; Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff, 2002; Luschei, 2012a; Luschei and Carnoy,

2010; Luschei, Chudgar and Rew, 2013).

Lack of qualified teachers leads to lower educational quality, which contributes to lower

enrolment, greater dropouts, and higher repetition rates of marginalized students (Birdsall,

Levine and Ibrahim, 2005; Davico, 1990; Hanushek, Lavy and Hitomi, 2008). For universal

primary education to be achieved worldwide, raising the quality of teachers for marginalized

children is critical (Steiner-Khamsi and Simelane, 2010). In the United States, Rivkin, Hanushek

and Kain (2005) found that children in poverty could experience learning gains so impressive


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after five consecutive years with a good teacher that the achievement gap between poor and

wealthier children could be closed. Yet research in the United States suggests that continuous

exposure to good teachers is extremely unlikely for disadvantaged and marginalized children.

For example, in an extensive study of teachers in New York State, Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff

(2002) found that more qualified teachers are disproportionately concentrated in the schools and

classrooms of economically advantaged and high-achieving students. This pattern results largely

from the phenomenon of ‘teacher sorting’, by which more qualified teachers with more

opportunities choose to teach in schools with more pleasant working conditions, including

higher-achieving students. Yet despite growing evidence of teacher sorting in the United States,

there is less evidence regarding the distribution of teachers across less advantaged and lower-

achieving students in developing countries, where the problem is likely to be more acute.

1.1 Contributions, objective and organization of this report

As part of a larger cross-national study of Teachers of Marginalized Children, this case study is

preceded by (1) an inception report that lays out the study’s objectives, conceptual framework,

methodology and timeline; (2) a comprehensive literature review of evidence related to teachers

of marginalized children in developing countries; and (3) three cross-national quantitative

regional reports of the teachers of marginalized children in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan

Africa. This case study is accompanied by two other case studies of Mexico and the United

Republic of Tanzania. A final summary report will synthesize the results of this series of studies.

In the quantitative regional reports that preceded this case study, we found compelling,

systematic and cross-national evidence of an unequal distribution of teachers. This analysis

found broad patterns in the distribution of teacher characteristics that provide grounds for

widespread concern across Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. These quantitative

results provide a starting point for a more targeted investigation of problems and strategies in

individual countries. Although the quantitative analysis provided a sense of broad patterns and

problems, the analytical approach did not allow us to probe specific policies and practices that

led to the patterns we found in the data. For example, although we found that teacher

qualifications in Mexico (and many other Latin American countries) vary considerably across

urban and rural areas, the analysis does not tell us why.


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The objective of this case study is to shed light on underlying practices and policies to

recruit, hire and assign teachers to schools, with a focus on equity in marginalized Indian

children’s access to qualified teachers. India provides a ripe opportunity for research. As one of

the largest developing countries in Asia (one of our three regions of study), India faces

significant challenges in the area of teacher education and teacher shortage that may be

exacerbated by the new Right to Education (RtE) Act of 2009. While the law intends to level the

playing field across all states and all schools, it requires millions of teachers to be trained in a

few years to fulfil the government mandate and creates additional requirements for increasing the

size of the teacher labour force (by putting restrictions on class sizes). This is likely to create

unforeseen pressures on the teacher education and teacher allocation systems (Chudgar, 2013).

The value of this case study is twofold. First, it will inform Indian policymakers and educators

about key obstacles to equity in marginalized children’s access to qualified teachers. Second, our

results will provide a broader audience with important examples of teacher-related problems and

strategies in a large, diverse and unequal country.

Our analytical approach in exploring the teachers of marginalized children is based on a

conceptual framework that considers both the composition of the teacher labour force (Who

teaches?) and the distribution of the teacher labour force (Who teaches whom?). Under this

framework, the distribution of teachers across children is the result of a series of decisions made

both by teachers (supply side) and those who hire them (demand side). Recruitment, retention

and retirement are the three key activities that shape both teacher composition and distribution.

All of these activities have a demand and supply component. Supply side decisions (a teacher’s

decision to teach in a specific location, or to teach at all) are also influenced by individual

factors, such as age, sex, years of experience in the profession, the performance and background

of their students, the location where they teach, and their general working conditions. The

demand-side decisions can be driven by individual preferences (what a specific school principal

decides), but they are equally likely to be driven by larger, centralized or decentralized policy

decisions at regional, state and national levels. In order to capture both sides of the

supply/demand equation, we interviewed a diverse set of stakeholders from both sides of the

spectrum.

We begin this report by providing background information on basic education,

marginalized children and salient teacher issues in India. In addition, we offer contextual


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information about our three focal states: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. We then

discuss the methods we used to identify study participants, conform to research ethics protocols,

collect interview data, and code and analyse these data. Next we present our results, organized

around two themes: (1) patterns of teacher distribution and (2) determinants of teacher

distribution. We conclude with a summary of key findings and lessons learned regarding the

teachers of marginalized children in India.


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2. Education in India

A vast majority of this material is derived from a book chapter recently authored by one of the

project leaders (Chudgar, 2013); the state specific background is derived from the Asia regional

report.

The Indian education system has witnessed many rapid changes over the past decade or

so. More than a decade ago, tens of millions of Indian children were not even enrolling in school.

Universal elementary education became the focus of government efforts under the Sarva Siksha

Abhiyan (Education for All) scheme launched in 2002. Backed by large financial outlays, the

primary aim of these efforts was to increase the quantity and quality of school infrastructure and

ensure universal access to elementary education.

Over the first decade of the twenty-first century, elementary school enrolment increased

tremendously across the country. As the nation neared the goal of universal elementary education

(e.g., Government of India, 2009), these efforts were followed by a national secondary school

mission, known as the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, which focused on increasing

secondary education enrolment to 75 per cent as the next area of priority to be followed by

universal secondary enrolment by 2017 (Government of India, 2012).

Accompanying steady increase in enrolment, or an improvement in educational access, is

an increasing focus on the quality of education that children are receiving in the classroom.

Various Annual Status of Education Reports, generated by a prominent non-governmental

organization (NGO) in India (e.g., Pratham, 2010), highlight the fact that even if many more

Indian children are enrolling in school, the quality of education they receive is inadequate. For

example, these reports indicate that only half of all Indian students in Grade 5 can read a text

from Grade 2 and one in five cannot read a text from the Grade 1. Below we discuss the

educational context in India that may contribute to these low levels of learning and the teacher

policies aimed at improving them.

2.1. Teachers in India1

India has a large teacher labour force. According to a 2010–2011 estimate, the nation employs

close to 6.5 million teachers at the elementary level (Grades 1 through 8), of whom more than 4

1 The majority of the information in Sections 2.1 and 2.2 is derived from Chudgar (2013).


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million (or 66 per cent) are employed in government schools (Mehta, 2012). Yet, both the

quantity and the quality of the teacher labour force in India remain causes for concern. For

example, a recent national report estimates that 500,000 additional teachers are needed to fill

vacant positions across the country. Currently, efforts to meet these demands involve the use of

contract teachers. In fact, 11.2 per cent of the Indian teacher labour force is hired on a contract

basis with prominent cross-state variations. In the state of Jharkhand, for instance, close to 50 per

cent of teachers are on a contract; in contrast, in the state of Karnataka, the percentage is far

lower, at less than 1 per cent.

In addition to concerns about the quantity of teachers, some argue that the quality of

existing teachers leaves much to be desired. Some scholars are pointing to teacher training,

voicing concern about a general disconnect between institutions of higher education and

institutions of teacher education. Studies have found that teachers who have received regular pre-

service and in-service training often perform no better than untrained teachers (e.g., Kingdon and

Siphaimalini-Rao, 2010). A recent study of five Indian states showed that teachers themselves

had difficulty answering complex language and math questions, or explaining the process by

which they arrived at the answer (Bhattacharjea, Wadhwa and Banerji, 2011). The concerns

about quality of teaching are exacerbated by observations that accountability, especially of

government teachers, is limited (e.g., Kingdon and Muzammil, 2010) and it is not uncommon for

teachers to be systematically absent from work (Chaudhury et al, 2006).

This already complex situation is now likely to be compounded by the 2009 enactment of

the RtE Act. With important implications for teacher education and the size and composition of

the teacher labour force in India, this law aims to increase both the quantity of teachers in India

(by reducing class sizes and limiting teaching vacancies) and the quality of those teachers (by

requiring uniform standards, testing and higher qualifications).

2.2 Teacher-related policies

In India, teachers and teacher education received renewed attention first with the 2009–2010

National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education the 2009 RtE Act (Chudgar, 2013). The

law applies to Indian schools widely, including both public and private schools, and focuses on

elementary levels (Grades 1 through 8). This law has implications for both the quantity of new

teachers required and the quality of teachers in the schools. Sections 23–28 pertain to teachers


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and Sections 25 and 26, in particular, have implications for the number of new teachers required.

The law requires schools to maintain a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of 1 to 30, and forbids schools

from maintaining more than 10 per cent vacancy in their teaching posts.

Section 23 addresses both teacher education and teacher recruitment practices. “If this

section is followed in letter and spirit, then it would homogenize teacher qualifications across the

country, ensuring that students from all over the country have access to similarly qualified

teachers” (Chudgar, 2013: 59). According to Section 23, the National Council for Teacher

Education has proposed minimum teacher qualification requirements for classes 1–8 that apply

to all schools covered by the RtE Act and to teachers of language, social studies, math and

science (NCTE, 2010). These requirements specify (a) the level of educational qualification,

along with minimum educational performance, (b) pre-service and in-service teacher training

levels, and finally (c) a requirement to pass the newly instituted Teaching Eligibility Test (TET).

According to interviews conducted by Chudgar (2013), both the RtE Act and the TET have

already had significant influence in teacher hiring and allocation decisions in the states we

surveyed.

In review, the RtE Act promises equity in teacher distribution; yet, while the federal

government of India passed the Act, and provided the rules and regulations, the implementation

of the law is the responsibility of each state. Not surprisingly, there are large differences in the

ways in which individual states frame the RtE Act. For instance, Chudgar (2013) cites a 2009

NCERT report and notes that “…while the policy is intended to create equal access to quality

teaching for all Indian children, there are significant cross-state variations in teacher demand and

teacher supply and also potentially in the spread and success of education institutions for future

teachers.” She further notes that “these cross-state variations are a cause for serious concern to

the extent that the teacher labour force may not be highly mobile across the country” (p. 66).

Keeping in mind this wide cross-state variation, for this study we decided to focus on three

diverse states, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Below we provide a brief background

on each of these states (see Table 1).

2.3 State background

India has a federal structure whereby the national government decides the rules and regulations

that apply to all schools in all states. But Indian states are very large; in fact, several states are as

Commented [NL1]: Suggest spelling out


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large as entire countries in terms of their population.2 As a result, states will interpret national

policies and often apply them differently from one another. The actual implementation and

execution of policies can then be further interpreted and carried out at the district level. Thus,

while within India the states are decentralized entities, the states themselves may operate in a

more centralized or decentralized manner. The three states we chose to focus on represent a fair

amount of diversity in terms of their overall context and their educational situation, particularly

teacher hiring and staffing situation.

Table 1: Characteristics of students, teachers and schools in three Indian states

Karnataka Madhya

Pradesh Rajasthan

State characteristics

Population in millions (rank) 58.6 (9th) 69.4 (6th) 66.3 (8th)

Gross domestic product per capita (top, middle,

bottom of distribution) $3,199 (middle) $1,494 (bottom) $2,093 (bottom)

Student characteristics

Number of children in primary school (millions) 4.6 10.6 7.1

% Scheduled tribes 0.21 26.27 16.40

% Scheduled tribes, national average 11.26 11.26 11.26

% Other backward classes 8.9 42.12 47.19

% Other backward classes, national average 40.09 40.09 40.09

Teacher characteristics

Total number of teachers 297,948 436,719 460,214

Number of teachers in government schools 194,268 266,044 269,444

% Male 44 60 70

% Scheduled castes 13 13 14

% Scheduled tribes 5 15 9

% Other backward classes 38 31 38

% Contract teachers <1 3 5

School characteristics

Number of government schools 59,484 112,014 105,190

Pupil-teacher ratio 24 40 26

Pupil-teacher ratio, national average 31 31 31

2.3.1 Karnataka

With a population of 58.6 million people (roughly the size of Italy), Karnataka is smaller than

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of

the three states ($3,199 per person, which is similar to the Philippines). It is the ninth-largest

state in terms of population and in the middle third of states by GDP per capita ranking.

