Changes in the primary teaching profession in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa

For many countries in sub-Saharan Africa achieving universal access to quality primary education has meant recruiting many more teachers at the same time as improving the quality of teaching.

The challenge is particularly great in French-speaking countries where twice as many new teachers are now required compared to a decade ago. Several countries have chosen to recruit large numbers of teachers on a contract basis. This helps keep the wages bill down whilst increasing access to primary education.

Many of the new recruits, however, are not fully trained. Compared with 'regular' civil service teachers, contract teachers also have:

• relatively lower academic credentials
• less certain or no career prospects
• lower salaries and fewer benefits.

To better understand the implications for the teaching profession and the quality of primary education, researchers from the University of Quebec at Montreal and Laval University in Canada, along with national counterparts, conducted a World Bank-commissioned study in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

Two models for managing teacher employment co-exist: the traditional career-based, civil service model and the contract teacher model. Since the 1990s the latter has gained in prominence and contract teacher recruitment policies have transformed the primary school teaching force in Mali, Niger and Senegal. Between 1997 and 2003, the proportions of contract teachers have almost doubled in Senegal, tripled in Mali and increased tenfold in Niger. Only Senegal has a career development plan whereby contract teachers can eventually become 'regular' (civil servant) teachers.

In contrast, the proportion of contract teachers decreased in Burkina Faso where, since 2001, all new contract teachers have salaries close to their civil service counterparts' with career development possibilities.

Each country has also changed pre-service teacher education, especially reducing the length of training programmes, to only six months in Senegal for example.

It may be too early to judge the effects of contract teachers on educational quality, but there are positive signs regarding:

• teacher supply, with significant increases in new teacher recruits in Mali, Senegal and Niger
• student gross enrolment, with significant gains in Niger, Mali and Senegal, but only a small increase in Burkina Faso.

The social status and attractiveness of the teaching profession have been negatively affected. Many new recruits only teach until they get a better-paid job with a higher status. This creates retention and teacher management challenges, with potentially negative impacts for the continuity of students' learning.

Indicators such as net enrolment ratios, grade repetition and primary school completion examination (PSCE) pass rates suggest that the massive recruitment of contract teachers may be having negative effects on quality. Strikingly, Burkina Faso had the highest pass rate at the PSCE examination in 2003. It also recorded a decrease in grade repetition during the five-year period examined, while Senegal recorded an increase.

In order to ensure stability and the accumulation of collective expertise in the teaching force, national governments should:

• make appropriate policy balances between developing a career-based civil service teaching force and recruiting contract teachers
• ensure career development possibilities for contract teachers, as in Senegal and Burkina Faso
• improve pre-service teacher education, especially for rural and hard-to-reach areas
• ensure monitoring of teacher drop out rates, student enrolment and achievement indicators to understand the effects of new teacher recruitment policies and adjust these as necessary.

Martial Dembélé
Local A-509, Faculté des sciences de l'éducation, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale centre-ville, Montréal (Québec), H3C 3J7, Canada
T +1 514 3436546 F +1 514 3432497
martial.dembele@umontreal.ca

M'hammed Mellouki
CRIFPE, Faculté des sciences de l'éducation, Université Laval, Québec (Québec), G1K 7P4, Canada
T +1 418 6562131, # 2802
F +1 418 6567375
mhammed.mellouki@fse.ulaval.ca

See also

A Study of Primary Teacher Education and Management in French Speaking West Africa: Comparative Synthesis Report, Final draft, World Bank: Washington, DC, by Martial Dembélé, 2005

International Perspectives on Contract Teachers and their Impact on Meeting Education For All: The Cases of Cambodia, India and Nicaragua, Synthesis Report, Paris: IIEP, by Yael Duthilleul, 2004

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