September 2007, id21 insights education, Issue #6

More and better teachers needed

Achieving quality education for all

Eighteen million primary school teachers are needed over the next decade to meet Universal Primary Education (UPE) goals, says a recent report from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics. This is to fill the new posts needed and the vacancies created by attrition (teachers leaving existing posts).

Young students at a primary school in Itamatatuba, in a small village in the Bailique Archipeligo in the Brazilian Amazon river's estuary. It is an extremely isolated community which is reached by river, specifically the Fluvial Court boat which stops here for one morning every two months carrying doctors and social workers to the village to provide services and community support. © Dermot Tatlow/Panos Pictures 2005.

Other articles in this issue:

Effective professional development

Continuing — or in-service — professional development (CPD) for teachers is widely considered a critical condition for improved instructional quality and student learning.

Missing in action

Addressing teacher absenteeism

Getting teachers to come to work is a major barrier to improving education outcomes in some developing countries, especially in South Asia. Governments often spend 70 to 90 percent of their recurrent education budgets on teacher salaries, without the most basic of returns.

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.

Gender equality and HIV and AIDS in Uganda

HIV and AIDS widen existing inequalities of access to education for boys and girls. Research in Luweero district in central Uganda shows the negative impact of HIV and AIDS on primary school teachers and students in rural areas. Particular efforts are required to ensure that teachers can fulfil their potential to promote gender equality in schools.

Fighting for their lives

Political violence against teachers in Colombia

Awareness of the scale of human rights violations against Colombian trade unionists is growing. Of the 1,174 reported murders of trade unionists worldwide between 1999 and 2005, 860 were Colombian and half of these were teachers, according to the Colombian National Trade Union School.

Finding the pathway

Women teachers' aspirations in northern Pakistan

Women teachers face enormous cultural challenges in northern Pakistan. Research from the Aga Khan University explores women's experiences of trying to build teaching careers within this patriarchal society and looks at how they balance their multiple commitments.

Policy initiatives

Useful web links

PDF version

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Copyright remains with the original authors but (unless stated otherwise) any article may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided both source (id21, insights) and authors are properly acknowledged and informed. Copyright © 2006 id21. All rights reserved.