2 The state comparison figures are derived from <www.economist.com/content/indian-summary>.


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In the 2010–2011 school year, 4.6 million children were enrolled in government-

managed primary (3.2 million) and upper primary (1.4 million) schools in Karnataka. Compared

with the national average, these students were less likely to be dropouts, and virtually none were

over-age. Karnataka also had a much lower than average representation of Scheduled Tribe (ST)

and Other Backward Class (OBC) populations at the primary level compared with the national

average (0.21 per cent ST and 0.89 per cent OBC vs. 11.26 per cent ST and 40.09 per cent OBC

nationally). However, the proportion of special-needs students enrolled in Karnataka’s schools is

slightly higher than the national average.

The teacher labour force in Karnataka is consists of 297,948 teachers, of which 194,268

work in government-managed schools. These teachers are largely female (56 per cent) and

diverse (13 per cent are SC, 5 per cent are ST, and 38 per cent are OBC teachers). While contract

teachers make up 11 per cent of the labour force nationally, they constitute less than 1 per cent of

teachers in Karnataka. Yet unlike contract teachers in Madhya Pradesh, contract teachers in

Karnataka report higher levels of education and more extensive pre-service training than their

regular government teacher counterparts. For example, among contract teachers 4.72 per cent

male and 7 per cent female primary school teachers and 33.33 per cent male and 10 per cent

female upper primary teachers had a post-graduate education. In addition, 98.36 per cent of

regular government teachers had pre-service training, whereas a greater number (99.19 per cent)

of contract teachers in government schools were professionally trained.

Students and teachers in Karnataka meet in 59,484 government elementary schools (78

per cent of all schools) with PTRs lower than the national average (24 compared with 31

nationally). On indicators of quality facilities schools in Karnataka generally lead the national

average on several indicators including toilets on site, drinking-water facilities, computer access,

electricity and meals.

2.3.2 Madhya Pradesh

Compared with the other two states, Madhya Pradesh has a larger population of 69.4 million

people (roughly the size of Turkey) and lower GDP per capita of $1,494 (similar to the country

of Benin). It is a large (sixth largest in India), and relatively poor state (in the bottom third of

GDP per capita ranking).


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managed primary (7.4 million) and upper primary (3.2 million) schools in Madhya Pradesh.

Compared with the national average, these students were over-age and more likely to be

dropouts. Madhya Pradesh also had a higher than average representation of ST and OBC

populations at the primary level compared with the national average (26.27 per cent ST, 42.12

per cent OBC vs. 11.26 per cent ST and 40.09 per cent OBC nationally).

The teacher labour force in Madhya Pradesh consists of 436,719 teachers, of which

266,044 work in government-managed schools. These teachers are largely male (60 per cent) and

diverse (13 per cent are SC, 15 per cent are ST and 31 per cent are OBC teachers). While

contract teachers make up 11 per cent of the labour force nationally, they constitute only 3 per

cent of teachers in Madhya Pradesh. Regular government teachers report higher levels of

education and more extensive pre- and in-service training than contract teachers. For example,

22 per cent of primary and 50 per cent of upper primary teachers have post-graduate levels of

education and 99 per cent of government teachers had pre-service training, compared with only

50 per cent of contract teachers.

Students and teachers in Madhya Pradesh meet in 112,014 government elementary

schools (82 per cent of all schools) with PTRs that exceed the national average (40 compared

with 31 nationally). On indicators of quality facilities, schools in Madhya Pradesh generally fall

below the national average on several indicators including toilets on site, drinking-water

facilities, computer access, electricity and meals.

2.3.3 Rajasthan

The state of Rajasthan, with a population of 66.3 million people, is similar in size to the country

of Thailand. However, in terms of GDP per capita ($2,093 per person), the state is similar to the

country of Sudan. Like Madhya Pradesh, it is a large (eighth largest in India) and relatively poor

state (in the bottom third of GDP per capita ranking).


managed primary (5.1 million) and upper primary (2 million) schools in Rajasthan. Compared

with the national average, these students were over-age and more likely to be dropouts.

Rajasthan also had a higher than average representation of ST and OBC populations at the


16

primary level compared with the national average (16.40 per cent ST and 47.19 per cent OBC vs.

11.26 per cent ST and 40.09 per cent OBC nationally).

The teacher labour force in Rajasthan is consists of 460,214 teachers, of which 269,444

work in government-managed schools. These teachers are largely male (nearly 70 per cent) and

diverse (14 per cent are SC, 9 per cent are ST and 38 per cent are OBC teachers). While contract

teachers make up 11 per cent of the labour force nationally, they constitute 5 per cent of teachers

in Rajasthan. Regular government teachers report higher levels of education and more extensive

pre-service training than contract teachers. For example, 14 per cent male and 16 per cent female

primary school teachers and 31 per cent male and 40 per cent female upper primary teachers had

a post-graduate education.

Students and teachers in Rajasthan meet in 105,190 government elementary schools (74

per cent of all schools) with PTRs lower than the national average (26 compared with 31

nationally). On indicators of quality facilities, schools in Rajasthan lead the national average on

some (toilet seats on site and drinking water) and fall below the average on others (computers,

electricity and meals).


17

3. Methods and data

In this section, we describe in detail the steps we took to gather and analyse the data. In each of

the three case countries (India, Mexico and the United Republic of Tanzania), we identified two

to four regions that exhibit a fair amount of regional diversity to help us obtain a fair cross-

section of variation in teacher recruitment, retention, and retirement policies and practices. These

regions were identified both by reviewing the existing literature, and in consultation with

contacts within the country.

3.1 Obtaining approval from institutional review boards

This country case study is part of a large cross-national research project. The project leaders

reside at two different academic institutions. Therefore, the first step in beginning this large

project was to obtain approval from the institutional review boards at Claremont Graduate

University and Michigan State University. Of the various review and analysis activities we had

planned, only the interview-based activities that form the foundation of this case study involved

interaction with human subjects.

In consultation with the institutional procedures, we developed consent forms for our

participants (see the Appendix). We also developed an interview protocol tailored to the various

roles of participants (for Mexico and the United Republic of Tanzania, we also translated the

protocol in Spanish and Swahili, respectively; in the Indian case, the interviewer made spot

translations, if necessary, to explain the questions). Finally, we devised a system to ensure that

participants’ confidentiality would be maintained (unless their unique public service position

readily identifies them). These included delinking participant names from their data file and

using identification numbers or pseudonyms in data transcribing and reporting. We maintained

the data and link files in password-protected locations at all times. With these checks in place,

we obtained approval from both institutions to proceed with this work.

3.2 Identifying interview samples and conducting interviews

As noted earlier, in India, the states of Rajasthan in the West, Madhya Pradesh in the centre and

Karnataka in the South emerged as three potential study locations, offering distinct and diverse

insights into the processes in which we are interested. Interview data from these states were

collected over a three-to-four-month period, starting late in December 2012 and ending in March


18

2013. Due to the nature of the data collection activity and the distance, we felt it appropriate to

hire a consultant in India who could execute these interviews across the country. After an

extensive search and a series of discussions, KanuPriya Jhunjhunwala was identified as a

consultant for this position. The consultant obtained the necessary human subjects training from

the project-leader’s institution. She executed the interview protocols and provided the resultant

data both as sound files and as transcriptions. These data were analysed at Michigan State

University for this report.

In order to identify the interview sample, Ms. Jhunjhunwala assumed the lead, as her

position with the country provided her with many more avenues to make connections. The

primary method for sample selection was snowball sampling.

The UNICEF India Country Office as well as the State Offices for Karnataka, Madhya

Pradesh and Rajasthan provided assistance in identifying respondents, especially at the state

administration level. The Azim Premji Foundation (APF) was instrumental in providing

connections at the district, block and school levels in the states of Karnataka and Rajasthan, and

at the state level in Karnataka. In addition, the APF District Coordinators in Karnataka and

Rajasthan, and UNICEF consultants in Madhya Pradesh, accompanied the interviewer during the

interviews and provided language interpretation wherever necessary. Moreover, their insights

and knowledge of the state’s educational context and systemic issues provided a comprehensive

background to the interviewer.

We decided that we would select districts that fell within a 100-kilometre radius (2 to 3

hours’ driving distance) from the state capitals. We also relied on our local state-level contacts to

recommend districts in which the officers in charge would have had prior experience in diverse

settings, would be willing to meet us, and would be willing to talk on record. In all three states,

the district, and the blocks and subsequently schools within the districts were selected on the

basis of these criteria.

In Karnataka, a southern district was selected. This is a relatively prosperous district with

rich agricultural produce and related industry. It is well connected by road and railways. This has

led to the establishment of many polytechnics and engineering colleges, along with various

industrial research institutes in the vicinity. The district has various employment opportunities

and, subsequently, there is a high demand for education.


19

The district selected in Rajasthan is in the north-eastern part of the state, and has a

significant Muslim population. Large educational inequities were visible, as one saw well-

established English medium private schools alongside small, cramped spaces which function as

madrasas (Islamic schools). In 2006, the Government of India designated this district as one of

the 250 Most Backward Districts (out of a total of 640).

The district selected in Madhya Pradesh lies in its central region. Two UNESCO world

heritage sites are present in this district, making it a major tourism hub. Despite this, the district

continues to be economically backward, as according to the District Level Household and

Facilities Survey (2007/08), about 70 per cent of the households in this district have a low

standard of living. This district also has a significant tribal population.

In all, this method of sample selection generated 31 interviews from national, state,

district, block and school officials. The sample also contained teachers, NGO representatives and

union representatives (see Table 2). The sample provides an adequate representation of state,

district and school levels, and is less successful in terms of obtaining a perspective from block-

level officials. This is due to the fact that within each sample state, the interviewer tried to select

at least one urban and one rural district-level official, whereas the in-depth sub-district level

interviews were conducted only in the rural districts mentioned above. This was done because it

became clear in the state-level interviews that teacher recruitment and deployment in urban

districts was not a problem, since these are the preferred locations for most teachers. Due to this,

only one block was selected in each rural district, and the senior most block-level official was

interviewed. It is also important to point out that many of the district-level officers interviewed

were previously engaged at the block level and were able to provide information on block-level

processes as well. Formal interview with NGO representatives was possible only in one state.

However, in all three states, informal conversations with representatives from UNICEF and APF

provided a clear perspective from civil society representatives.

Table 2: Description of the interview sample for India country case study

Participant designation Number of

interviews

Participant location

(Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh

and Rajasthan)

National level 2 -

State level 9 5, 4, 1

District level 10 2, 2, 5

Block level 3 1, 1,1

School level (including principal and teachers) 6 2, 2,2


20

NGOs 1 (not revealed to protect the

identity of the respondent)

Teacher unions 3 1,1,1

Note: All teacher union representatives have also been included as teachers in the school-level interviews.

Interviews were conducted with each of these participants by first presenting them with

the consent form, obtaining their written and oral consent, and then, with their permission, tape-

recording the interview. Most interviews lasted between 45 minutes and 1 hour, as anticipated.

As mentioned earlier, during interviews in all three states, the consultant was accompanied by

representatives from either UNICEF or APF (or both, in the case of some interviews in Madhya

Pradesh). Due to this, many of the interviews turned into focus group discussions, in which those

present spontaneously joined in to contribute information and opinion.

In general, all respondents were willing to talk freely, especially since the interviewer

was accompanied by individuals who were quite familiar to the respondents. In some cases, the

respondents refused to share some specific information on record, but were more than willing to

divulge the situation off the record. This was the case specifically when respondents would talk

about corruption and political interference during teacher appointments.

School-level interviews with teachers were generally conducted as a round-table activity.

This was because school leadership did not want to appear to be favouring any one or two

teachers by singling them out as respondents. These round-table activities allowed us access to

teachers with a diverse range of experiences and worked quite well, as we were able to

understand teachers’ views of differences in recruitment and deployment processes over time.

3.3 Transcribing the interviews, coding and analysing the data

We found that many of the district- and sub-district-level respondents were not fluent in English,

and on-the-spot translations from English to Hindi (in the case of Rajasthan and Madhya

Pradesh) were made by the interviewer. In Karnataka, the APF representatives were instrumental

in providing on-the-spot translations from English to Kannada, for the benefit of the respondents,

and from Kannada to English, for the benefit of the interviewer. Finally, the interviews were

transcribed and then translated, so that data analysis could be done in English for all the

interviews. Issues of language were thus addressed adequately. For each study location, we

completed this task of translation and transcribing while maintaining the study participant’s


21

anonymity. The transcripts prepared in this manner generated several hundred pages of interview

data.

