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No. 25 REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY OP TEACHERS

by Raymond P. Lyons

Unesco : Internationa! Institute for Educational Planni

IIEP/TM/25/68

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL PLANNING 7* rue Eugene-Delacroix

Paris l6e, France

REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY OF TEACHERS

by

Raymond F„ Lyons

This lecture is part of "Fundamentals of Educational Planning; Lecture-Discussion Series" a controlled experiment undertaken by the International Institute for Educational Planning in collaboration with a limited number of organizations and individuals aiming at the development of efficient teaching materials in the field of educational planning» By their very nature these materials* which draw upon tape recordings, transcriptions and summary notes of seminars* lectures and discussions conducted by HEP as part of its training and research programme* are informal and not subject to the type of editing customary for published documents. They are therefore not to be considered as "official public-ations"„

The opinions expressed in this lecture are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Institute.

The use* adaptation or reproduction* in whole or in part of these materials is limited to institutions and persons specifically authorized by HEP.

i

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

A, DEFINITIONS

B, QUALITATIVE FACTORS

С FACTORS AFFECTING REQUIREMENTS

D, FACTORS AFFECTING SUPPLY

E. TWO OVERALL LIMITING FACTORS: COST AND MANPOWER AVAILABILITIES

F» MEASURES FOR BRINGING REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY INTO BALANCE

Salaries Short-term measures Long-term measures

Suggested additional reading

ii

IIEP/TM/25/68 - page 1

INTRODUCTION

The organisation of the supply of teachers through a timely series of measures to train and re-train them goes to the heart of educational plann­ing,, It involves problems and decisions concerning the quality and quantity of educational provision and the pace at which it may be expandedo In many countries the supply of teachers has proved to be the Achilles heel of educational development since the examples of effective planning of teacher supply in relation to enrolments over the longer term are rare»

The object of this lecture is to identify:

(a) the principal factors influencing the size^ qualification and utilization of the teaching force in the first and second levels of education̂ , and

(b) the measures that educational planning can promote in order to provide the necessary teaching manpower.,

The topic г-d,!! be approached in the following order:

A„ Definitions

B„ Qualitative factors

Co Factors affecting requirements

Do Factors affecting supply

Eo Two overall, limiting factors: cost and manpower availabilities

P0 Measures for bringing requirements and supply into balance«

A. DEFINITIONS

Requirements can be considered as the total needs for teachers in a given yearP or over a determined period,, associated with the existing struc­ture or with meeting objectives for the distribution of enrolments by level and type of education*

Supply can be regarded as that part of the existing and projected stock of persons having the necessary qualifications for teaching which is engaged in5 or can be expected to enter^ teaching, and the flow in a given year., or over timeo of newly trained persons from teacher training and other educational institutions into teaching»

НЕРДМ/25/68 - page 2

Во QUALITATIVE FACTORS

A vital point concerns the attitude of educational policy makers and planners to two questions. First* what is to be taught and how should it be taught? Second, what are the essential and minimum quali­fications of teachers in the defined levels and types of education which are required if the teaching process is to succeed and waste is to be avoided?

The first question concerns the attitude and the practice of the Ministry of Education towards what has been termed by Mr. Philip Ho Coombs, Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning, as "the engineering of educational change"0 This relates to changing curriculum, method and content in response to the needs of society, Clearly much that is valuable already exists, but much research and development would seem to be required, and new planning relationships involving, and within, Ministries of Education created, before necessary changes can be brought into teaching and teacher training.

The second question raises another issue, namely the extent to which the supply of qualified teachers should determine the rate of quantitative expansion of enrolments. In many developing countries, primary enrolments have ^rown more rapidly than the supply of qualified teachers and waste has ensued. This was because for political, financial and administrative reasons, planning did not cause the phasing of enrol-ment to develop in harmony with the flow of new teachers. In other count­ries, often in the more advanced group of developing countries, while the supply of trained primary school teachers has been improved, increases of enrolments in secondary education have been met by the expansion of a system of part-time teaching which does not permit an adequate educational service. It is clearly desirable, but politically difficult, to main­tain and even improve educational standards in an expansionary phase by relating the pace of expansion to the increase in the stock of qualified teachers.

