Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALSThe quality of educationRepublic of Tanzania, for example, the pre-primarypupil/teacher ratio was 40:1 or higher in 2007(see annex, Statistical Table 10A).Data from within countries highlight particulardisadvantages facing the marginalized in thisrespect. In Kenya, the national ratio of pupils totrained pre-primary teachers is 54:1. In the arid,largely pastoral district of Turkana, one of Kenya’spoorest, the ratio is 123:1 (Ruto et al., 2009). InIndonesia, the share of pre-primary teachers withat least a diploma ranges from 60% in Banten, arelatively prosperous area, to only 1% in Maluku,a region with high levels of poverty (IndonesiaMinistry of National Education, 2007).Primary education. Higher enrolment since 1999has gone hand in hand with an increase in therecruitment of primary teachers. Many countriesin sub-Saharan Africa – including Burkina Faso,Burundi, the Niger and Senegal 46 – have morethan doubled the teacher workforce in most cases,improving the pupil/teacher ratio (see annex,Statistical Table 10A). As countries seek toaccelerate progress towards universal primaryeducation, they will need to sustain a concerteddrive to recruit and train teachers.Despite the progress of the past decade, teachershortages remain a serious concern. Countries settheir own targets for pupil/teacher ratios, makingcross-country comparisons difficult (Bennell, 2009).However, the most widely used international ceilingfor the pupil/teacher ratio is 40:1 (Takala, 2003;World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, 2006).In 2007, 26 countries out of 171 with data were abovethis ceiling, all but four of them in sub-SaharanAfrica (see annex, Statistical Table 10A). While datacoverage is patchy, there are also concerns overthe ratio of pupils to trained teachers. Countriesincluding Madagascar, Mozambique, Sierra Leoneand Togo have ratios of pupils to trained teacherin excess of 80:1 (Figure 2.42). In fifteen of the fortycountries with data, the share of trained teachersin the workforce has declined since 1999, in somecases dramatically (see annex, Statistical Table10A). In Togo, it has fallen from 31% to 15% asrecruitment has shifted towards contract teachers.National average pupil/teacher ratios can conceallarge disparities. A recent review of teacherdeployment patterns examined differences acrossregions in ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa(Pôle de Dakar, 2009). In some countries the ratiosvary by a factor of three. While low ratios are oftenFigure 2.42: Trained teachers are sometimes in short supplyRatios of pupils to teachers and pupils to trained teachersin primary education, selected countries, 2007MauritaniaCôte d’IvoireKenyaCambodiaRwandaU. R. TanzaniaUgandaBurundiEritreaCongoBurkina FasoMozambiqueBangladeshMadagascarSierra Leone0 20 40 60 80 100 120RatiosPupil/teacherPupil/trained teacherNote: Among countries with available data, only those with pupil/teacher ratios ator above 40:1 are included. Countries sorted by the gap between the pupil/teacherand the pupil/trained teacher ratios.Sources: Annex, Statistical Table 10A; UIS database.found in rural areas with highly dispersedpopulations, high ratios tend to be concentrated inareas marked by poverty and acute disadvantage.In Uganda, northern regions affected by conflict weremarked by pupil/teacher ratios in excess of 90:1 –nearly double the national average (Figure 2.43).Urban-rural differences create another layer ofinequality. The pattern of disadvantage is highlyvariable but overall ratios tend to be higher in urbanareas (Zhang et al., 2008). In other countries suchas Malawi, though, the average urban pupil/teacherratio is 46:1, compared with 81:1 in rural areas(Mulkeen, 2009). However, trained teachers areoften concentrated in urban areas. Whereas 60%of teachers in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, aretrained, the figure falls to 11% in the rural district ofYumbe. In Lesotho, nearly a quarter of teachers inlowland areas are unqualified, compared with abouthalf in the mountainous and less accessible areas(Mulkeen, 2009). These areas also tend to havehigher repetition rates and, like other rural areas,poorer test scores (Mulkeen and Chen, 2008).To some degree, such deployment patterns reflectself-perpetuating processes of selection and inbuiltdisadvantage. Trained teachers are more likelyto choose to work in urban areas, especially insystems where their remuneration is linked toIn northernUganda, therewere 90 pupilsper teacher— nearly doublethe nationalaverage46. In Senegal, this increasein teachers is due to thecreation of more schools,upgrading of schools withincomplete primaryeducation cycles anddouble-shift teaching(UIS, 2009b).115