The project leaders referred to the original conceptual framework of this study to begin

outlining the key themes we were interested in informing through the interview-based data. In

addition, we discussed the themes that seemed to emerge from our presence in the field and our

conversations with the informants and the observations we made. We utilized NVivo qualitative

data analysis software to analyse a specific portion of this large amount of data. This approach

gave us an additional way to code for both expected codes and emergent codes that we noted in

our data and during our conversations and observations. At all stages of data coding and sense-

making we made concerted efforts to identify themes that were both overlapping across the three

country case studies, and those that were distinct for the specific country data we were analysing.

The prior codes that we anticipated involved questions about resource allocation; patterns

of teacher distribution; and teacher recruitment, retention and retirement practices. The emphasis

on each of these topics varied depending on the context and the interview respondent. In

addition, we were keenly attentive to any patterns pertaining to teacher demographics in

explaining the teacher labour markets we were studying, as this theme emerged repeatedly in our

quantitative work. Some newer themes that emerged from the data included the local-ness of

teacher labour markets, the crucial role of teachers’ own preferences, the difficult conditions

faced by new teachers in the field, and often the role of political patronage in teacher allocation

decisions.

In the following sections, we expand on these issues by broadly identifying the patterns

and determinants of teacher distribution in our three Indian focal states. In our exploration of

these themes, we include the prevailing views of the teacher labour force in India, describe the

processes of teacher hiring and retention in each of our three study states, explain factors related

to the overall quality of the teacher labour force, explore factors associated with uneven teacher

distribution, and highlight potentially equity-enhancing practices of ‘rationalization’.


22

4. Results

Like any interview process, our conversations with Indian policymakers and educators yielded a

mixture of responses; overall, participants provided excellent and insightful answers, but

occasionally they offered more casual responses seemingly aimed at appeasing the interviewer,

or simply avoiding the question altogether. For instance, when asked about specific practices,

one respondent simply stated, “…that is over my rank,” and declined to comment further. Even

in states where contract teacher hiring was prevalent, most policymakers declined to speak

extensively about this practice. In general, however, the interviews augment our quantitative

findings by illuminating national, state and local views of policies and practices influencing the

hiring and distribution of teachers for marginalized children in India.

The case study research conducted in India revealed several patterns that indicate that

teachers of marginalized children in India may be consistently less experienced and

comparatively ‘weaker’ candidates than teachers of other children. New teachers and teachers

with limited training are often hired and assigned to the most remote rural locations, leaving

schools in such areas with the least experienced teachers. Similarly, various hiring practices and

competition for teaching positions also ensure that low-performing pre-service teachers will

apply only to marginalized areas to teach. As these teachers gain experience, they often request

transfers to schools in more desirable locations, leading to a constant churn of teachers in the

most marginalized areas and perpetuating further inequities. Although these patterns are fairly

consistent across the three study states, we did find some examples of cross-state variation. For

instance, our participants suggested that of the three focal states of this study, Karnataka

(followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) has enjoyed the greatest success in terms of

government efforts to manage and monitor the teacher hiring and allocation process.

Respondents identified the most common types of marginalization experienced by

children in our three study states as disadvantages related to their caste, location (i.e.,

urban/rural), and status as first-generation learners and/or tribal children. Our respondents also

confirmed that schools which educate these children are extremely difficult to staff, since these

schools are generally located in remote areas where most teachers do not wish to live or work.

One interviewee effectively encapsulated this challenge by stating, “You can superimpose

remoteness and teacher shortage as almost a one-on-one co-relation.”


23

According to participants, national-level policies and practices have failed to adequately

address the inequitable distribution of teachers for marginalized children. Overall, most states in

India have fallen short in what many referred to as teacher ‘rationalization’, or equal teacher

distribution (i.e., meeting demand with adequate supply). Given India’s legacy of national

manpower planning, first, they pointed out that there is limited to no national manpower

planning in the education sector. In part, this is because a huge surge of children entered the

system in the past decade and policymakers are only now (as the surge stabilizes) learning how

to respond to and adequately address the resulting teacher shortages. Second, they noted that

national teacher placement systems lack transparency and that many policies and practices

appear to be largely arbitrary. Several respondents suggested an urgent need for greater political

will and commitment to improve these policies.

Foreshadowing the inequities we observe later in the case study, we note that the

respondents’ views on the quality of the current teacher labour force in India were mixed.

Capturing the overall sentiment of the interviews, one respondent stated, “Now quality is the

most neglected item. Only merit is the criteria.” The teacher labour force is ‘more qualified’, but

not everyone agrees that these new teachers are high ‘quality’ or better tuned to children’s needs.

Those who viewed the teaching force more negatively argued that teaching is often

considered a profession of last resort; that is, most teachers teach out of compulsion, not by

choice. To the extent that this is true, it may be due to the fact that globalization has presented

new career opportunities for educated adults in India. There was also the general sense that many

teachers lack commitment, neglect to fulfil their responsibilities, and are generally apathetic,

driven less by a sense of service than salary. Many participants referred to historical eras in

which the teaching profession was viewed as a true call to service and teachers had the respect of

society.

Participants who saw the teacher labour force in a more positive light argued that teachers

have become increasingly diverse as less affluent, lower caste candidates have been able to enter

the profession post-independence. Furthermore, the TET exam, a stringent requirement to enter

teaching, has arguably produced smarter, more qualified new teaching recruits who compare

more favourably than teachers who have been in the classroom for several years. These

participants also viewed the profession as a noble one and a desirable one. One respondent, for

example, claimed that “most of the women, they are teachers – those who choose this profession


24

do so because of obvious reasons – that it is a noble profession, there is some holiday at the end

of every year.” Finally, they argued that the predictable working hours, holidays and relatively

high salaries help retain dedicated teachers out of choice, and not compulsion. In the words of

one educator,

“We will never get a teacher to resign her job, never. I have not yet got a proposal of a

young teacher resigning. I have not approved any proposal like that. They either die, or

they get married and if they get married they take a transfer to another district. Because

the government job is very precious and very rare that they resign and go.”

While current policies rarely intend to create unequal distribution or hardship for

marginalized children, it appears that the ultimate outcome of these policies is often different.

Creating a minimum qualification or competence requirement for the teaching profession can be

viewed as one of the most straightforward approaches to ensuring equity in teacher distribution.

If all teachers reach this bar, differences in teacher qualifications across schools and students are

less likely. Yet our case study reveals that in practice, even in the presence of such minimum

qualification requirements, equity is very difficult to achieve due to specific hiring practices.

In the sections that follow, we describe: (a) patterns of teacher distribution, and cross-

state variation in these patterns; (b) potential explanations for and concerns about the overall low

quality of teacher education in India, a theme that was prominent in all our conversations, and (c)

some potential explanations for the uneven teacher distribution that emerged from these

discussions.

4.1 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in the three study states

In this section we provide detailed descriptions of state-level policies and practices of hiring,

allocation and transfer. This description is based on our conversations in the field, and is by no

means meant to exhaustively describe these complex policies. Rather, we hope that through this

description we are able to highlight some salient patterns that inform this research on teacher

distribution in India.

4.1.1 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Karnataka


25

Overall, it appeared that schools in Karnataka are relatively well resourced and that the education

system is well organized. For instance, we learned that schools are tested yearly for progress, and

that teachers in struggling schools have opportunities for capacity building. But on other

occasions, we also heard about challenges of limited resources. In particular, on several

occasions our participants referred to the practice of multi-grade teaching in the state.

Respondents also indicated imbalances between north-eastern and southern districts in terms of

basic infrastructure like running water and toilets. In general, northern districts (Bellary,

Gulbarga, Koppal and Raichur) appear to be more deprived. The discussion below also reveals a

well-organized teacher recruitment system, yet a presence of some regional imbalance.

Karnataka’s system of teacher recruitment and transfers is centralized. While districts are

the units of selection, the district’s responsibility is limited to the verification of the

documentation the candidates submit – the rest of the hiring process is conducted centrally.

Vacancies are made public and qualified candidates apply online to their chosen districts to

appear for an exam. The exam is conducted by the centralized cell on the same date throughout

the state. Interestingly, we learned that vacancy lists, while ‘public’, may not be easily

accessible. So future teachers who apply to multiple districts initially eventually have to travel to

all the relevant district offices to find out the number of applications received by each location

and then decide the district where they ultimately want their application to be considered. A

candidate may select a district of his choice regardless of where he resides to compete for the

open positions.

Following the exam, the centralized cell scores all of the answer scripts and generates a

merit list based on the scores and whether candidates have a general degree or B.Ed. The weight

given to each component of the score is 70 per cent for the written exam, 20 per cent for a degree

and 10 per cent for a B.Ed. Teachers are then ranked on a merit basis and counselled to help

decide where they will be hired.

Schools with open positions are categorized by three zones – A, B and C – based on their

proximity to city centres. Placement in zone A is preferred by most candidates due to greater

urban conveniences, but it is not easy to obtain. In fact, in a move that may seem to dampen the

equitable distribution of quality teachers, new recruits are explicitly asked to choose an open

position located in zone C. As one respondent noted, “the new children have new teachers, good

for them, good luck to both.” Within a specific zone, if a primary school has 200 vacancies, then


26

200 names will appear on the merit list, with the strongest candidate on top. The top candidate

will get their first choice in placement and school selection is ultimately decided by counselling

on a first-come-first-served basis.

However, the teacher allocation process is not complete with initial teacher hiring. As we

had noted in our general observations above, teachers often begin the process of vying for

transfers as soon as they arrive in their initial position. The churning of teachers in Karnataka

happens for at least two reasons. One, we learned that teacher candidates in Karnataka tend to

select and apply to districts with more vacant positions (i.e., less competition). This secures them

a job, but the location may often be less than desirable. So once hired, they begin the process to

transfer to a more desirable district. Second, in this case the government policy of allocating new

teachers in hard-to-staff zone C school also has the same effect. These teachers who may receive

appointments in zone C only teach for a few years before obtaining transfers to the districts of

their choice, usually city schools. Putting these two trends together, the volume of requests for

transfers is greater in districts perceived as ‘difficult’. One respondent explained that:

“in a district like Chamrajnagar, or maybe it is also true for northern Karnataka Districts,

10% to 20% will apply for transfer. In Chamrajnagar almost one out of every five teachers

wants to leave the district, whereas in Mandya one out of 20 would want to leave the

district.”

While the process of teacher transfer is one of the most systematic manners in which

shortage of qualified teachers in the least desirable location occurs, in Karnataka at least the

process necessary to receive a transfer appears to be systematized and well arranged. At least in

part, this may serve as a deterrent to a mass exodus of teaches from one location to another. First,

there is a minimum service requirement and priority is given to candidates with personal

circumstances that may necessitate a move. A candidate must have worked five years in his or

her district and be married to be eligible for transfer. A teacher in zone C accrues 2 points for

each year, after five years, and with 10 points they become eligible to seek a transfer to zone B.

In zone B, one year accrues 1.5 points and from this point onward transfers are less of a norm

(though it is not clear if this is due to a government action or a teacher preference). Next,

teachers have to apply online and a hard copy must be submitted to the concerned district office.

A candidate who applies for transfer will then be called by the Block Education Officer (BEO),

who will judge the merit of the case. At this stage, transfer priorities are given for seven


27

categories in rank order: the terminally ill, physically handicapped, widows, ex-military

personnel, candidates who are married to a government employee, candidates who are married to

a non-government employee, and office bearers in the department. Finally, a list is announced

for who will appear for counselling. Following this list is a call for objections. After objections

have been heard, a new rank list is finalized and candidates choose a district with a vacancy.

While the process described above is not without its demerits, it does offer a fairly

transparent mechanism for teacher hiring and transfer. Indeed, compared with our other study

states, in Karnataka we heard a much greater emphasis placed on the transparency of the teacher

hiring and transfer system. As mentioned above, according to many participants the process is

detailed and well organized. It involves the essential ‘counselling’ step, which a teacher takes to

decide the best possible placement. (While the term counselling may conjure the image of

personalized, career counselling, it appears from our conversations that this process may also be

quite formulaic and not as individualized as it may seem.) We heard repeatedly how counselling,

among several other such checks and balances, ensured that teacher staffing decisions are

transparent. One participant, for example, pointed out that “the posting of teachers is through

counselling, so nobody influences it.”

