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Teacher shortages, teacher contracts and their impact on education in Africa
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Teacher shortages, teacher contracts and their impact on education in Africa

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  • Bourdon, Jean
  • Michaelowa, Katharina
  • Frölich, Markus

Abstract

Primary school enrolment rates are very low in francophone Africa. In order to enhance education supply, many countries have launched large teacher recruitment programmes in recent years, whereby teachers are no longer engaged on civil servant positions, but on the basis of (fixed-term) contracts typically implying considerably lower salaries and a sharply reduced duration of professional training. While this policy has led to a boost of primary enrolment, there is a concern about a loss in the quality of education. In this paper we analyse the impact on educational quality, by estimating nonparametrically the quantile treatment effects for Niger, Togo and Mali, based on very informative data, comparable across these countries. We find that contract teachers do relatively better for low ability children in low grades than for high ability children in higher grades. When positive treatment effects were found, they tended to be more positive at the low to medium quantiles; when negative effects were found they tended to be more pronounced at the high ability quantiles. Hence, overall it seems that contract teachers do a relatively better job for teaching students with learning difficulties than for teaching the more advanced children. This implies that contract teachers tend to reduce inequalities in student outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Bourdon, Jean & Michaelowa, Katharina & Frölich, Markus, 2007. "Teacher shortages, teacher contracts and their impact on education in Africa," HWWI Research Papers 2-10, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:2-10
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    Cited by:

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    2. Paul Atherton and Geeta Kingdon, 2010. "The relative effectiveness and costs of contract and regular teachers in India," Economics Series Working Papers CSAE WPS/2010-15, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Ayako Wakano, 2016. "The effect of ratio between PTA teachers and Government employed teachers on Education outcomes in Kenya Primary Schools," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 16-14, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    4. Al-Samarrai, Samer & Shrestha, Unika & Hasan, Amer & Nakajima, Nozomi & Santoso, Santoso & Wijoyo, Wisnu Harto Adi, 2018. "Introducing a performance-based component into Jakarta's school grants: What do we know about its impact after three years?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 110-136.
    5. Luis Beccaria & Pablo Alfredo Gluzmann, 2013. "Medición de los Ingresos y la Pobreza Oficial en América Latina y el Caribe," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0148, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    6. Karthik Muralidharan & Venkatesh Sundararaman, 2013. "Contract Teachers: Experimental Evidence from India," NBER Working Papers 19440, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jean Bourdon & Markus Frölich & Katharina Michaelowa, 2010. "Teacher shortages, teacher contracts and their effect on education in Africa," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(1), pages 93-116, January.
    8. Ayako Wakano, 2016. "The effect of locally hired teachers on school outcomes (the Dose response function estimation evidence from Kenya)," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 16-15, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    9. Barbara Bruns & Deon Filmer & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2011. "Making Schools Work : New Evidence on Accountability Reforms," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2270.
    10. Dreher, Axel & Poutvaara, Panu, 2011. "Foreign Students and Migration to the United States," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1294-1307, August.
    11. Sebastian Galiani & Ricardo Perez-Truglia, 2013. "School Management in Developing Countries," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0147, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    12. Sangeeta Goyal & Priyanka Pandey, 2013. "Contract teachers in India," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 464-484, December.

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    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I - Health, Education, and Welfare
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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