A district level study on the deployment, allocation and utilisation of teachers between and within Malawi’s primary schools: an accountability and political settlement approach

A district level study on the deployment, allocation and utilisation of teachers between and within Malawi’s primary schools: an accountability and political settlement approach By Asma Zubairi Despite Malawian government policies being aimed at reforming the persistent unequal distribution of teachers, teachers continue to be concentrated in urban areas and in later standards of primary schools. Why these policies have failed remain underexplored in empirical research. The aim of this thesis is to identify what contributes to this persistent inequitable distribution of teachers between and within schools in Malawi. The thesis highlights the need to understand relationships of accountability related to teacher management and the effect of power and politics on these relationships. In doing so, this thesis contributes to an emerging field in international education that explores the influence of politics on service delivery. The study utilised the Levy-Walton framework which seeks an understanding of the impact of politics on service delivery. Additionally it focuses on the the multiple levels of governance within a sector such as education, starting at the top level where policies are made through to the bottom level of front-line service delivery. Guided by this framework, the thesis adopted an explanatory mixed methods design to explore the patterns relating to the deployment, allocation and utilisation of teachers. The focus of study was Zomba Rural district, one of the worst performing districts in Malawi with respect to unequal distribution of teachers between schools. Within this district, purposive sampling utilising a deviant approach was adopted in order to select two primary education zones and four primary schools. This enabled comparability across different cases of schools/ zones which were experiencing either a shortage or surplus of teachers. I collected administrative quantitative data from government sources for all primary schools in the country. These data were used to illustrate trends concerning the equitability of teacher distribution between schools. I also administered a school survey in the 26 primary schools falling under the two primary education zones selected for study. The purpose of this survey was to quantify how teachers were being allocated between different classes in each school, and the time each teacher utilised for teaching. Lastly, I collected qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted with central, district and zonal government officials, together with headteachers and teachers in the four schools I chose. The interview data were intended to gain different stakeholder perspectives on the main reasons for the persistence of the inequitable and inefficient teacher deployment, allocation and utilisation. Through analysis of the administrative data, I found that approximately half of Zomba Rural district’s teachers were deployed to schools for reasons other than enrolment. This appears to be partly related to political interference resulting in a skew in teachers towards certain constituencies. During the Presidency of Joyce Banda (2012-14), whose home area is within Zomba Rural district, I found that the total number of teachers working in the district rose significantly. In addition with respect to the distribution of teachers within schools, my analysis of the survey data revealed a clear preference by headteachers to allocate teachers to Standard 8 – the last and only standard of the primary school cycle where national examinations take place. Moreover the practice of “team-teaching” – where two or more teachers share teaching responsibilities for a class officially meant to be taught by one teacher – resulted in actual time spent by teachers teaching being well below that officially mandated. From the semi-structured interviews, I found evidence of interference from the national and local political elite in matters pertaining to teacher deployment and utilisation. Additionally, several factors contributing to the perceived lack of hierarchy between headteachers, local/ district government officials and teachers led to the poor enforcement of official government policy. Poor inspection and monitoring by government officials was also found to be a contributory factor in the weak implementation of policies relating to effective teacher management. Lastly, absent, poorly defined or contradictory policies led to greater discretionary decision-making powers at the district and local levels of government. The findings illustrate ways in which formal accountability relationships between teachers and education officials responsible for managing them were weakened through the informal relationships supplanting them. While previous studies relating to teacher management in Malawi have broadly quantified the inequity and inefficiency of teacher deployment, allocation and utilisation, this thesis makes an important contribution in redressing what has overwhelmingly been an apolitical approach to understanding this long-standing problem affecting Malawi’s education system. The combination of both quantitative and qualitative data allowed for a richer interrogation of the influence of politics and power in allowing the problem to persist. Additionally, through my engagement with multiple stakeholders from different levels of the education sector, the thesis brought together the distinct perspectives on how politics and power affected different actors in fulfilling their responsibilities

A theory of change for teachers towards a technology-enhanced education system in Bangladesh

The second of a trilogy of Theories of Change (TOCs) that focuses on teachers as key agents of change in the development of an increasingly technology-enhanced education system in Bangladesh. The TOC was created following a period of desk research and in-country stakeholder workshops. It offers a theory for how teachers’ professional learning experiences will enable them to support learners in ways that take advantage of available technology. The TOC is a useful tool to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of all programmes and initiatives that are designed for teachers, and aim to improve educational outcomes for learners in Classes 1-12

Gender equality and edtech: what are the barriers and enablers to enhance equity in and through edtech?