The decision to implement the counselling step appears to be guided at least in part by

perceived malpractice in prior teacher placement practices. When discussing transfers,

respondents were keen to emphasize that no political influence or letters of recommendation are

allowed to accompany a transfer request. Another respondent emphasized that:

“earlier it [an oral interview] was there when the DLCR was in force, the District Level

Recruitment Committee. They were conducting interviews after selection. Now, because

of this favouritism and other malpractices, this was banned.”

However, we also heard more favourable interpretations of the former interview process that is

now abandoned. Some respondents claimed that the interviews allowed the selection of teachers

who were truly dedicated to the profession,

“who are not meritorious but committed to the post of teacher, those who love the

profession, they are successful teachers. Nowadays, only merit is the criteria. So all

merited are not having good aptitude for teachers.”

These divergent comments remind us of one of the most important, unresolved debates in the

literature. What is teacher quality, and how can it be assessed? Are multiple-choice exams and


28

educational performance enough to identify dedicated teachers, or is a more personalized,

interview-based approach necessary to identify the individuals with the right aptitude?

While on the one hand we see an extremely well-organized and transparent teacher

recruitment and transfer system in Karnataka, we also note some inherent attributes of the system

that have contributed to regional imbalance in the distribution of quality teachers for

marginalized children. In part, this imbalance may be attributed to the placement of new teachers

in the most remote schools (zone C), as mentioned above. In addition, to complete the online

application form a teacher must travel to the block level. Essentially, applicants who reside in

zone C must come to zone A to apply and take the exam, an effort that in itself becomes a

deterrent. In fact, many of these candidates then settle in zone A. One respondent pointed to this

phenomenon by stating that:

“the northern candidates, some of them have given the exam here and been selected here.

They are coming from Gulbarga, maybe, studying B.Ed. in Mandya, appearing for exam

in Mandya, applying for jobs in Mandya and then teaching in Mandya. Then after 5 years

they are not going back, they are permanently settling in Mandya, they are well settled

here.”

Teacher transfers, as described above, works as another mechanism that leads to unequal

teacher distribution. When able, teachers transfer away from less affluent, remote schools to

better schools with more facilities, where the teacher is more at “personal ease and better socio-

economic parameters.” Therefore, schools in wealthy areas with better facilities tend to have

older, more experienced teachers, while less advantaged schools have younger, less experienced

teachers.

To prevent excessive transfers of teachers from the North to the South, the Government

of India has introduced the Teachers’ Transfer Act. Before this system was implemented, one

respondent recalled receiving “more than forty thousand recommendation letters from the

ministers, M.L.A.s, and people in politics” seeking transfers. Under the Act, “teachers will be

given weightage on the basis of their [years of] service.” In addition, in an effort to maintain

equity, officials in Karnataka are shifting vacant posts from the North (where there is a surplus)

to the South.

4.1.2 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Madhya Pradesh


29

The circumstances in Madhya Pradesh appear overall more challenging than Karnataka. Teacher

shortage and recruitment of para-professional teachers seem to be widely prevalent in this state.

One of the most important things we learned was that according to our participants, the

recruitment of regular teachers in Madhya Pradesh stopped in 1995. This change was, in part, a

result of opaque recruitment practices of the past in which officials would hire friends and family

at their own level without ever advertising an open position. Using interviews to identify local

teacher candidates was also seen as part and parcel of this nepotism, as interviewers familiar with

the candidates neglected to examine the candidates’ qualifications or aptitude for the position.

Now the process is centralized at the state level, so schools have no autonomy regarding teacher

recruitment.

As our other study states, in order to obtain a regular teaching position in Madhya

Pradesh, candidates must first take the TET exam. Then they must consult the state-wide list of

vacancies and apply for open positions at local Janpad (or Block Levels), the administrative unit

below the district. According to our respondents there are 313 Block Levels in Madhya Pradesh

and qualified candidates from across the state (even country) are free to apply to their posted

positions. The performance on the TET exam, along with individual qualifications, is considered

to generate a ranked list of top candidates for each district. Given the severe teacher shortage in

this state, we were somewhat surprised to learn about established norms and rules regarding

teacher qualifications for various levels of schooling that may exacerbate these challenges.

Ironically, one participant noted that many teachers in the state are actually overqualified (i.e.,

instead of a diploma they have a bachelor’s degree). According to the National Council for

Teacher Education (NCTE) norms, teachers with a B.Ed. cannot teach at the primary level since

the B.Ed. is “for 6th onwards.” Primary school teachers are only required to have an education

diploma (D.Ed.). One respondent suggested that there are teachers with the more advanced B.Ed.

degrees who go back to school for the D.Ed. qualification. When the interviewer suggested that

therein lies a philosophical question, that it would be better for a child to have a more qualified

teacher, the participant responded by stating, “yes, but that needs to be provided in the

recruitment rules.”

After the ranked list of candidates is generated in order to decide which candidates will

be placed in which schools, the officials ‘counsel’ prospective teachers based on a 12-point scale


30

that prioritizes ST, SC and OBC candidates, physically handicapped candidates and female

teachers. One participant explained that:

“initially handicapped ST woman would be called, likewise after this handicapped SC

woman would be called, then handicapped woman from general category would be

called. In this way, the normal candidate from general category would be called twelfth in

order.”

This method was seen by the respondent as “good for recruitment” since “a healthy person can

be sent anywhere for teaching.”

Despite these recruitment efforts, shortages of qualified teachers remain a key challenge

for officials in Madhya Pradesh. For example, one participant noted that in the state “we have

48,000 posts, 36,000 cleared the exam and only 24,000 applied for recruitment.” Another

participant elaborated on the shortage described above by stating that:

“now posts are more than people applied so all posts will not be filled. People will get

their better preference. Now since posts are more, they have many options. So there is a

possibility that there are 200 posts in a [block level] and only 2–4 of them get filled.”

These shortages are most severe in rural and tribal areas. As one participant suggested,

“on their own no one wants to go” teach in these areas. Another interview revealed the tendency

for teachers to choose schools closest to urban areas. The respondent stated,

“if there are 300 vacancies. So out of this 250 nearest to the town will be filled and by

the end those farthest would be left…. The posts are advertised all together and those

nearest get filled and farthest remain vacant.”

Frustrating officials concerned with meeting the enormous demand for teachers in the rural and

tribal regions is the fact that many urban areas actually have a surplus of qualified teachers.

“Where there are more teachers in urban areas, they are sent to villages as per PTR needs (pupil-

teacher ratio). But despite that, the situation prevails that there are excess teachers in urban

settings and village schools lack teachers.” According to our conversations, in an effort to alter

this persistent lack of teachers, officials in Madhya Pradesh have decided to only recruit teachers

for rural areas this school year.

However, recruiting qualified teachers for rural schools is no small task. As described

above, qualified teachers in urban areas have little interest in applying for or accepting positions


31

in remote schools and the pool of qualified candidates in rural areas is limited. According to a

respondent,

“the backward areas are historically deprived and when we locally recruit teachers, we

might not find good quality candidates in such areas because the potential pool of

qualified and meritorious candidates is itself very small. We may find them in big cities

but not in rural areas.”

As a result, students in these areas lack access to teachers with any subject knowledge.

“…there are many areas where there are no subject specific teachers like that of Math.

The rest of the teachers are there and they are trying to teach also but their own capability

is not so good that they substitute them. They can’t teach Math the way any Math teacher

can do.”

Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon: in fact, the state has had to historically

make concessions regarding qualification requirements for teachers because it has traditionally

not had enough qualified candidates. To fill these vacant positions, officials in Madhya Pradesh

have hired untrained ‘contract’ teachers. The names used to describe the status of these teachers

have gone through several changes, but in general we gathered the sense that policymakers have

filled many open positions with untrained contract teachers. This practice likely increases

inequities in the distribution of teachers for marginalized children, as hard-to-staff areas (where

most marginalized children live) receive the largest proportion of contract teachers. “So next

step,” a respondent pointed out,

“is there that we will employee untrained teachers also, in that all post would be filled.

Almost 100% posts will fill in this step for primary because minimum higher secondary

qualification is only required in this. Even in tribal areas seats will be filled.”

Our interviews revealed that the decision to utilize more contract or guest teachers was

made, in part, because of pressure from the media upon their coverage of severe teacher

shortages. Presumably, the reduced cost of hiring these teachers was also a factor. The process

by which many of these teachers arrive at their classrooms also appears to be considerably

different than the merit process described for regular recruitment. In a conversation with a local

contract teacher, we learned that the applicant merely heard about an opening at a school and

filed an application. After 10 days, the principal called to inform the candidate of selection for

teaching.


32

In terms of teacher transfers too, the two categories of teachers are treated differently.

Describing transfers for regular (teacher cadre) and contract-based teachers (Adhyapak cadre) a

respondent stated, “In the teacher cadre, transfers are possible but not in Adhyapak cadre. This

cadre only has some shifting which is only for women and handicapped people. Males can’t

adopt this facility.” However, given the excessive reliance on contract-based teachers, only about

25 per cent of the teachers belong to the teachers’ cadre, and participants suggest that most of

these already work in their desired locations, and are unlikely to seek transfers.

Also, while transfers are possible in the teacher cadre, the rules are stringent. For

example, only women who get married and handicapped men are currently considered for

transfer status. The ability to transfer does not apply to contract teachers, who must complete a

three-year probationary period before becoming regular teachers. Contract teachers are permitted

to change jobs on their own as often as they like, but must accept the risk of not securing

employment and the fact that each new position rewinds the clock on their probationary period.

We did speak to at least two female respondents, however, who appeared to secure a transfer

quite easily in order to assist with their aging family members.

Overall, the transfer process in Madhya Pradesh appears less organized than in the other

two states. Yet, in keeping with the general sentiment that teachers have strong preferences about

where they may want to live and work in the long run, in Madhya Pradesh we heard about the

emphasis on hiring locally. As one respondent noted,

“…if you send someone from Bhopal to Murena then 90 per cent of his energy would be

spent in trying to come back to Bhopal. But if someone from Murena itself or nearby

Pahargarh is going there, and he is not very well off to shift to Bhopal then he would not

try.”

Another participant mentioned that 20 years ago officials also held the idea that:

“if the person teaches in his/her own village then he would be more devoted and then

teach properly. Today also there is this belief that if teachers are placed in their own

villages they will not have problems of residence, social circumstances, etc., so they will

teacher better.”

Madhya Pradesh thus paints a picture different than Karnataka. A chronic shortage of

qualified teachers is perhaps at the heart of some of the inequitable teacher distributions in this

state. The key inequities seem to occur by allocating untrained or undertrained and often less


33

educated teachers to teach in remote locations. These guest teachers or contracts teachers enjoy

nearly none of the benefits of their regular counterparts. One respondent noted that most of these

teachers receive just 100 rupees per day, while day labourers earn about 250 rupees per day. Not

only do they receive no benefits, but even their salaries are unstable and can be stopped at any

time. In the words of one participant, “they are the producers of the country’s future and so much

exploited.” At the same time some officials point out that as efforts are being made to address the

challenges of meeting the demand for qualified teachers, at least the use of contract teachers

ensures that schools serving children in remote and tribal regions remain open.

Despite these challenging circumstances, there are efforts being made to attain greater

equity in teacher distribution. Practices aimed at enhancing the equity of teacher distribution for

marginalized children in Madhya Pradesh appear to focus on increasing the role of tribal leaders

and tribal teachers in schools where more than 50 per cent of the student population is tribal. As

one participant described, a “block identified as tribal block is 50 per cent or more population is

tribal.” There are 89 tribal blocks.

“And in these tribal blocks, all the schools that are there from Primary to Higher

Secondary are managed by the tribal department. Their syllabus, books, etc., are same as

other schools, but teachers posting and functioning of the schools is managed by the

tribal department. Opening up of new schools is also done by tribal department.”

The respondent also noted that the teachers in these tribal schools are hired by tribal leaders.

Additionally, officials in Madhya Pradesh have utilized incentives to draw teachers to work in

tribal areas – up to 10 per cent of basic pay. These pay incentives applied “not only for teachers,

but everyone working in scheduled areas.” (Though more recently, monetary incentives may

have been replaced with additional holidays.)

4.1.3 Teacher hiring, distribution and transfers in Rajasthan

Like most Indian states, Rajasthan is diverse, and the western and southern regions are

considered especially challenged in terms of various social and economic performance measures.

A few affluent districts (Bharatpur, Jhunjhunu and Sikar) in the state are considered net

‘suppliers’ of qualified teachers due to their overall high levels of education (especially girls’

education) and a generally enlightened attitude. But ultimately, as we discuss below, teachers


34

from these districts are keen to ‘return home’, a choice that can lead to unequal access for

marginalized children.