There would seem to be six points which should be borne in minds

(i) the nature of the syllabus and of examinations based upon it (has significant change occurred in njourn

country? if so, how did it take place?);

(ii) the essential qualifications required to teach the syllabus (have "minimum qualifications been defined? have they been revised? If so, how were they formulated with regard to salary and numbers)]

IJEP/TM/25/68 - page 3

(ill) pupil/teacher ratios and the desirable mix of teachers with different.levels of qualification in primary and secondary education (what research has been done on these two factors in "your" country?);

(iv) the content and organization of teacher training (what should the qualifications structure of the teacher training force be?);

(v) teaching materials and' equipment (the Cinderella of educational expansion?^;

(vi) the organization of inspection of the school system (what should the inspection/teaching ratio and the territorial distribution of inspectors to promote effi­ciency in conditions of rapid development of enrolments be?)o

С FACTORS AFFECTING REQUIREMENTS

The qualitative factors underlying the organization of teaching will be determined as a result of close* co-operation5 within the Ministry of Education, between the planning service and those responsible for the specialized departments (primary and secondary education., teacher training and inspection) and in line with the views of the Director of Education They will have important effects on quantitative planning in that they will influence i

(a) the types of teachers required to teach the curriculum^ their qualifications and numbers;

(b) the nature of teacher training and re~training;

(c) the design., size and location of schools;

(d) the supply of books and equipment;

(e) the numbers9 training and location of inspectors»

It is necessary to get these directives very clear before establish­ing an estimate of future requirements of teachers based upon enrolment pro-jections»

We must alsoj before looking at future requirements9 consider needs for the maintenance of the existing stocV of teachers» Here it is neces­sary to have information with regard to ,'wastageli which is due to various

IXEP/TM/25/68 - page 4

causes - such as death* illness, transfers to other occupations„ marriage and child-birth (female teachers), and departure of expatriates.

Then it is necessary to estimate new needs in relation to enrolmentс Here the major factors are demographic growth* overall and by region of a countrys on the one hand, and Government policy in relation to opportunities for education, by sex* by level and type* and for the organization of educa­tion on the other. If population1 of school age is increasing rapidly, decisions to increase enrolment opportunities will imply a progressively greater commitment in terms of teacher requirements, over time. Decisions to make education available to girls to the same extent as boys, or to smooth out inequalities in educational opportunities as between the different regionss or within regions as between urban and rural children or children of village and nomadic communities will also imply measurable increases in requirements of teachers,

There are also requirements associated with the improvement of the performance of the educational system itself.- A major problem in many countries is to eliminate, or at least substantially reduce drop-out and repeats in primary education. This is a complex problem. Measures such as automatic promotion have been helpful and there have also been social approaches such as the provision of school meals which have alle­viated drop-out* But the end result of any substantial improvement is likely to be an Increase in requirements of teachers,

Again, there may be new policies which have to be taken into account о At the primary level it may be desirable to improve the quali­fications of teachers and the pupil/teacher ratio in the early stages of primary education where losses due to drop-out are most severe. It may also be decided to develop a new type of school in the rural areas, One important question is whether rural area schools are to continue to be ©ne-teacher schools or whether there are possibilities for the widespread use of transport with the development of larger schools, The advantages of the two approaches in terms of teacher requirements and costs need to be calculated.

Teacher requirements at the secondary level will be determined by policy concerning the extension of opportunities for secondary education to primary school leavers, and the balance desired between secondary general (literary or scientific) and secondary technical enrolments. In every country there would seem to be shortages of teachers of science, mathematics and technical subjects. Since these represent one of the scarcest resources in developing countries, and they are needed by the economy5 it is important that they should be calculated separately and that due account be taken of existing shortages. Finally, require­ments for teachers are related to their conditions of work, number of years of service, leave arrangements, nature of duties and hours of work.

HEP/W25/68 - page 5

Ther® are appreciable differences as between countries in teachers'' conditions of service which result in greater requirements in one country than in another for a defined total of teaching.

