A presentation from the CIES 2019 Time-to-Teach Panel CIES Conference April 17, 2019 San Francisco

1. Time to Teach
Teacher Absenteeism in
Africa
CIES Conference
17 April 2019

2. Introduction
What is Time to Teach (TTT)?
A multi-country research initiative that investigates the
determinants of teacher absenteeism in primary and secondary
schools in 20 African countries
Partners
National governments, UNICEF regional and country offices,
UNICEF OoR, Donors (DFID, Gates Foundation, World Bank,
MasterCard), national research institutes
Project timeline
September 2017 - December 2019

3. Geographic coverage
Participating countries (20):
8 in ESAR: Mozambique, Rwanda,
Kenya, Comoros, Somalia
(Puntland), Tanzania, South
Sudan, Uganda
11 in WCAR: Ghana, Gambia,
Liberia, Nigeria, Mauritania, Côte
d’Ivoire, Niger, Gabon, Guinea,
Togo, Guinea-Bissau
1 in MENA: Morocco

4. Rationale
Teacher absenteeism is a widespread phenomenon
In some sub-Saharan African countries:
14% - 45% absent from school
21% - 56% absent from class

5. Rationale
Teacher absenteeism is an efficiency issue
The loss of teaching hours = waste of approx. 0.46 cents in every
dollar invested in education = 1-3% GDP loss

6. Rationale
Teacher absenteeism is a major element of the ineffectiveness of
education systems
Improving teacher motivation and curbing teacher absenteeism
are key priorities of national governments
• Rwanda – Education Sector Strategic Plan (2013-2018)
• Mozambique – National campaign against TA (2015)
• Uganda – Teachers Incentives Framework (2017)
• Kenya - New TSC salaries and grading system for teachers
(2018); New teacher M&E scheme (TPAD)

7. Objectives
Identify the determinants of teacher absenteeism
Provide country-specific policy recommendations
Develop a regional knowledge base and encourage
cross-country learning

8. The concept: Multi-dimensional teacher absenteeism
1. Absence from school
2. Absence of punctuality
3. Absence from classroom
4. Absence from teaching
5. Absence of content &
pedagogical knowledge
Teacher
Absenteeism
School
absence
Absence of
punctuality
Classroom
absence
Teaching
absence
Absence of
content and
pedagogical
knowledge

9. Explanatory model

10. Research Questions
Which factors at different levels of the education system
can lead teachers to be absent in various ways?
Do different factors influence the propensity of teachers
to absenteeism in different countries?
How can the different types of teacher absenteeism be
addressed?

11. Data collection
1. Desk review
Existing literature on teacher motivation and absenteeism; teacher
management policies; education statistics
2. Fieldwork (20 schools/country)
• Semi-structured interviews and focus groups
• MoE officials (6) Sub-national officials (20)
• Community representatives (20) Head teachers (20)
• Teachers (60) Students (140)
• Paper-based survey
• Teachers (≃300)

12. Sampling
Stage 1: School selection
• 20 schools in 20 different
communities covering multiple
regions in each country
• A balanced mix of government
(public), non-governmental (private
and faith) schools
• A balanced mix of urban, peri-urban
and rural areas
Stage 2: Respondent selection
• National & Sub-national
respondents: Position; knowledge of
teacher management issues
• Community representatives:
knowledge of sample schools and
school staff (PTA members)
• Teachers: gender; age; contract type;
and years of experience
• Students: grade (age 11-13) and
gender

13. Data Analysis Methods
Qualitative
Thematic content analysis (TCA)
1. Identify themes
2. Assign codes to themes (coding manual)
3. Organize data by code/theme; study
theme frequency; compare & contrast themes
Quantitative
Statistical analysis
• Generate statistical profiles of teachers in sampled schools
• Supplement & triangulate interview and FGD data

14. Outputs
One national report for each participating country
A regional (synthesis) report
International conference to disseminate findings

15. Timeline
Inception
(Sept.
2017- Feb.
2018)
Trainings
/Pilots
(March –
June 2018)
Data
collection
(July –
December
2018)
Data Analysis /
Report Drafting
(December 2018
– June 2019)
TTT
Conference
(July 2019)