Education in Rajasthan is controlled by the Panchayat Raj Department. The state

categorizes teachers into three types: first, second and third grades or levels. A teacher at the

third level can work in primary schools, second grade or level teachers are employed in lower

secondary schools, and teachers at level one can work in upper secondary schools. In addition to

the regular government cadre, the state has also relied extensively on teachers hired on a contract

basis and on other alternative forms of teacher hiring. The age limit for prospective teachers is 35

years old and requirements for entering teaching at each grade level include basic education and

teacher training, where, like Madhya Pradesh, it is possible that a teacher may be ‘over-qualified’

for a lower-grade job and thus unable to apply.

After a teacher candidate demonstrates proof that they hold the necessary qualifications,

he or she required to appear for a test. Similar to Karnataka, a teacher can only apply for this test

in one district and one level at a time, because all of the districts hold their exam on the same

day. The exams are managed by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission and the quality and

scope of the questions are similar across the district; test guidelines are also the same and

provided by the state. Vacant teaching positions for each district are announced state-wide and

even nationwide. Quite unlike Madhya Pradesh, in general it appears that in Rajasthan a far

greater number of candidates apply than there are positions available. For example, we learned

that even in relatively less well-off and remote districts, 20,000 candidates may apply for just

200 posts. In addition, we learned that 300,000 candidates appeared for the state exam for just

40,000 positions. These candidates are then ranked based on their exam scores (conducted on

optical mark recognition, or OMR, sheets) which are used to prepare a ranked list (or a merit list)

of all test-takers.

In our conversations with various stakeholders, we did not necessarily find overt

acceptance of the possibility that teacher distribution may be unequal; in part this is because the

qualification requirements mentioned above are uniform across Rajasthan. Thus, it is easy to

deny that teacher distribution is unequal because on several observable attributes, teachers are

required to be the same, at least in theory. By the same token, respondents affiliated with the

government were not ready to admit to the possibility of unequal teacher distribution.


35

Nevertheless, our analysis of the interviews pointed to a clear policy/practice disconnect;

while there were formal systems in place to create an equitable distribution of teachers across

these diverse regions, in reality there were distinct differences in the quality of teachers available

to students across the state. For example, remote and less developed regions have access to a less

experienced and less stable teacher labour force. This occurs, in part, by a mechanism very

similar to the one observed in Karnataka. At the time of recruitment, the policy that a teacher can

only apply for the test in one district and one level has the potential of steering the less qualified

candidates to the one district that is less competitive (and by extension less desirable). Yet,

similar to Karnataka, once in the job, teachers are able to seek transfers to the schools of their

choice, leading to wide gaps in teacher quality between schools.

In fact, in our conversations with stakeholders in Rajasthan, teacher transfers emerged as

a key mechanism that generated inequity in teacher distribution, the place where political

patronage was exercised, and a way in which teacher’s own preferences were most vociferously

expressed. As noted above, according to our respondents, many teachers would like to get in the

system at locations they often consider ‘easier to get in’, or in districts where they expect

competition to be less strong due to a lower-quantity applicant pool. After they are in the system,

the teachers start navigating the system to get transferred back to their home districts. Not

surprisingly, the reverse situation, where a teacher moves away from a desirable location, rarely

takes place. As one government official noted, in the most affluent and well-developed districts

of the states, there are hardly ever any transfer requests from teachers.

From our interviews, we learned about some of the key details of the transfer process that

may contribute to inequitable teacher distribution in Rajasthan. To begin, there are generally

quotas that are allowed for what percentage of the districts’ teachers may apply for transfer.

There are also some basic criteria outlining which teacher transfer candidates are given

preference for transfers; these are transfers due to marriage, widowhood, divorce and serious

health conditions. We understand that teachers with seniority also have a greater ability to

transfer, but once they transfer to their new location they lose seniority. Yet, our respondents

suggested that this is a trade-off many teachers are only too happy to accept. In addition, we

learned that turnover is less likely after the age of 40, partly because that is the age cut-off for

other government posts. Finally, in Rajasthan we learned about teachers willing to bribe

politicians to secure placement in a more developed part of the state or a bigger city. These


36

transfer details provide further insight into the ways in which more experienced and qualified

teachers in Rajasthan appear to pursue every possibility and advantage in order to secure a

placement in more desirable locations, thereby denying marginalized rural children access to

quality teachers.

Like Madhya Pradesh, another manner in which teacher quality is likely compromised is

by relying on different forms of alternative teacher hiring practices (e.g., contract teachers)

where the pay is limited, there is no tenure, and candidates often have limited or no teacher

training. While we did not specifically investigate the contract teacher issue in Rajasthan and it

certainly did not feature as prominently in the conversations, we heard a range of views from

how prevalent the practice was and the lack of systematic efforts to regularize these teachers, to

how the practice was being phased out.

We identified at least two mechanisms in Rajasthan that were used to manage teacher

recruitment with a deliberate eye towards distribution. One is the attention given in each district

to the reservation quota, or the numbers of seats that are reserved for teachers from what are

considered traditionally disadvantaged castes in India. In fact, there are districts, where like in

Madhya Pradesh all the positions are reserved only for tribal candidates. Also, we learned that

there are different qualification requirements (generally lower) for candidates from these groups.

For instance, while a score of 60 per cent is required to pass the TET for a general candidate, the

score required drops to 55 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively, for a candidate from the

reserved and tribal categories. The other approach we learned about was seemingly much more

punitive; it involved the creation of a ‘Dark Zone’, where nine districts (Bikaner, Baarmer,

Jaanor, Jhalawar, Baanswara, Pratapgarh, Jaisalmer, Sirohi, and Baaran) are declared zones in

which, once posted there, teachers are often not allowed to transfer for a decade or more for the

fear that these positions would be hard to fill.

4.1.4. A brief cross-state comparison

From the discussion above, it is evident that unique state circumstances (such as teacher shortage

in Madhya Pradesh, for instance) can often create tremendous challenges for policymakers

within specific states. Just as we heard of teacher shortage, we also heard how many more

applicants apply for a few teaching positions in the other states, creating a different challenge of

selecting the most qualified candidates in the most transparent manner. We similarly heard about

Commented [NL2]: These should be alphabetized, unless there is a specific reason not to do so.


37

the general desirability of stable, government employment offered to teachers. Yet, we did not

hear any discussion of candidates making cross-state moves to accept teaching positions. In fact,

across the three focal states, we heard much more regularly how candidates wished to stay in

particular areas (often close to home or close to urban conveniences) in deciding where to teach.

Policymakers seem to exert some control over these desires teachers have to move. For example,

in Karnataka this is managed by assigning junior teachers to hard-to-staff or remote locations. In

Rajasthan, the state has created ‘Dark Zones’ from which teachers are not allowed to transfer

out. Yet, it appears that these practices each have their own shortcomings and may still fall short

of the vision of equitable teacher distribution. The conversations also revealed that unless the

process is kept strictly transparent and systematic, the importance of teacher preferences along

with the way the system is often arranged can create a potentially unsavory role for politics (i.e.,

corruption).

There are also some other interesting cross-state similarities that became evident in our

analysis of our interview data. One was the clearly different treatment received by male and

female teachers, especially in the teacher transfer process. Similarly, we noted that the different

treatment offered to married and unmarried teachers was striking. While female preference may

be a direct reflection of government mandates to feminize the teacher labour force and support

female teacher recruitment, we also learned of interesting gender biases in teacher hiring process.

To some participants, the interest in greater numbers of female teachers represented notions of

traditional gender roles where:

“at the Primary Level, any day a lady teacher is always better because she attracts the

little boy or little girl with her affection and motherly feelings. So more number of

teachers in the Primary Section, it’s better if they are ladies.”

At the secondary level, the same respondent stated that:

“at that level they should be able to learn to deal with men. You know, at the adolescence

stage you can’t have ladies whining and pining and sympathizing with them still. You

have to make them strong individuals so you have to give them that kind of a treatment

which they will get used to at that level and grow to be stronger to face men also later in

life.”

The importance of something like marriage similarly reflects a uniquely Indian cultural and

social view, where just as marriage or widowhood qualify a candidate for certain concessions in


38

the transfer process, being unmarried limits a teacher’s ability to move out of a difficult

assignment (ostensibly because such teachers have fewer social obligations that ‘require’ them to

be elsewhere).

We also noted some additional patterns of teacher demographics in marginalized areas

that closely mimic our quantitative data. In our quantitative analysis, we noted the tendency of

younger and male teachers to work with marginalized children. In our case study, we learned

why that may be the case. Our participants identified a key issue as the safety of teaching

assignments. In general, women prefer to work in urban areas because these zones tend to be

safer and well connected to transportation infrastructure. One respondent suggested that:

“…a woman teacher do not always have safe and comfortable teaching situations

whether she is unmarried or married.” Furthermore,

“the more urban the area is the more women teachers it will have because women will

prefer to work in an area that is easy to work in and easy to commute and is safe.”

The women who are assigned to schools in the most remote areas were perceived by some

respondents as “probably too preoccupied in getting out of them” to actually teach. Therefore, in

many of these remote and disadvantaged regions, the majority of teachers are male. Participants

pointed out that “the men who do become teachers are more likely to be in the rural

disadvantaged area because the women are less likely to go to these areas.” In fact, in some of

these hard-to-staff regions, all of the teachers are men. Our participants also pointed out that

many of the men teaching in disadvantaged areas become very politically powerful in those

areas,” a fact that likely reinforces a gender-based distribution of teachers.

Age is another factor associated with uneven distribution of teachers in India. According

to our participants, schools in more affluent areas with better facilities tend to have older, more

experienced teachers, while schools in the less affluent areas have younger, less experienced

teachers. Few teachers want to live or work in a disadvantaged village or area. These schools are

largely disconnected from transportation links to safer urban areas with access to shopping and

other desirable amenities.

“So everyone serves the rural and then comes to the city which is a good thing, they have

an experience there and then they come here.” Then laughing, “but you know all the

oldies are inside.”


39

Yet, on a more positive note, we learned how states are actively trying to manage the

teacher hiring and recruitment process. In Karnataka, we heard repeatedly the importance of a

well-laid-out and transparent system for every aspect of teacher hiring, retention and transfer. In

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, we learned about the quota system and the allocation of certain

locations to tribal management, with an eye to ensuring equal opportunity for the most

marginalized children.

4.2 Teacher education in India, a cause for concern?

The preceding section has focused on describing the processes and patterns of teacher

distribution in our three study states. In this and the next sections, we turn to overarching themes

that emerge from these cross-state investigations to explain these cross-state observations. We

begin with a discussion about the overall quality of teacher education in India. While our study

had focused on teacher distribution, the concerns about the quality of teacher education, and by

extension the quality of the teacher labour force, were impossible to ignore. This in fact emerged

as an important precursor to the distribution conversation. In general, the assessment of the

quality of teacher education in India is bleak. Below we discussed three related issues that

emerged as important areas of focus.

4.2.1 Teaching eligibility tests, an unrealized promise to improve teacher education?

In trying to understand the teacher quality landscape in India, and the landscape of teacher

education, the importance of the newly enacted RtE Act cannot be understated. While it is too

soon to tell what the long-term impact of this bill will be, in our conversations with stakeholders

at various levels we heard a clear echo of the changes in teacher hiring practices through the RtE

Act. One of the key innovations of the RtE Act with respect to teachers has been the introduction

of a multiple-choice eligibility test, the TET. This test, on which teacher candidates have

generally produced very dismal passing rates across the country, seem to have fuelled two

divergent sentiments, neither of which portrays teacher education in a positive light.

One view is that the TET has helped and will continue to improve the overall quality of

the new pre-service teachers in the system. This may be both due to the actual barrier created by

an entry exam that is less easy to manipulate (unlike obtaining a teacher education certificate

with unverifiable quality), but also the notion that the government service exam creates a greater


40

sense of status and prestige for the teaching profession, where strong candidates who may have

appeared in the past for other public service exams, would also consider teaching as an option

and appear for such a test with equal sincerity. We also heard the added sentiment that since

teacher education exam performance is often prone to manipulation, it carries little weight. Thus,

having a common exam like the TET puts teachers from various teacher education programmes

on the same footing, allowing policymakers to ignore altogether the quality of a candidate’s

teacher training.

But we also heard serious critiques of this approach. One respondent saw TET as a way

to merely put a Band-Aid on the difficult challenge of poor quality teacher education.

