Teachers for Rural Schools A challenge for Africa

1. Teachers for Rural SchoolsA challenge for Africa Aidan Mulkeen Africa Region World Bank

2. Weaker demand (PUSH) Less educated parents Lower parent interest in education More competing duties Homes less conducive to study Weaker schools (PULL) Fewer teachers, Less qualified teachers Weaker support Weaker supervision Lower quality. PULL attraction of a good school PUSH from parents What makes a child go to school? Rural areas

3. Weaker demand (PUSH) Less educated parents Lower parent interest in education More competing duties Homes less conducive to study Weaker schools (PULL) Fewer teachers, Less qualified teachers Weaker support Weaker supervision Lower quality. What makes a child go to school? The children who are “hard to reach”get a WORSE education service than their urban cousins PULL attraction of a good school PUSH from parents Rural areas

4. Facilities, Electricity, water, housing Social activities Health Greater risks, Poorer care Opportunities: Further study Promotion Gender Security Splitting families “finding a husband” HIV access to care Local language Teacher deployment

5. Average Pupil Teacher Ratio Mozambique Mozambique Maputo 54 Maputo 8% untrained Manica 67 Manica 58% untrained Malawi Malawi Urban 44 Rural 77 Ching’ombe, Near Lilongwe 43 St Paul’s Zomba 141 Tanzania Dar Es Salaam 53 Kigoma 74 The hidden problem Averages figures for districts mask much greater differences, and hide the real problem in the most remote schools. In Lesotho some isolated schools have no qualified teacher at all

6. The rural-urban disparity in teacher provision is bigger than thestatistics suggest Mozambique Mozambique Maputo 54 Maputo 8% untrained Manica 67 Manica 58% untrained Malawi Malawi Urban 44 Rural 77 Ching’ombe, Near Lilongwe 43 St Paul’s Zomba 141 Tanzania Dar Es Salaam 53 Kigoma 74 The hidden problem Average Pupil Teacher Ratio Averages figures for districts mask much greater differences, and hide the real problem in the most remote schools. In Lesotho some isolated schools have no qualified teacher at all

7. Each teacher is assigned to a post, based on a plan Advantages: Rational plan Transparent process Disadvantages Hard to enforce Increased attrition/ wastage Mozambique Each province allocates teachers. Teachers often refuse postings in remote schools. These often later get posts in urban schools. Malawi Teachers assigned to schools and trained in situ. Trickle-back, teachers manage to get transfers back to more desirable schools. Planned deployment

8. Each school recruits its own teachers Advantages Greater take-up, teachers only apply if interested More local recruitment, greater retention Disadvantages Local influence Market effects – more unqualified teachers in less desirable areas. Difficult to transfer? Lesotho Each school is allocated a number of POSTS, based on school numbers. School management committees can advertise, and select the teacher Most places are filled. Little variation in PTR. Best qualified teachers can get the most attractive jobs. More unqualified teachers in remote schools. Free market deployment

9. Financial incentives Need to be substantial Undermined by other opportunities in urban areas (double shift, extra coaching, private schools) Classification difficult, border effects Housing Attractive incentive (especially for female) High cost, maintenance, difficulty of recovery Forced deployment risk attrition, loss of experience, hard to implement Targeted recruitment “once they go to college they do not want to go back” Alternatives: Family-friendly deployment Requirement to teach in a rural area Solutions: Incentives

10. Financial incentives Need to be substantial Undermined by other opportunities in urban areas (double shift, extra coaching, private schools) Classification difficult, border effects Housing Attractive incentive (especially for female) High cost, maintenance, difficulty of recovery Forced deployment risk attrition, loss of experience, hard to implement Targeted recruitment “once they go to college they do not want to go back” Alternatives: Family-friendly deployment Requirement to teach in a rural area Teacher deployment is a crisis. Simply having more teachers isnot sufficient. Many countriesalready have unemployed teachersand a shortage in rural areas. Solutions: Incentives

11. Geographical mapping in West Africa shows that attendance falls off very rapidly with distance to school Reaching rural children

12. Implications of changing walking distance

13. 5km walking distance (70% coverage)

14. 2km walking distance (25% coverage)

15. Utilisation • Usual model – full size school, 1 teacher per grade. • May need a population of nearly 1,000 people • With dropout, may have large numbers in lower classes, and very small senior classes. Options • Incomplete schools / satellite schools • High dropout at point of transition • Double shift teaching • Often shorter contact hours, lower quality • Multigrade teaching • Widely used in OECD countries, effective. • Needs training, curricular flexibility and teaching materials. • Works best with older (literate) students

16. Many teachers in rural schools areunderused, teaching small classes.Serious work on small multigrade schools is needed. Utilisation • Usual model – full size school, 1 teacher per grade. • May need a population of nearly 1,000 people • With dropout, may have large numbers in lower classes, and very small senior classes. Options • Incomplete schools / satellite schools • High dropout at point of transition • Double shift teaching • Often shorter contact hours, lower quality • Multigrade teaching • Widely used in OECD countries, effective. • Needs training, curricular flexibility and teaching materials. • Works best with older (literate) students

17. Harder in rural areas: Increased absenteeism Specific policies to transfer misbehaving teachers! Pay collection and dealing with ministry. Less inspection Less access to support services – poorer quality Less monitoring by community Solutions: Streamline administration Increased support from within schools Head teachers, Senior teachers Increased monitoring by community. Teacher management

18. Harder in rural areas: Increased absenteeism Specific policies to transfer misbehaving teachers! Pay collection and dealing with ministry. Less inspection Less access to support services – poorer quality Less monitoring by community Solutions: Streamline administration Increased support from within schools Head teachers, Senior teachers Increased monitoring by community. Supporting and monitoring remote teachers is very costly. In-school support and monitoringneed to be developed. Teacher management

19. Key messages • Rural education is not getting sufficient attention from policy makers. Without reaching rural areas, achieving the MDGs will not be possible. • Teachers for rural areas are a key problem • Need action on: • Deployment (getting teachers to schools) • Utilisation (multigrade?) • Management (ensuring attendance, and quality)