This background paper reviews the literature-based evidence, a set of household surveys and a series of practice-based interventions in relation to educational technologies (EdTech) and gender in the context of Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), with focused research in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We illustrate that the main categories of factors to consider to design EdTech interventions to support girls’ education are the access, use and content of EdTech. We introduce a framework that summarises the findings of this background paper and that can be used to consider these evidence-based factors throughout EdTech interventions. To design inclusive EdTech interventions to support girls’ education these factors need to be explored through gender, political economy and intersectional lenses. The evidence for EdTech to support girls’ education tends to point to barriers and enablers that need to be considered to design inclusive and egalitarian EdTech interventions (these are summarised in the framework introduced in Page 44). For example, in relation to the access of EdTech, we found that a barrier to inclusive and equitable quality education for all was that girls tended to be less likely than boys to own or be able to access mobile devices in LMICs. We also found that an enabler to improve EdTech access was to use EdTech for nudging and changing inequitable beliefs, although this needs to be carefully considered within context.There are barriers that need to be considered for all EdTech interventions aiming at supporting girls’ education in LMICs. These are barriers related to reaching the most marginalised girls with EdTech, for example by ignoring political economy factors or the need for additional support for marginalised children (e.g financial, health or social support); neglecting to collect gender data throughout EdTech intervention; and disregarding the role of contextual inequalities, intersectionality and gender norms in supporting egalitarian learning through EdTech. While these factors are challenges for all educational interventions to some extent, there is a particular risk that without careful consideration, EdTech interventions could exacerbate existing ‘digital divides’ and increase inequity. There are enablers that have shown significant potential to support girls’ education through EdTech, both directly and through addressing the barriers. These are the use of co-design practices to improve the inclusivity, impact, contextualisation and sustainability of EdTech interventions; the application of holistic approaches to consider the interconnected realities of reaching and impacting children (for example by collaborating and engaging with diverse stakeholders); the inclusion of context and political economy analysis with data related to gender and system-level dimensions of equity to improve the contextualisation of EdTech interventions; and, the disaggregation of data by characteristics relating to inequalities and marginalisation to improve the efficacy and equity of EdTech interventions. To create inclusive educational improvements in girls’ education through EdTech, interventions need to pay significant importance to three cross-cutting themes, namely sustainability, contextualisation and intersectionality. This needs to be done by considering how to create sustainable impact by defining the direct and indirect actions that could be taking place once EdTech interventions are finalised, and by recognising that there is no silver-bullet practice for EdTech design as any EdTech intervention can only lead to positive impact when designed with built-in approaches for local contextualisation. Adopting an intersectional lens could be particularly useful to evaluate potential gender inequalities in a given context, for example by exploring how gender intersects with poverty, disability, ethnicity, religion, among other socioeconomic indications, in a specific region. However, at present, this level of attentiveness to context is rare in most EdTech evaluations.The main findings from the data in household surveys reveal that across Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, the ownership of mobile phones is significantly higher than television or radios. While ownership is high there are notable differences in both ownership and use of different types of technology between male and females in all three countries. When it comes to mobile phones, affordability around the use of mobile internet, for example, is a barrier that extends to both males and females but affects the latter significantly more. While a gender divide exists, some of the largest differences in the use of technology relate to characteristics typically relating to marginalisation (e.g. location, poverty, education). These intersecting factors when intersected with gender create a greater barrier to the use of technology for females, compared for males. A series of design considerations are presented in this background paper -these are promising and practice-based indications (identified in well-established EdTech interventions in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania) that could be explored to improve the gender equity and inclusion of EdTech interventions. The use of digital personalised learning and the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms using local data can help ensure that adaptivity and feedback are appropriate for the diversity of learners' levels and backgrounds. The application of co-design practices can help promote uptake, by ensuring that initiatives are culturally appropriate, and including girls in the process may make the contents more relatable and engaging. Gender-responsive pedagogies may be particularly promising, but there is a gap in terms of research in the context of EdTech, and a need for more support for teachers more generally. The implementation of holistic approaches -which take a broader focus than just the educational intervention, to help address the related social and economic barriers -has also been shown to be effective, and the inclusion of digital literacy capacity-building is also key aspart of EdTech interventions

Leave No Child Behind:Global report on boys' disengagement from education

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development makes the promise to leave no one behind. While improving educational opportunities for girls globally continues to be of paramount importance to achieve gender equality in and through education, this focus on achieving gender parity and equality must not ignore boys. Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all – Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 – and achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls – SDG 5 – requires gender-transformative action.Education is a fundamental human right for everyone. Realizing this right requires addressing boys’ disengagement from and disadvantage in education. Addressing the issue not only benefits boys’ learning, employment opportunities, income and well-being, it is also highly beneficial for achieving gender equality and desirable economic, social and health outcomes. The social and fiscal costs of boys’ disengagement from education are enormous, underlining the need for a broad, inclusive approach to education, ensuring educational opportunity for all. To leave no child behind, UNESCO developed the first global report of this scope on boys’ disengagement from and disadvantage in education, bringing together qualitative and quantitative evidence from over 140 countries