“They don’t have good colleges, but they say we don’t care about your degree from

where it is. Now you give this exam. This is our general tendency. Rather than improving

what is going on we like to put one more monitor on top of it...”

We also heard critiques that the exam questions are rather limited and don’t necessary

evaluate pedagogy. The exam seems to imply, according to respondents, that, “pedagogy is

nothing but psychology,” with little regard for social and economic circumstances within which

education takes place. There is also a concern that the multiple-choice format leads to the notion

that there is ‘one right answer’ for everyone who takes the exam, regardless of his or her

location, or context, when teaching inherently is complex and multifaceted. Respondents also

noted that these tests cannot discern a teacher’s attitude towards teaching, his or her love for

teaching, and so on. Finally, our conversations revealed that as these tests have been

implemented, private coaching companies and even some NGOs have begun offering test-

preparation services for potential candidates. This test-driven education raises further questions

about the narrowing of the scope and quality of teacher education.

While it is entirely foreseeable that with appropriate implementation and testing

procedures a rigorous TET may be invaluable in improving the overall quality of the teacher

labour force and may even be instrumental in changing teacher education practices, for now this

promise remains unrealized.

4.2.2 Pre-service teacher education, lack of rigor?

As noted above, critics of the TET argued that the test fails to improve an important underlying

source of variation in teacher quality: teacher education institutions. Our participants suggested


41

that while government policies endorse high levels of teacher training and education, the quality

of teacher education may be a serious concern. Recently, as part of the RtE Act, the national

government mandated specific levels of teacher education and qualification for teachers at

different levels. Undoubtedly, this practice has led to the possibility that the distribution of the

newly hired teacher labour force will be more equitable. In practice, however, teacher

qualification levels will remain uneven between teachers who are already in the system and those

who are newly hired. Even for the newly hired teachers, it is not evident that all new teachers

will have a similar ‘quality’ of education and training. In this study, pre- and in-service education

were both identified as important areas needing intervention and attention (see Chudgar, 2013,

for a related review). Most of the participants in this study had very negative views of teacher

education nationally. One participant minced no words when he mentioned that “teachers’

training is and was so horrible….”

India has a central authority, the NCTE, which certifies teacher education institutes, but

this authority itself has been questioned and weakened (Chudgar, 2013). The lack of legitimacy

of NCTE was a major concern in the interviews as well. A respondent noted concerns of possible

corruption in the practice of granting approval to teacher education institutes that offer little more

than proxy degrees and diplomas. According to our respondents, there has been a surge of

colleges in the past few years that have been granted approval and recognition by the

government to offer B.Ed. degrees. However, students appear to receive these degrees for

minimal effort. These institutes may charge a basic fee in return for a teacher-training certificate

that may amount to nothing. In many cases, these schools would also forgo any admission

requirement in exchange for a ‘capitation fee’. One participant explained that students pay fees

of “around 20,000-22,000 rupees” but can give “5,000-7,000 rupees more and don’t need to

come to study, just come for exams.” According to the respondent, students can achieve “any

types of marks they wish” and still obtain a degree. Also, such institutions are not limited to

remote locations, but often found in urban areas as well. Participants also suggested that many

teacher candidates have a false sense of the rigor involved in teacher training.

“The current status of teacher training is dismal, and so is the status of the learner,

students who are learning today think they can easily avoid classes and will still make it

as a teacher.”


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Perhaps one respondent summed up most effectively the sense of despondence when he

noted about India’s Bachelor’s in Education, or B.Ed. degree,

“…there are 3 important days to get a B.Ed. degree; first day to take admission, second day

to give examination and third day to take degree. Nothing happens in between. So those who

have B.Ed. degree, that does not mean that this person is trained in pedagogy.”

The quality of teacher education, and by extension the quality of the teacher labour force,

thus emerges as one of the central concerns from Indian participants. We note that while several

appropriate policies and practices are in place to ensure equal qualification, testing, and merits

based recruitment, the system may be ill-performing because the true challenges are far more

pervasive.

4.2.3 In-service training, lack of relevance?

In-service training in India may also be linked closely with the general concern about the quality

of the teacher labour force. There is considerable non-government involvement in developing

teacher capacity, yet government remains a key provider. We heard from respondents that this

training is often poorly conceptualized, not always connected to teachers’ needs, and lacking in

the ongoing teacher development component. The process of delivering teacher training may

also create its own challenges. From respondents we learned about disconnects between the

national, state and local training teams. Ultimately, this results in cynicism and a lack of interest

on the part of the teachers and administrators regarding professional development.

In addition to weak connections between in-service training and the teachers’ actual

needs, respondents also noted a lack of policy attention to how teachers receive and implement

the training. Also, they claimed that there is no system for obtaining feedback. So ultimately, the

process of training seems disjointed and ad hoc to many teachers. For example, according to our

study, participants the following description characterizes a typical way in which in-service

training is provided for teachers. First, a representative in the state capital calls a representative

in the national capital to prepare a module to train a state resource official in just three days. This

official then trains the district’s trainers, who in turn train the trainers below them to further train

local ‘master trainers’. As one respondent noted,

“Then Master trainers, the poor fellow, will go and train the teachers for 10 days. If

teacher says this can’t be done in class, then MT will say it comes from above … And if


43

something fails then you cannot hold anyone responsible because everyone after doing

their bit goes away and next day you might have a different group. So there is no

learning.”

Every year, these modules change and there is no ongoing teacher development. The

combination of these factors has made training a burden for many teachers and exacerbated a

persistent cynicism among teachers about the training they receive. Teacher transfers in

challenging locations also make it difficult to achieve sustainable benefits from in-service

training.

Overall then, we note that teachers in India may be receiving both pre- and in-service

training of questionable quality. We also note that while the TET has the potential to eliminate

lower quality teachers from the labour force, the test process itself may have serious limitations

in its current form. With this background, we now turn to some of the reasons emerging from the

field that explain teacher distribution patterns we observed.

4.3 Uneven teacher distribution, what are some key reasons?

Unfortunately, low teacher quality is not the only concern plaguing the Indian teacher labour

force. As we have noted in the state descriptions above, qualified teachers are also unevenly

distributed. In this section, we discuss some of the cross-state themes that explain why this may

be the case.

4.3.1 Inadvertent inequities created during teacher recruitment

While the system may require minimum qualifications or testing and ensure reservation, the

process by which teachers are recruited is crucial in ensuring either equal or unequal teacher

distribution. During this process, policymakers can also inadvertently introduce equity-

dampening policies, as we noted above.

We noted a policy of district-wide multiple-choice exams which a teacher must take to

qualify for a teaching position. The results of these exams are used to generate a rank list of

teachers, and teachers with the highest rank on the test would more readily get to teach in a

desirable location. While a transparent way to allocate teachers, this process also promotes

inequity. Teachers must select the location (district) in which they want to teach before

appearing for the test. So low-performing candidates would select to appear only in the


44

marginalized, more challenging or less desirable locations where they expect less competition

and more chances of getting a higher rank on the test, and thus getting one of the vacant

positions.

Even within a desirable district, as we noted above, the allocation of teachers to specific

schools often depends on one government official, so the process of school allocation becomes

less transparent. Naturally, such a person wields a great deal of power and authority in making

teacher allocation decisions. We heard, for instance, how remote and rural postings are often

used as ‘punishment postings’. We heard repeatedly the importance of and need for

transparency, but it does not seem hard to envision at least some room for politics and corruption

in such a process.

Similarly, another policy that has the unintended consequence of making teacher

distribution unequal is a specific requirement or trend whereby new recruits are required to teach

in remote locations to launch their careers. Once they obtain seniority, they are allowed to

transfer to more desirable locations. As previously stated, this policy, while perhaps expanding

educational access for marginalized children in less desirable locations, limits access to

experienced and trained teachers since the teachers working in these schools clearly have less

experience and training than teachers in more desirable locations. Furthermore, since they are

simply ‘doing their time’ in remote schools before they can transfer to urban areas, these teachers

may have little motivation to invest in the children of remote schools.

A practice that presents mixed potential for equal teacher distribution is reservation and

hiring teachers on contract basis. We learned that, in some cases, an entire set of positions within

a district may be reserved for teachers from tribal origins. In fact, in all the Indian states we

surveyed, we learned that it is a standard practice to ensure some caste-based reservations for

teaching positions. While reserving these spots represents an important effort to ensure that

teachers are available in more hard-to-staff regions and that these teachers more accurately

represent the student population, it is also noteworthy that for these positions, the system

uniformly accepts a lower level of performance and qualification to hire teachers from these

reserved groups. Hiring teachers on a contract basis creates a similar situation; on the one hand,

schools are now staffed with a teacher where none was previously available, while on the other

hand, these teachers are uniformly undertrained and under qualified. Ultimately, therefore, the

quest for an equal distribution of teachers remains ongoing.


45

4.3.2 Teacher transfers, a constant churn of teachers in marginalized areas

The policies of teacher transfer also seem to be importantly related to teacher distribution. We

learned that in many instances, teachers viewed their first job as a way to ‘enter the system’, but

once in the system, teachers would actively seek to transfer to a more preferred location with

better amenities or closer to their home and family. In the same manner, teacher transfer is also a

tool that the government can use proactively to ensure equitable teacher distribution.

Speaking first of the government’s response, in the state of Rajasthan we learned about

the creation of ‘Dark Zones’, where nine districts are declared as zones in which once a teacher

is posted, he or she is not allowed to transfer for a decade or more, for fear that these positions

will not be filled. In the state of Karnataka, only a small fraction of total positions in a given

location are allowed to request transfers each year to prevent excessive teacher turnover.

However, the government does make some concessions for teachers with special life

circumstances, including requests for transfers due to marriage, widowhood, divorce and serious

health conditions. Similarly, teachers with seniority also have a greater ability to seek transfers.

While some of these processes may be equity enhancing or equity neutral, the process of tying a

transfer to seniority has the potential of creating unequal teacher distribution, as senior teachers

move away from challenging teaching environments.

On the teacher’s side, however, the general notion is that a lower-quality teacher would

be recruited in a less competitive district, and then once in the system would work towards a

more desirable location. This is unfortunately also where politics and corrupt practices may play

a role. For instance, we learned that teachers can communicate with politicians their desire for a

transfer. In return for a politically managed transfer, a teacher may offer the politician a certain

percentage of his or her salary for a year. For instance, this may be the house rent allowance

from the teacher’s salary.

4.3.3 Difficult and undesirable working conditions

In general, interviewees seemed to agree that teachers are more reluctant to teach in difficult and

remote areas, and like other professionals, teachers desire to work in areas with basic amenities

like adequate infrastructure, transportation and electricity. One respondent summed this up when

he noted that,


46

“the teacher is not just a mind, the teacher is also a body and the body needs all the same

parameters that would apply to any body for a body to stay functioning…”

Yet, our respondents indicated several challenging, day-to-day working conditions facing

teachers of the children who may be most marginalized. This, then, closely ties in with teachers

moving away from tough assignments when they are able. First, they noted that there are

numerous single-teacher schools in which a teacher engages children from Grades 1 to 5. Two

respondents illustrate situations in which a couple of teachers work with five classes of nearly

100 students each:

“This is the major problem. Two teachers and five classes. How would the teacher teach

fruitfully? Five classes would have almost 100 children. Now two teachers can only make

students sit forcefully. There would be no teaching. What would happen to the child in

such situation? Even if the child would play, they would not be allowed because we can’t

even control two children how can we control so many? If some relatives come to our

house and 5–6 children gather, then it is so difficult to control them. How can 50 children

be controlled?”

In addition to these large class sizes, teachers have a host of other responsibilities; they

often have to attend various meetings, maintain records, manage the mid-day meals, go to the

bank to draw money, arrange for firewood if there is no gas supply, clean the school, and attend

weekend trainings. Teachers are even used by the government to collect census data and

sometimes tasked with leading school construction efforts. These activities not only leave little

time to engage in training and implement learning, they leave little time for teaching and

learning. Together this creates working conditions that are far from conducive for any teacher to

execute their responsibilities effectively.

It is not surprising, therefore, that those teachers who are able to exercise choice – the

more qualified teachers or more senior teachers – will try to move away from these working

situations as soon as they can. As one respondent noted, a lack of attention to teachers’ basic

comfort and safety (in terms of living conditions), especially for female teachers, is strongly

related to the desire of teachers to move away from hard-to-teach environments. While such a

decision makes sense from a teacher’s perspective, for a marginalized child, this means unequal

access to certain types of teachers, often including a limited access to female teachers, as we

noted earlier.


