Recruiting, Retaining, and Retraining Secondary School Teachers and Principals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Secondary Education in Africa (SEIA) Thematic Study #4. GEC Working Paper Series 2005/#3

Expanding and rethinking the nature of secondary education in Sub-Saharan African countries, traditionally reserved for elites and few others, are becoming crucial to successful individual and national participation in the global economy. As governments and donors turn their attention increasingly to secondary education, policies are being established to create more widely accessible, more relevant, and higher quality secondary education. This presents a particular challenge, since secondary education sub-systems are unlikely to be infused with large amounts of additional funding in the near future. Improving the quality of secondary education, therefore, must include policies that use current resources creatively and more effectively. Teachers and principals are the most expensive and, possibly, the most critical components in establishing quality in education systems. New and more effective approaches to the preparation, deployment, utilization, compensation, and conditions of service for teachers, accompanied by more effective school leadership, are therefore needed to achieve higher standards of secondary education in Africa. This study used an extensive literature review and subsequent field studies in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Uganda to identify current trends, challenges, and opportunities in the recruitment, retention, and retraining of secondary teachers and principals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study also suggests ways of attracting teachers to the profession, retaining teachers and principals in the profession, and providing support to strengthen teachers' and principals' effectiveness. Insufficient data and information that differentiate lower and upper secondary education is a limitation of the study, especially in the context of the present growing interest in the lower or junior secondary level. There is a similar dearth of information in the literature on secondary principals and on gender issues as they relate to secondary teachers and principals. The findings of the study and the recommendations are intended to provide policymakers and other stakeholders with material for policy development and for the development of strategies for increasing the quality and effectiveness of secondary teachers and principals. (Contains 17 tables and 9 figures.) [This paper was written with Elizabeth Leu and Karen Bryner. It was prepared for the World Bank through the Academy for Educational Development and funded by the Irish Trust Fund.]