Quality, Teachers and Decentralized Education

Module 2Quality Education in a Decentralized Context

Quality Education in a Decentralized ContextModule 2: Teacher Demand, Teacher Supply and Teacher Education

• Ensuring adequate teacher supply, teacher quality and teacher attendance in rural areas is one of the major challenges of universal basic education.

Rationale

Part 3: Teacher recruitment and deployment

In the third part of Module 2 we will:

Look at how decentralisation has been used to meet the challenge of:

• Staffing remote rural schools

• Improving teacher attendance at remote rural schools

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Delivering UBE to rural areas is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers because:

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Delivering UBE to rural areas is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers because:

Demand Side (Parent/ Student Characteristics)

• Higher opportunity costs of going to school in rural areas

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Delivering UBE to rural areas is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers because:

Demand Side (Parent/ Student Characteristics)

• Higher opportunity costs of going to school in rural areas

• Less educated parents are less able to provide home support

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Delivering UBE to rural areas is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers because:

Demand Side (Parent/ Student Characteristics)

• Higher opportunity costs of going to school in rural areas

• Less educated parents are less able to provide home support

• Home study may be harder with greater demands on time and without access to utilities such as electricity

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Supply Side (Teacher Characteristics)

• Teachers prefer urban postings

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Supply Side (Teacher Characteristics)

• Teachers prefer urban postings• Teacher absence rates are higher (collecting salary etc)

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Supply Side (Teacher Characteristics)

• Teachers prefer urban postings• Teacher absence rates are higher (collecting salary etc)• Uneducated parents less able to monitor teacher attendance

The Rural – Urban Challenge

Supply Side (Teacher Characteristics)

• Teachers prefer urban postings• Teacher absence rates are higher (collecting salary etc)• Uneducated parents less able to monitor teacher attendance• Limited teacher in-service support in rural areas

The Combined Result

• Shortage of teachers in rural areas• Less qualified and experienced teachers in rural areas• Less women teachers in remote rural areas• Lower teacher attendance

Leading to ….

Leading to ….

• Less instructional time for rural students• Lack of role models for female students in rural areas• Students loosing motivation and dropping out

Resulting in:

• Lower performance of rural students in comparison to urban peers

Addressing Rural Urban Disparity in Teacher Deployment

There are two basic approaches to addressing rural urban-disparity in teacher deployment:

Addressing Rural Urban Disparity in Teacher Deployment

There are two basic approaches to addressing rural urban-disparity in teacher deployment:

Centralised planning: Teacher recruitment and deployment is determined by a centralised body managing the whole system (this could be national or provincial).

Centralised Deployment

Advantages:

• Whole system view

• Teacher selection less likely to succumb to local political pressures

Centralised Deployment

Advantages:

• Whole system view

• Teacher selection less likely to succumb to local political pressures

Disadvantages

• Practical challenges of effecting rational and needs based deployment in face of resistance from teachers and teacher unions

Decentralised Market Approach

Teachers apply for postings in response to advertisments at specific schools. Teachers are selected by the school governing body.

Advantages:

• Teachers deploy themselves – more likely to have better attendance records

Decentralised Market Approach

Teachers apply for postings in response to advertisments at specific schools. Teachers are selected by the school governing body.

Advantages:

• Teachers deploy themselves – more likely to have better attendance records

Disadvantages

• Teacher selection can be vulnerable to local political pressures

• Less qualified teachers more likely to accept rural positions

Teachers, Quality and DecentralisationTime Required: 1 hour

1. Watch the video of Mr Paramente P. Phamotse (Chief Education Officer –Primary, Lesotho) and discuss the following questions:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of a decentralised recruitment system ?

• In your opinion would decentralised teacher recruitment offer any benefit to your country ? If so what ? Under what circumstances ?

• What would the practical and political implications be of introducing such a system in your country ?

Teachers, Quality and DecentralisationTime Required: 1 hour 30 minutes

Supplementary / Intersession Activities

Read the extract and worksheet provided for Module Two: Activity Three and complete the exercises using the instructions provided.

References:

Teachers for Rural Schools: A Challenge for Africa. Aidan Mulkeen, Africa Region. World Bank. 2005.

Additional Readings:

The World Bank/AED.2005: Recruiting, Retaining and Retraining Secondary School Teachers and Principals.