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Teacher CompensationA Challenge for South Sudan

Context

Process and Challenges linked with training and Compensating Teachers

Current Issues and Open Questions

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Sudan, Mini-Africa?

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Economic Context

Sudan is the largest country in Africa with enormous development potential and vast natural resource baseHistoric causes of conflict linked with regional disparities, underdevelopment in the south and lack of inclusion in decision-makingIn the South, data on economic activity are scarce, but strong evidence suggests that the incidence of poverty is among the highest in the world. poverty exacerbated by the enormous displaced population. Refugees and IDP from Southern origin estimated at 3 million Geography and lack of infrastructure constrains both economic growth and access to basic services

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Social Context

High Disease Burden : children born in South Sudan have 25 percent chance of dying before the age of 5, and 25% percent chance of living to the age of 65. Less than 1 physician for 100,000 people

Dismal literacy and education status: enrollment in primary education was 20 percent in 2003. Girls represented only 1 out of 4 enrolled students.

Discouraging Trends: limited progress since 1990 with respect to maternal mortality, nutrition and education status. Regression with respect to access to safe water

Food Insecurity: conflict and droughts resulted in high malnutrition rates. 48 percent of children suffer from chronic malnutrition

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Highlight of the CPA

A Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed on January 9, 2005.

Power Sharing Agreement : provides for autonomous SS Government, broader participation in GNU and civil service, new constitution, with a view to making unity attractive before referendumWealth Sharing Agreement : provides a framework for resource allocation, assigns a share of oil and non-oil revenue to the south, right to collect additional domestic revenue and external assistanceSecurity Protocol: two armed forces and joint integrated units

3 Areas (Abye, S. Kordofan and Blue Nile): special power and wealth sharing arrangement.

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“The transformation of New Sudan’s society requires a literate population that is educated, conscious of its rights, tolerant of others, actively participating in the governing of its life and working together to eliminate the cycle of poverty”*

*From the Education Sector Plan of the new Sudan, 2004

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The Education Status

Poor learning conditions 80% of school-children have no bench to sit on 68% do not have latrines Extremely high pupil/teacher ratios Curricula: being updated but still not standardized.

Contextually and culturally relevant? There were only 33 secondary schools with 4,500 students

Poor Outcomes Gross enrollment ratio of 20% seems to be the world’s lowest 40% of children ever enroll in primary education, only 2% finish

primary Scarcity of qualified teachers Gender gap is one of worst in the world;

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Key Challenges Faced by The Education System

Lack of capacity to deliver services

Expected rapidly increasing demand for education from local population as well as influx of refugees from other regions

Government of south Sudan which was created only one year ago still has extremely limited capacity to absorb funds and deliver services

Education sector is dramatically under-resourced. High dependence on outside funding sources

When populations begin massive movements back to their land the spread of HIV/AIDS will negatively impact on the education system

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Teachers Are the Most Critical Resource in Education

A survey of Public Sector Personnel Conducted in November 2005 has identified 13,204 staff working in education of which 7802 teachers.

7% were female.Qualifications inadequate:

16% had a BA/BSc or higher degree, the others possibly educated only to primary level or at best with some exposure to secondary

Only 18% assessed their ability to speak English “high”, and 35% felt their capacity was “low”

Language skill in Arabic not much better: 41% felt they had low speaking skills and 30% low writing skills

imbalanced spatial distribution : 10% of the 82 counties accounting for the majority of the staff14,000 additional teachers required by 2011. At the same time need to build teacher training programs from the ground up

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Process of Paying TeachersSame as Rest of Civil Service

Identifying who is paid. Formal appointment not completed yet. States Level Government have been asked to establish payroll lists. At present, it was decided that “provisional/ad hoc” appointments are acceptableKnowing how much is to be paid. An interim unified pay scale is available, although some issues remain with allowances. Not clear if guidelines for qualification and category scale have been prescribed. Entry level pay seems too high to be sustained in the long termEnsuring the states have the resources to make the payments. Are resources being regularly transferred from Khartoum? Are such resources sufficient to cover GoS commitments, including the expanding wage bill? If not, what are the priorities for public expenditures? Are there adequate controls. Are their any controls to ensure that funds intended for wages are not used for other purposes? Do the payments go to the right people?Logistics. How to transport funds for cash payments? Which currency to use?

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How is it working

First effort to make a regular transfer to the states was on July 5, 2006

No decision on previous months

Not sure whether effort can be sustained (original budget was squeezed from SD1.7 billion to SD1.0 billion)

No commitment control: ministers making large commitments

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Current IssuesShould all teachers be Public Service personnel?

Should well defined minimum educational qualifications be enforced at the time of appointment of teachers? The existing trend appears to be to absorb SPLM cadres as teachers even if it means diluting minimum qualifications. Extensive Teacher Training facilities is a necessary mitigation strategy.

If minimum educational qualifications are unenforceable, and in view of the pressure to fill in positions, shouldn’t under qualified teachers be absorbed at lower grades as an interim measure?

How can the spatial spread be improved?

What type of incentive are needed and can they work in the case of Sudan?

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Boosting Teacher TrainingNeed for Diverse Programs

A decentralized in-service teacher training program will be offered in 20 County Multi-purpose Education Centers The training program is flexible: Multi-entry and exit. Orientation

after an initial induction period: Those who have completed Grade 8 enroll directly to in-service

teacher training program: about 25% Those who need to complete basic education are offered the option

to participate in the Accelerated Learning Program Those who need higher English skills are offered English language

instructionTwo-year residential course for grade 12 graduates 4 facilities needing significant upgrading There are set standards, curricula and examination for certification Limited capacity: less than xxx per year