D. m^ms_jmECTi¥B SUPPLY

Among the chief factors affecting supply are: first* the existing teaching "steck" by level of qualification (or lack of qualification); second, the newly qualified teachers from training colleges; third* the return to servie© of persons who have previously been engaged in teaching or the transfer to teaching of persons from other sectors who are qualified to teach; fourth* recruitment from abroad •= the standby in many cases of teacher shortage; fifths the re-training of the existing stock; finally the possibility of recruiting unqualified or underqualified teacherSe At the time the estimate of future requirements is made, and a picture is produced of short-term and longer-term requirements j, there will normally be a substantial number of teaching personnel "in the pipe-line" and existing policies will have provided for development of teacher training colleges and university study*

It is necessary t© measure the gap between the output in the short-and longer~%&r-m and requirements in order to establish new targets and pro­posals for the phasing ©f enrolments of trainees in the different institutions over time 'which will produce the desired number of graduates* allowing for the requisite proportion of wastage of those who either do not qualify or who will not enter teaching after qualification^

In establishing the target for teacher training* it is essential to have clear directives concerning qualification which are educationally ade­quate and which can be maintained over a period of ten years at least» Any revision of qualification requirements will have most important effects on recurrent costs of educational services and on needs for scarce manpower* s© her© thsre is a vital need for long-term pianningo In Western Nigeria* for example» where there have been frequent changes in teachers4 qualifications at the primary level* and in teachers' salaries* expenditures on teachers have increased to ¡such an extent that expansion of enrolments has been restricted*

It is desirable to establish targets and plans for the training of male ¿met female teachers separately in order to ensure that the development of girls* éducation and of teachers for the lower levels of primary education (where fessais teachers are usually preferred) is given due attention within the total tescher training efforts

IIEP/TH/25/68 - page 6

In preparing proposals for teacher training, allowance must be made for in-service training., A distinction must be drawn between in-service training for improved performance within a level and that for promotion to a higher level- This is a difficult problem, If it is true that it costs less to re-train teachers and to promote them to a higher level, say from primary to secondary, it is also true that re­training and promotion implies costs from the standpoint of the quality of the work which the teacher performs while he is training for a higher task and also* in a, wider sense, for the educational system generally. Experience in many countries, including advanced countries^ shows that teachers in primary education are more competent in their profession as primary school teachers than teachers in secondary schools who have fre­quently come direct from universitiesо It may be damaging to drain off the best teachers from primary and promote them to secondary rather than ensure that secondary school teachers receive adequate pre-service training,

This is an argument for;

(a) adequate pre-service training as a corollary to the phased expansion of enrolments;

(b) widespread short in-service training courses to improve teaching abilities within given levels of educationa

E, TWO OVERALL LIMITING FACTORS: COST AND MANPOWER AVAILABILITIES

Teachers0 salaries normally account for about three quarters of total recurrent costs in primary and secondary education in developing countries and teachers constitute a major segment of medium and high level manpower= The problem of staffing the schools with adequately trained teachers may therefore be seen from the standpoint of total costs, both as regards the alternative uses of scarce manpower and the competing claims within national expenditures of job-creating investment, and of types of social expenditure other than education,

The essential point in relation to the scarcity of economic re­sources isa ideally¡, to make sure that the structure and balance of edu­cation,, as between levels and within them, is such as to ensure the most adequate use of fundss to develop education only as fast as good teachers can be supplied., In practice it is a question of effecting improvements as rapidly as funds and personnel permit in a situation where funds are already largely committed as a result of past decisions and of remedying existing inefficiencies; this may prove very difficult.

11ЕР/ТП/25/68 - page 7

In Peru«, which presents perhaps an extreme example, where no less than б per cent of the national income is devoted to education, there is now a surplus of teachers graduating from training colleges l/< But this over-production is artificial. During the last few years some 3,000 trained teachers have been provided for the school system, but there is still a deficit of 15*000 teachers; and of 60,000 teachers in primary education about 35*000, particularly in rural areas, are not qualified. Therefore there is a "gap" of 50,000 (35,000 plus 15,000) teachers. It is not realistic for cost and employment reasons to try to replace the unqualified teachers by new teachers from the training schools; there is a lack of job opportunities and the Government employs in teaching part of the surplus manpower which cannot be absorbed elsewhere., So one of the bases of planning in Peru is that unqualified teachers must be depended upon..

