UNICEF Mongolia - Teachers College Columbia University

CHAPTER 6: TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS
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The central level also reviews and approves courses that are submied for the specialized courses. For
the academic year 2010/11, thirty-six (36) organizaons submied a total of 180 training modules; of
those 88 were approved. There is no approval required at the central level for the non-credit courses.
The credit-bearing courses are self-financed and count towards the promoon criteria of teachers. The
Educaon and Culture Department offers mostly non-credit courses. They would be eligible to offer also
credit-bearing courses but, with the excepon of the City Educaon Department, they tend to focus on
non-credit courses.
The idea of life-long learning of teachers, translated into intensive training every five years, existed unl
the early 1990s. It had to be suspended because of the high costs associated with this kind of universal
in-service training of teachers. The MECS Ministerial Order #72 reintroduced this popular provision even
though the budgetary implicaons of this important, yet expensive, in-service teacher training model has
not been resolved to date.
At the city level (Ulaanbaatar), the City Department of Educaon embarked on the basic training provision
for first year and fih year teachers. They are in the midst of implemenng the regulaon. They enrolled,
for example, 92 teachers in history and geography for a 14-day workshop that was organized by MECS.
These basic courses are offered by MECS directly; the City Educaon Department merely coordinates
these centrally administered efforts at the city level.
TEACHERS IN MONGOLIA: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RECRUITMENT INTO TEACHING,
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS
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The main area of acvity at the central level relates to the specialized courses. As menoned above,
MECS has to approve the credit-bearing courses that are typically self-financed by teachers. Each credit
translates into the number of contact hours (an academic contact hour is 45 minutes). Thus, a one-credit
course requires 24 hours (three days) and a two-credit course, 48 hours or three days of aendance.
The credit-bearing courses are typically offered during vacaon or instrucon-free days and cost 9,000
– 15,000 MNT for one credit.
At the school level, the research team analyzed actual in-service training of teachers (N=123) and also
solicited feedback on the current provision of in-service teacher training. Every school is supposed to have
a Teacher Professional Development Plan, administered by the educaon manager. The Plan is supposed
to ensure that teachers have an equal chance of aending school-financed professional development
opportunies. In our qualitave interviews, we asked to see the Teacher Professional Development Plan,
but only few of the schools had such a plan readily available. The research team also garnered feedback
on the current provision of in-service teacher educaon. In general, teachers were enthusiasc about the
intensive workshops offered to teachers every five years. They also believed that school-based training
constuted one of the most effecve ways of quality improvement.
6.4. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Over the past few years, great aenon has been given to teacher effecveness both in Mongolia as
well as internaonally. In an aempt to implement a quality assurance mechanism, a teacher licensing
scheme was introduced (MECS Ministerial Order #74) in 2008. It targeted not only new teachers in the
first two years of their teaching, but also professionals from other fields who switched to the teaching
profession. In addion, it was aimed at teachers who were teaching an addional second or third subject
for which they did not have a license. As a result of this regulaon, “specializaon conversion training