47

The practice of providing teacher living quarters, an arrangement that could encourage

some teachers to accept remote assignments, seems quite infrequent in India. One respondent, for

example, could recall no more than two states in which such provisions are available.

Respondents were also not aware of any form of incentives or hardship allowances that were

commonly utilized across India. Additionally, working in big cities often comes with an

additional rent allowance, which may not be available in the rural areas and can serve as a further

disincentive. Interestingly, there actually seems to be a perverse incentive that is equity

dampening, where working in urban areas comes with a greater salary.

Unfortunately, we learned that, at least in some cases, teachers allocated to undesirable

teaching locations engaged in various improper practices; these included hiring a proxy teacher

to do their work or working at their assigned school location for a few months and then returning

home for a few months each year. In one hardship district in Rajasthan, a respondent noted that

40 per cent of the teachers spend a substantial amount of time on leave, away from their district.

4.3.4 Teacher preferences and the draw of home

Another factor closely associated with uneven teacher distribution is the desire of teachers to

work near their families and homes or near more members from their own caste group. As one

teacher noted,

“birds also want to come into the nest. Everybody likes their houses.”

This preference emerged clearly and uniformly across all the interviews. Participants in our case

studies consistently expressed the desire of teachers to be close to home and family. This desire

may be greatest among the youngest teachers, who are often more likely to be assigned to remote

locations. Teachers do not prefer jobs that involve long commutes or the possibility of being

estranged from their families. In the fieldwork, the teachers and headmasters about whom we

could gather some basic information all lived within 1 to 2 kilometres of their school. We

learned about a particular teacher, who through their long career, had steadily moved closer to

home, from a job that was 50 kilometres away, to 18 kilometres, to 6 kilometres, and finally 1

kilometres away from home. In Karnataka, we similarly learned how teachers would prefer to

live in zones A and B, but must commute to teach in zone C.

In fact, it appeared that wanting to move closer to their homes or closer to a larger town

were the most common reason teachers sought transfers after being employed. This practice is so


48

prevalent and universally accepted that government officials making teacher allocation decisions

explicitly pay attention to teachers’ home addresses when deciding their teaching locations to

avoid the ‘hassle’ of dealing with the transfer request from teachers in the future.

This preference of teachers wanting to stay local when they can is another manner in

which inequities in teacher distribution are perpetuated. Marginalized communities are less likely

to produce more educated adults. In turn, these communities will be less likely to have a local

labour supply of qualified teachers and the teachers who do get posted to teach there are likely to

have moved from other parts of the states. Due to the draw of home, these teachers are then

likely to move away as soon as their circumstances permit. This essentially leaves the

marginalized community to deal with a constant turnover of teachers.

In addition, the obvious challenges of unequal teacher distribution, some of our

participants indicated that the draw of home can create other problems as well. If a teacher is

from the same locality as their school it means, in the view of some respondents, that unwanted

problems and ‘interferences’ will accompany them. These interferences can include families and

farming demands that tend to draw a teacher’s attention away from the school. One respondent

stated that,

“at least if the teacher comes from outside, they will be having some kind of educational

involvement even we can extract good work from them.” And another suggests that,

“people from far off areas do better because locals are usually involved in their

agriculture, family, local politics, etc. But those from outside are not concerned about all

this and spend time devotedly for schools only.”

The discussion above offers some observations that emerged during the fieldwork that

may explain why teacher distribution may be unequal across the three study states. We find that

teacher hiring and transfer policies and practices, and the presence of patronage-based politics,

coupled with difficult working conditions and teachers’ preferences to work in more developed

urban areas or areas closer to home, are all associated with the possibility that teacher

distribution is uneven, and those who are most marginalized do not necessarily have access to the

same quality teachers. Teachers who are more qualified, more senior and often female teachers

are likely to move away from such teaching assignments when they are able.


49

5. Conclusion

This case study provides evidence supporting the claim that teachers of marginalized children in

India may be on average less experienced, lower-performing, often less educated and trained,

and often more likely to be male than teachers of other children. This pattern stems largely from

a system of seniority that gives first choice of teaching assignments to more experienced

teachers, coupled with teachers’ preferences to work in urban areas or to work closer to home

and female teachers’ concerns for safety in their living situation. In part, this is also driven by

explicit policies which require teachers to identify one district/location where they wish to be

considered for employment. This may lead lower-performing teachers to select ‘less competitive’

or more marginalized locations. These patterns are also exacerbated by the practice of hiring

teachers on a contract basis and the practice of assigning teachers without required qualifications

to work in hard-to-staff, remote or tribal schools.

Additionally, in India a theme that has clearly emerged in our data is the concern with the

quality of teacher pre- and in-service training. Given the important unaddressed challenges of

teacher education and teacher quality, a focus on teacher distribution as a stand-alone issue may

be less productive. A comprehensive teacher reform in India will need to actively consider both

these areas of teacher policy jointly. In this section, we highlight some key implications that have

emerged from the Indian case study. These implications have also been informed by our

extensive quantitative and qualitative work in other contexts.

5.1 Key implications of India case study

“the teacher is not just a mind, the teacher is also a body and the body needs all the same

parameters that would apply to any body for a body to stay functioning…”

The most important (and probably most obvious) lesson of our research is that teachers

are people who care deeply about their living and working conditions. It is clear from our

interviews in India that most teachers do not want to live and work in remote rural areas. This

reluctance appears to result in large part from a lack of key amenities and resources in such areas

and a lack of sense of safety for female teachers. To address this problem, Indian officials must

make investments to develop rural areas so that they will be more pleasant places to live for both

teachers and students. These investments can take the form of better transportation, sanitation,

and hygiene, and the availability of water and electricity. This will require a serious and long-


50

term commitment from the Government of India, but without such a commitment, talented local

youth will move away to greener pastures and those from outside such communities will be

reluctant to move in. Such communities will always be ‘net exporters’ of teaching talent and

continue to struggle to hire and retain female teachers.

The Indian Government must also continue to invest in young people in marginalized

areas so that they may become the next generation of teachers in these communities. Our

research shows that teacher labour markets are often geographically constrained, meaning that

teachers are only willing to work within a fairly small geographical area. While one state can be

experiencing a huge surplus in teacher applications, a neighbouring state may be struggling with

massive shortages. In part this is because teachers like to work in teaching environments that are

familiar to them. If rural areas are developed so that they offer acceptable daily living conditions,

local teachers in rural areas are much more likely to spend their careers in their own

communities. Such teachers will be less likely to seek transfers and may relate better to their

students in terms of language and ethnicity than teachers from other locations. Finally, local

teachers may feel a greater sense of connection with local learning needs. As governments invest

their efforts to provide better infrastructure and resources to marginalized areas, they must also

focus their attention on improving the training and preparation of human capital in these

communities to ensure a long-term sustainable supply of qualified teachers.

“…there are 3 important days to get a B.Ed. degree; first day to take admission, second

day to give examination and third day to take degree. Nothing happens in between. So

those who have B.Ed. degree, that does not mean that this person is trained in

pedagogy.”

The other key observation that emerges from conversations in India is the urgent need to

focus on the quality of teacher education. Teacher education in India overall appears to be

lacking in terms of rigor and depth. The possibility that money can buy a teacher training

certificate or degree is disheartening, but real. As a broader teacher policy issue, there is an

urgent need in India to focus on the quality of teacher education. In addition, the Government of

India needs to ensure that teachers who teach in marginalized area have specialized preparation

and continuing professional development opportunities. The teachers of marginalized children in

India must contend with very difficult teaching conditions, including multi-grade classrooms,


51

few resources, and many competing responsibilities. These teachers must receive initial training

that is adequate and relevant to the conditions that they will face. They must also have

opportunities for continuing professional development that supports them professionally and

provides examples specific to their classroom conditions and is available in a sustained manner.

“(officer) will come, will see the toilet, they will see the midday meals and the physical

infrastructure, not the academic aspect.”

In addition to providing adequate training for teachers of marginalized children, the

Government of India must take care in identifying, recruiting and hiring these teachers. Part of

this process requires the identification of proper qualification requirements that actually identify

the potential for good teaching. In setting these qualification requirements for new teachers,

policymakers must maintain a difficult balance between ensuring a minimal level of quality and

forcing qualified individuals to undergo excessive bureaucratic hoops that may discourage them

from entering the profession. Ideally, every teacher working with marginalized children would

have a high degree of initial preparation and a degree from a top university. Although this not

always possible, the lowering of teacher qualification requirements to ensure a ‘warm body’ in

the classroom will perpetuate the vicious cycles we observe in terms of the teachers of

marginalized children. In the case of India’s tribal school system, for instance, the requirements

for teacher qualification are often lowered. Officials must consider the trade-offs involved, as

well as continue investing in programmes that can provide teachers with required credentials.

“the new children have new teachers, good for them, good luck to both”

Once teachers are hired, they must experience initial success in teaching to establish a

sense of optimism that they will be able to succeed in their chosen field of work. Yet in our

research in India, we found far too many examples of novice teachers being sent to work in the

most difficult and complex environments. This system of teacher allocation sets new teachers up

to fail and leave the profession or to request transfers to more desirable assignments as soon as

they are able. The practice of teachers transferring after they accumulate seniority is also

common in India. The process of initial assignment to marginalized areas, followed by seniority-

based transfer out of difficult locations, not only places marginalized children at a disadvantage,

it also undermines a general sense of fairness in the education system. This system is unfair for


52

both the newest teachers, who must work in the most complex and difficult environments, and

for marginalized children, who are often taught by a string of inexperienced and exiting teachers.

“our secretary … visited the area. There people’s representative came to him and asked

him that he is the secretary provided posts for teachers – these posts are vacant, if you

cannot provide teachers, better you come and teach- that way they started ragging him.

So when there was the irritation to the secretary of the state, he thought very seriously to

think about serious act of this type.”

Various conversations with government officials in India make it clear that no state

government wishes for its marginalized children to suffer unequal opportunities. Government

rhetoric is always and uniformly in favour of more equity-enhancing policies. However, as our

analysis reveals, the realities do not always align with the rhetoric. In many cases, policies lack

the foresight necessary to envision what the long-term impact on the marginalized will be. In

other cases, while the policies are well intentioned and thoughtful, the process of execution often

creates unintended consequences. As one of our Indian respondents noted, ultimately it boils

down to ‘commitment’. Thus, the first and the most important recommendation for any

government is to ensure that enough resources are available and there is adequate engagement

and commitment from all levels of the system to follow through on the promises of equal

distribution of resources.

“the more challenging districts are also understaffed administratively.”

“(we) don’t have any inspecting staff… so even monitoring and supervision and ability to

do anything positive is very limited from a district’s perspective. So down the line, the

districts and blocks, and schools, it is like a general complete apathy and no one’s really

pushing anything.”

To the extent that teacher assignment decisions are governed by patronage-based

considerations, these systems also weaken transparency and faith in public institutions. Fairness

and transparency in teacher assignments and transfer emerged as a key concern that will require

greater commitment from policymakers. Unfortunately, we uniformly noted the lack of adequate

administrative infrastructure to conduct these tasks. The challenge is to revise teacher assignment

and transfer policies to make them more fair and transparent, and more importantly, to ensure

Commented [NL3]: This does not make sense grammatically.


53

that marginalized children will not always find themselves in the classrooms of the least

experienced teachers.

5.2 Limitations and areas for future research

Although we believe that this case study has greatly illuminated issues related to teachers of

marginalized children, we must recognize that, like other case studies, this study has certain

limitations. To begin with, we were only able to spend about two weeks collecting data. While

we were fortunate to receive excellent support on the ground, we acknowledge that it is difficult

to form deep connections and generate a level of trust needed to discuss serious issues that may

be of serious concern to our respondents. Our inability to travel beyond a certain radius of major

cities also limited our examination of diverse contexts and points of view. Nonetheless, where

possible we did seek diverse views from diverse locations, and all of our interviews posed

questions about the conditions of teachers and marginalized children in these locations.

We are also limited by the availability of only one researcher (consultant), who

conducted all interviews in India. This researcher may have benefited from the presence of a

research collaborator to compare interpretations of interviews or to assist with framing or re-

framing interview questions. The researcher, however, did debrief regularly with one of the

authors of this report while in the field, and this ensured to some extent that the process of data

collection was not entirely without collaboration. Additionally, the researcher for this case study

speaks Hindi and English, which are widely spoken across the country in the respondent groups

we were interested in. Yet, in the case of Karnataka, the researcher often required help with spot

translations and interpretations.