If Peru provides an example of the need to co-ordinate the growth of education with a series of measures to anticipate and create employ­ment for the educated, the same problem is in evidence in many, if not most, of the developing countries. Thus the educational plan must justify itself in competition with other elements of government expenditure in that it represents a reasonable and efficient use of. national resources, in total and in part, and that it is broadly in line with employment needs (in terms of outputs) and possibilitiesa The plan for teacher supply and training is central in both respects and will therefore be scrutinized from the cost and manpower standpoint„

F„ MEASURES FOR BRINGING REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY INTO BALANCE

Salaries

We have seen that the task of filling the gap between requirements and supply is a two-fold one. First it is necessary to provide massive in-service training to unqualified or underqualified teachers who cannot in most countries be dismissed, Second we must ensure that the future expansion of enrolments is met by a flow of pre-service trained teachers. The planning task consists in giving due attention to both aims. It is complicated, given the overall financial limits, by the sala^ implica­tions of improving the qualifications of the existing stock or in pro­viding, through in-service training, a superior type of teacher. If teachers are re-trained, they will demand higher salaries upon achieving the requisite qualification. Teachers will naturally expect the appro­priate salary upon completing their in-service training. So there is

1/ Contributed by Dr, С» Malpica Faustor, Programmer of Education, National Planning Institute, Peru.

IIEP/Tin/25/68 - page 8

reluctance on the part of educational authorities in many countries to undertake massive in-service training of the underqualified, which n»ainly affects the rural areas. Instead it may be said that the raising of teachers* qualifications through pre-service training and mainly directed to meeting increased enrolments in the urban areas (and only gradually the urban areas), with some measure of in-service training in the rural areas, is a more generally accepted proposition.

The salary problem involved in the establishment of adequate teaching provision in the rural areas* or indeed of meeting specific shortages of teachers (science and mathematics at the secondary level) is of major political and institutional dimensions- Its general aspect concerns the fact that the educated receive high salaries and the un­educated labourers low ones. Governments cannot* unless they resort to authoritarian measures, reduce the salaries of educated persons absolutely or relatively, since the educated are organised in unions and associations and exert political power. Thus it is difficult even for the strongest government to modify the salaries of teachers either upwards or downwards in relation to other civil servants or to change the monetary status of civil servants compared with other wage-earners. In the longer term* and falling drastic measures, differences are smoothed out by increases in the supply öf educated people.

Within the teaching profession itself, it is difficult to provide special increases for teachers who are in great demands This is because those teachers who are not in short supply naturally strive through their unions to prevent any concession being made to those who are. The autho­rities therefore use a variety of devices to provide special incentives, such as responsibility allowances and housing concessions to attract tea­chers of science, mathematics or other scarce personnel into the profession These difficulties can largely be avoided in the case of expatriates or through the employment of part-time teachers, however undesirable the latter may be on educational grounds.

Short-term measures

We have seen that the planner must accept as parameters the major restraints implied by available total finance and manpower., salary rigi­dities and security of tenure for the inefficient] these will determine the scale and direction of the pre-service and in-service programmes, But certain measures have proved possible and useful to mitigate shor­tages i

( a ) Cons cr i p_t i on

In some countries (e0g« Iran) graduate conscripts are sent t© teach in village schools during their period of military service, or the army itself

IIEP/TM/25/68 - page 9

undertakes an educational task by remedying basic deficiencies in primary education among conscipts (Turkey) or in providing teaching in primary schools for the population*,

(b) Part-time employment of qualified personnel

Qualified married women teachers or retired teachers may be employed* In secondary education non-teachers with professional qualifications may be usefulо

(c) Employment of expatriates

Long-term measures

Over the longer term the main aim should be to develop a national teaching force of the requisite qualification and distributed hj region«, as between town and country!, and by sexe This will involve a plan for impro-ving the existing stock and the development of an in-service training effort, as well as a phased development of pre~service training to meet new require­ments contingent on replacing wastage and meeting new enrolments»

In undertaking the longer term plans for achieving teacher supply, there will be advantage in reviewing the effectiveness of the use of the exi­sting teaching force» Such matters as pupil/teacher ratios, location of schools, shift systemsj use of books and equipment, hours and conditions of work, age of retirement, require constant review«, Perhaps the major factor underlying success in meeting teacher requirements is the determination in advance of the required level of qualification of teachers and of steps to train them in good time to meet enrolment plans« We have to face the fact, howeverj that in most countries teacher qualification standards, and tea­ching standards themselves, tend to be sacrificed in accepting enrolments which are unduly high in view of the resources available« Consequently, the planner has the two-fold task of improving what has been created, with his eye on the cost implications, and taking care that future expansion will be accompanied by adequate teacher supply.

Suggested additional reading

Unescoс Elements of Educational Planning» Paris, Unesco, 196j? p. 42 (Ed. 62«XVo45*A)c Educational Studies and Documents, No. 45