UNICEF Mongolia - Teachers College Columbia University

CHAPTER 2: THE TEACHING WORKFORCE
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TEACHERS IN MONGOLIA: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RECRUITMENT INTO TEACHING,
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS
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Teacher training instuons provide credit-bearing courses for higher educaon graduates who
teach without a proper teacher educaon degree. This “specializaon conversion” training consists
of specialized courses in teaching methods or didaccs. Like any new teacher, these teachers have to
undergo a cerficaon process and only receive the teaching license aer one year, when the course
work in didaccs has been completed and the teacher has gained experience in teaching the parcular
subject(s). The same procedure applies for teachers who wish to change their area of specializaon; that
is, they have to enroll in didaccs courses in the parcular subject(s) and also teach the new subject(s) at
least for one year before geng licensed in the new subject(s). 14
Table 8: Primary and Secondary School Teachers by Subject Area in 2010/2011
Subject Total Subject Total Subject Total
Primary school subjects 9,059
Mongolian language &
literature
2,039 Kazakh language 53
Russian language 710 English language 2,130 Russian & English 458
Other foreign language 190 Computer & informaon 543 Math 1,672
Math & informacs 282 Math & physics 285 Physics 749
Chemistry 560 Chemistry & biology 350 Biology 622
History 444 History & social study 728 Social study 220
History & geography 169 Geography 546 Physical educaon 1,698
Music 764 Arts and Dras 271 Drawing & technology 595
Technology 963 Pedagogy & psychology 14 Defectology 30
Speech correcon 9 Social worker 16 Other 189
Source: Stascal Abstract (2011), Table 2.17.
Total: 26,358
The wide variety of subject teachers, manifested in Table 8, is somewhat confusing. These data do not
reflect the qualificaons of teachers, but rather the subject(s) a teacher is teaching. At MSUE, for example,
teachers are trained to teach two subjects (e.g., biology and chemistry). The excepon is math; math
teachers are by training single-subject teachers. All other teachers trained at MSUE are licensed to teach
two subjects even though they may end up, as Table 8 shows, teaching one subject only (the situaon
may differ in other teacher training instuons). In 2006, MECS introduced a compelling five-year pilot
project (MECS Ministerial Order #236) that prepared future natural science teachers in mulple science
subjects. Apart from this pilot project that focused on subject areas or mul-subject teaching, teacher
educaon students are typically trained to teach two subjects (again, with the excepon of math).
Regionally, there is clearly a trend towards mul-subject, pre-service teacher educaon. As a result
of curriculum reform throughout Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia, teachers in most countries
now prepare for a subject area (e.g., natural sciences) rather than an individual subject (e.g., chemistry,
physics, geography) with areas of specializaon within a subject. This enables teachers to easily change
their subject specializaon over the course of their career. Mul-subject preparaon is also advantageous
for the educaonal sector, as it enables schools to hire teachers who are qualified and licensed to teach
several subjects. As a result of mul-subject pre-service teacher educaon, teachers do not have to teach
14 For details, see Ministerial Order #74, November 13, 2008, Ministry of Educaon, Culture and Science of Mongolia, secon
2.5.