Another key limitation of our case study is our inability to attribute the patterns that we

observed to any specific policy or practice. The patterns we observed may be caused by, the

cause of, or completely unrelated to the teacher-related policies and practices that we describe.

For example, while we identified several strategies used by policymakers to more evenly

distribute teachers across students, in most cases we have little evidence regarding whether they

have made a difference.

Future research on the teachers of marginalized children must attempt to assess whether

recent changes in educational policy and practice – such as the RtE Act – have accomplished

their intended objectives, and if not, how they may be altered. Equally urgent in India is the need


54

to pay closer attention to the teacher education process. Processes by which a teacher training

institute receives recognition all the way to the manner in which these institutes train and certify

future teachers all deserve much greater attention and systematic research that is currently

lacking in India.


55

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National Achievement in 46 Countries’, Educational Researcher, vol. 36, 2007,

pp. 369–387.

Birdsall, N., R. Levine and A. Ibrahim, ‘Towards Universal Primary Education:

Investments, incentives, and institutions’, European Journal of Education, vol.

40, 2005, pp. 337–349.

Chudgar, A., ‘Teacher Labor Force and Teacher Education in India: An analysis of a

recent policy change and its potential implications’, in Teacher Reforms Around

the World: Implementations and outcomes (International Perspectives on

Education and Society, vol. 19), edited by M. Akiba, Emerald Group Publishing

Limited, 2013, pp. 55–76.

Davico, M. I., ‘The Repetition and Dropout Problem: A study in Brazil and the role of the

teachers’, Prospects, vol. 20, 1990, pp. 7–11.

Duthilleul, Y., ‘Lessons Learnt in the Use of ‘Contract’ Teachers: Synthesis report’,

UNESCO, International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris, 2005.

Fyfe, A., ‘The Use of Contract Teachers in Developing Countries: Trends and impact’,

Working Paper, International Labour Office, Geneva, May 2007.

Global Campaign for Education, ‘Teachers for All: What governments and donors should

do’, GCE, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2006.

Global Campaign for Education and Education International, ‘Closing the Trained

Teacher Gap’, GCE, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2012.

Hanushek, E. A., V. Lavy and K. Hitomi, ‘Do Students Care about School Quality?

Determinants of dropout behavior in developing countries’, Journal of Human

Capital, vol. 1, no. 2, 2008, pp. 69–105.

Lankford, H., S. Loeb and J. Wyckoff, ‘Teacher Sorting and the Plight of Urban Schools:

A descriptive analysis’, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 24,

2002, pp. 37–62.

Luschei, T., ‘In Search of Good Teachers: Patterns of teacher quality in two Mexican states’,

Comparative Education Review, vol. 56, no. 1, 2012, pp. 69–97.

Luschei, T., and M. Carnoy, ‘Educational Production and the Distribution of Teachers in

Uruguay’, International Journal of Educational Development, vol. 30, no. 2, 2010, pp.

169–181.

Luschei, T., A. Chudgar and W. J. Rew, ‘Exploring Differences in the Distribution of Teacher

Qualifications across Mexico and South Korea: Evidence from the Teaching and

Learning International Survey’, Teachers College Record, vol. 115, no. 6, 2013.

Mehta, A. C., ‘Elementary Education in India: Analytical tables 2010–2011 (provisional)’,

National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, 2011.

Mehta, A. C., ‘Elementary Education in India: Progress towards UEE, flash statistics

DISE 2010–2011’, National University of Educational Planning and

Administration, New Delhi, 2012.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ‘Modernizing

Government: The way forward’, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2005.

Rivkin, S. G., E. A. Hanushek and J. F. Kain, ‘Teachers, Schools, and academic

achievement’, Econometrica, vol. 73, no. 2, 2005, pp. 417–458.


56

Steiner-Khamsi, G., and I. Simelane, ‘Teachers: Recruitment, development and retention

in Swaziland – The UNICEF ESARO study on Teacjers’, Report submitted to

UNICEF ESARO and UNICEF Swaziland, 2010.

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57

Appendix A: Consent form

Research Participant Information and Consent Form

You are being asked to participate in a research project. Researchers are required to provide a

consent form to inform you about the study, to convey that participation is voluntary, to

explain risks and benefits of participation, and to empower you to make an informed

decision. You should feel free to ask the researchers any questions you may have.

Study Title: Study of Teachers for Children Marginalized by Social Origin, Economic

Status, or Location

Researcher and Title: Ms. KanuPriya Jhunjhunwala, Consultant and Dr. Amita Chudgar,

Assistant Professor

Department and Institution: Educational Administration, College of Education, Michigan

State University

Address and Contact Information: 620 Farm Lane, Room 408, East Lansing, MI 48824,

USA

Phone number: 001-517-353-5342, Email: [email protected]

1. PURPOSE OF RESEARCH: You are being asked to participate in a research study of

Teachers for Children Marginalized by Social Origin, Economic Status, or Location. This

project is conducted by Dr. Amita Chudgar at the College of Education, Michigan State

University and Dr. Thomas Luschei in the School of Educational Studies, Claremont

Graduate University. You are being asked to participate because you are involved in and

knowledgeable of teacher-related policies and practices in your country. From this study the

researchers hope to develop a systematic region- and nation-specific understanding of teacher

policy and practices, with a focus on the teachers of children marginalized by social origin,

economic status, or location. In the entire study, 20-25 other educational practitioners from

your country are being asked to participate. Your participation in this study will take about

one hour.

2. WHAT YOU WILL DO: You will be asked to participate in an interview related to

teacher recruitment, retention, and retirement in your country. We expect your participation

to take about one hour of your time. The findings of this study will be available in due course

in the form of a synthesis report through the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF’s)

website. We would be glad to share completed copies of these reports with you if you write

to us after December 2013, when we expect to conclude this study.

3. POTENTIAL BENEFITS: We do not expect the project to benefit you personally.

However, we expect this research to benefit society by identifying "best practices" and

recommendations to ensure that marginalized children have access to qualified teachers.

4. POTENTIAL RISKS: There are minimum potential risks associated with this study. If

any particular question related to policies and practices to recruit, hire, and allocate teachers

to schools makes the participant feel uncomfortable they can immediately terminate their

participation or propose to skip the question (see section 6 below). Unless your distinct

public-service position identifies you we will also take utmost care to maintain participant

mailto:[email protected]


58

anonymity at all times (see section 5 below). This should protect the participant from any

career-related reprimands or concerns.

5. PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY: The data for this project will be kept

confidential. Only the person interviewing you (and Dr. Amita Chudgar) will know your real

identity. In all the reporting and note taking, your name will be replaced by a pseudonym. I

have a safe, paper-copy (non-electronic copy) that links your true identity with your

pseudonym. This paper-copy list will be kept safe at all times either in my possession or in a

locked filing cabinet in my office. No electronic record of final participant names will be

maintained.

With your permission, I would like to digitally record this interview. This is required for the

research project to maintain appropriate record of these extensive and detailed conversations

with multiple individuals. These interviews will not identify you. Instead, interview

recordings will be linked to you through codes recorded on the secure participant list

maintained by me. Interviews will be transcribed without any information linking the

transcripts to you. Written transcripts and digital recordings will be maintained by me on a

password-protected computer which will be in my possession at all times. Once the research

project is completed, digital interview recordings will be erased. Also, in reporting personal

identifying details such as age or location, specific information will be replaced with relevant

but less precise information. The results of this study may be published or presented at

professional meetings, but the identities of all research participants will remain anonymous

(unless your distinctive public-service position identifies you). At any point, in addition to

me, no one except Dr. Amita Chudgar and Dr. Thomas Luschei will have access to this data.

His access will also be on an as-needed basis.

6. YOUR RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE, SAY NO, OR WITHDRAW: Please understand

that participation is completely voluntary. You may change your mind at any time and

withdraw. Your withdrawal from this study will have no implications. You have the right to

withdraw from the research at any time without penalty. You may choose not to answer

specific questions or to stop participating at any time.

7. COSTS AND COMPENSATION FOR BEING IN THE STUDY: With the exception

of your time, there are no costs associated with your participation in this project. You will not

receive any monetary compensation for your participation.

8. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS: If you have

concerns or questions about this study, such as scientific issues, how to do any part of it, or to

report an injury, please contact the researcher (Dr. Amita Chudgar, 620 Farm Lane, Room

408, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA, Phone number: 001-517-353-5342, Email:

[email protected] ). If you have questions or concerns about your role and rights as a research

participant, would like to obtain information or offer input, or would like to register a

complaint about this study, you may contact, anonymously if you wish, the Michigan State

University’s Human Research Protection Program at 517-355-2180, Fax 517-432-4503, or e-

mail [email protected] or regular mail at; 408 W. Circle Dr., Room 207 Olds Hall, MSU, East

Lansing, MI 48824.

mailto:[email protected]


59

9. DOCUMENTATION OF INFORMED CONSENT.

Your signature below means that you voluntarily agree to participate in this research study.

________________________________________

__________________________

Signature Date

I agree to be digitally recorded during the interview. Yes_____ No_______


60

Appendix B: Interview protocols

Study of Teachers for Children Marginalized by Social Origin, Economic Status, or

Location

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (PUBLIC OFFICIALS)

Introduction

1. Please describe your current position and your responsibilities related to teacher

recruitment, retention, and retirement.

2. How long have you held this position?

Resource Distribution

3. Please describe your understanding of the availability of educational resources for

children of different backgrounds in your country.

4. Please describe your understanding of the availability of teachers for children of different

backgrounds in your country.

5. Please describe your assessment of the current availability of educational resources and

teachers for children of different backgrounds in your country.

Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Retirement

6. Can you please describe how teachers are recruited in your country?

7. Can you please describe any policies and practices in place to retain teachers in their

schools or in the teaching profession?

8. Can you please describe the process and current state of teacher retirement in your

country?

Teacher Allocation and Distribution

9. When teachers complete their training, how are they generally hired and assigned to

schools?

10. When teachers wish to change schools, what processes are in place for them to do so?

11. Are teachers often reassigned from one school to another in your country? If so, for what

reasons does this occur?

12. If a teacher is reassigned to a different school, what is the procedure for doing so?

13. Are you aware of any incentives in place to encourage teachers to work in difficult areas

or teach disadvantaged children?

14. Please describe how these incentives work.

15. In your opinion, are these incentives effective in encouraging qualified teachers to work

in difficult areas or to teach disadvantaged children?

16. In general, do you believe that disadvantaged children in your country have the same

level of access to qualified teachers as other children? Please explain.

17. If not, what do you think educators, policy makers, non-governmental organizations, or

teachers’ unions in your country can do to ensure that disadvantaged children have the

same level of access to qualified teachers as other children?

18. Are you aware of any regions, districts, schools, or non-governmental organizations that

have been particularly effective in ensuring that disadvantaged children have the same

level of access to qualified teachers as other children? If so, please explain.


61

19. Is there anything you would like to add regarding any of the questions I have asked, or

questions that I have not asked but would be pertinent to this discussion?

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR OTHER RESPONDENTS

For Representatives of NGOs:

• Can you please describe the role of your organization or other non-governmental

organizations, if any, to ensure that disadvantaged children have the same level of access

to qualified teachers as other children?

For School Leaders:

• As a school leader, what is your role in hiring teachers and reassigning teachers to other

schools?

• Please describe the strategy that you use in identifying and hiring teachers to work in

your school.

• Please describe the strategy that you use in assigning teachers to work with different

classrooms in your school.

• What are your major considerations and objectives when you hire and reassign teachers

and assign teachers to classrooms?

• What do you think that school leaders in your country can do to ensure that

disadvantaged children have the same level of access to qualified teachers as other

children?

For Teachers:

• Please describe how you were hired and assigned to teach in this school and in your

current classroom.

• Do you work in another school beside this one? If so, please describe how you were hired

and assigned to teach in that school and classroom.

• In the process of being hired and assigned to this school, were you able to select the

school and classroom where you teach?

• In the process of being hired and assigned to this school, were you offered any incentives

to teach in difficult areas or with disadvantaged children?

For Teachers Union Representatives:

• What is the role of the teachers’ union(s) in teacher recruitment, retention, and retirement

in your country?

• Can you please describe the role of the teachers’ union(s), if any, to ensure that

disadvantaged children have the same level of access to qualified teachers as other

children?

country case study-india study of teachers for ... case study-india: study of teachers for children...

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