Teachers for Rural Schools: A Challenge for Africa

A number of obstacles, relating to both supply and demand, bar the way to access to schooling for rural children. Among these obstacles, problems related to teachers are particularly acute: the shortage of teachers, their under-qualification, weak supervision and support, insufficient time at work, difficulties in gaining access to information. Having established this, the study reviews the solutions that have been tried, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. It analyzes in succession the modes of deployment used in different countries in connection with gender issues and the AIDS pandemic, various incentive systems, targeted recruitment and alternatives used in practice, and models for managing, inspecting and supporting rural teachers. Three major weaknesses in the supply of teachers to rural areas are identified: (i) deployment practices result in the abandonment of posts and increasing numbers of under-qualified teachers; (ii) operating practices result in overcrowding in the first years and assign the least qualified teachers to the most difficult classes; and (iii) limited management systems can lead to inadequate inspection and support of rural teachers, as well as to absenteeism and a reduction in time spent at work