Regional workshop on managing teacher deployment opens in Kenya

17 May 2017

UNESCO’s IIEP Pôle de Dakar opened a two-day regional workshop today in Nairobi, Kenya on the management of teacher deployment in the basic education sector of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. This workshop, the second of its kind after the one organized in Dakar in July 2016 for the countries of French-speaking West Africa, brings together around 100 executives, teachers' unions, researchers, international experts and technical and financial partners.

The issue of teacher deployment is fundamental to the success of the international community’s commitments to education. The Education 2030 Framework for Action refers explicitly to this issue by committing to “substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries.”

In African countries, challenges related to teachers are generally approached from the angle of recruitment, training and remuneration practices. While these aspects are more than essential, the way in which teachers are allocated, deployed and utilised has not been given the same attention to date. Yet, beyond the considerations related to equity and quality of education, better teacher allocation could significantly increase the efficiency of public expenditure on education.

One of the objectives of the workshop is to have a fruitful debate between the fifteen African countries and to capitalize on best practices and innovative tools currently in use.