SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’

POLICY AND MANAGEMENT:

QUANTITY, QUALITY AND PAY

Education Policy and Reform Unit

UNESCO Bangkok

1

The 4th World Teachers’ Day in Thailand

and

The 12th UNESCO-APEID International Conference

Quality Innovations for Teaching and Learning

24-26 March 2009

Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

OUTLINE

Why Secondary School Teachers?

UNESCO‟s Research, its methodology, and research questions

The synthesis - framework and questions Teachers‟ quantity: What are the major

mismatches between demand and supply?

Teachers‟ quality: Does the teaching workforce meet adequate standards?

Teachers‟ pay: Are the existing salaries adequate to attract and retain quality teachers in secondary schools?

Lessons Learnt 2

WHY SECONDARY EDUCATION

TEACHERS?

SE has been a relatively neglected aspect of international education policy,

In DC, much of the policy interest focused on the tertiary sector,

In LDC, Education for All persuaded governments and donors to direct substantial resources to the initial stages of schooling,

In LDC, concerns with rectifying high-level skill shortages ensured that tertiary education received a prominent share of public funding

SE has ” become the forgotten sector in the education realm (Bloom 2003:2) OR

“the neglected child in the development of public education systems” (Di Gropello, 2006:xx)

3

UNESCO’S RESEARCH: AN

OVERVIEW Aim: To assess how countries have been responding

to the increasing demand to expand access to quality secondary education, especially as related to the demand for and supply of teachers; and to provide some cross-cutting evidence on issues and policies affecting secondary teachers in Asia

Framework: Five case studies were conducted by country teams and have provided inputs to regional comparative analysis

Participating countries: PR China, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand, and Republic of Korea

Approach: comparative analysis based on the five case studies commissioned AND various other data sources (e.g. UIS data) covering a wider range of countries as well as international literature.

Geographical scope: East and Southeast Asia4

METHODOLOGY

5

First Methodology

Workshop

Second Methodology

Workshop

Third Methodology

Workshop

• Defining a

common research

framework

• Identifying

specific research

questions

• Presenting and

discussing initial

findings

• Sharing

information on

technical

methodology and

analytical framework

used

• Reviewing the

common research

framework

• Sharing study

findings

• Identifying data

gaps

• Preparation of the

regional comparative

analysis

Conducting case

studies following

the common

research

framework

Finalizing the

study by further

strengthening the

analysis and filling

in data gaps

OVERALL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are major shortages, redundancies and

imbalances in the provision and use of secondary

school teachers?

6

What strategies have countries chosen to address

existing imbalances, and with what effects?

Is the institutional setting (teacher preparation,

recruitment, deployment, compensation)

conducive in supporting national/local strategies

to obtain and retain well qualified secondary

school teachers?

THE SYNTHESIS: FRAMEWORK &

QUESTIONS

Secondary education system: status and issues

7

Quality of secondary school teachers

What are the major issues concerning quality of

secondary teachers?

Do the exiting mechanisms (teacher preparation,

recruitment, deployment) ensure the quality of

secondary education teaching?

Demand and supply of secondary school teachers

What are the major mismatches between demand

and supply (e.g., shortage vs. oversupply)?

Where and why do mismatches occur?

What strategies have countries chosen to address the

issues and with what effects?

THE SYNTHESIS: FRAMEWORK &

QUESTIONS (CON’D)

Teacher compensation (pay)

How do Governments deal with the recurrent cost

implications of secondary education expansion?

What effects are the existing salaries and career

development system have on teachers‟ availability,

quality and motivation?

8

Challenges and responses

9

Examples of possible tradeoffs

a wider coverage of secondary schooling or

reduction in the student-teacher ratio

A larger number of teachers (i.e. a reduction in

the STR) or better salaries

Despite larger classes and/or increased class

contact time, the higher pay might well produce

an improvement in teacher quality through

attracting better qualified entrants and or

reducing the attrition

TEACHER QUANTITY:

TRENDS IN EAST/SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1970-2006

A wide range of combination of enrolment growth

and student to teacher ratios (STR) across the

region.

Some countries increased the STR.

Some countries chose to employ twice as many

teachers as other countries in delivering the

same enrolment rate.

Some countries chose to reduce the STR far

before reaching a responsible coverage (i.e. close

to universalization). 9

TEACHER QUANTITY: VARIATION IN STR & GER IN EAST/SOUTHEAST ASIA (1970-2006)

0

10

20

30

40

50

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Secondary GER

Seco

nd

ary

ST

R

China

HongKong

Indonesia

Japan

Korea

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Taiwan

Thailand

%

%

Lower secondary Upper secondary

Cambodia 50 51

China 55.9 …

Japan 33.5 …

Malaysia 33.6 …

Lao PDR 46 53

Philippines 51.7 …

Rep. of Korea 35.7 …

Singapore 36 36

Thailand 34 46

Vietnam 39 47

Class Size in Secondary Education in East/Southeast

Asia

Source: UNESCO Bangkok, Regional Information Base:Country Profile; OECD Online interactive

indicators (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2007) ; Singapore MOE; WEI (2007)

TEACHER QUANTITY:

IS THERE A SECONDARY TEACHER SHORTAGE?

The meaning of „shortage‟ varies: overall shortage,

shortages in specialized subjects, shortages in specific

geographical areas…

It is difficult to endorse the notion of a widespread

shortage of secondary teachers when that alleged

shortage is founded only on high student-teacher

ratios.

Need to address the distribution of teachers .

Need for more sub-national disaggregated data on

teacher demand and supply to better understand

shortage issues in disadvantaged areas or specific

subject areas 13

TEACHER QUANTITY:

SHORTAGE ISSUES FROM CASE STUDY COUNTRIES

o Geographical variations in teacher distribution: Breakdown

of the rigid system restricting migration (China, Lao PDR)

o Shortage in subject specializations: Out of field teaching,

number of schools without teachers specialized in core

subjects (Thailand)

o Shortage of teachers with specific skills: Teachers with

adequate English skills to teacher science and maths

(Malaysia)

o Shortage of teachers with required qualifications to teach

at secondary level (Lao PDR)

o Shortage due to the early retirement scheme and reduction

of teaching posts (Thailand)

TEACHER QUANTITY:

OVERSUPPLY ISSUES FROM CASE STUDY COUNTRIES

Teacher surplus / under-utilization resulting from

widening curriculum options and recruiting teachers

teaching new subjects (Malaysia)

The intake into pre-service teacher training

programmes does not take into account changes in

demand for teachers (Korea)

-> 15-20% of applicants with teaching

certificates have received appointment as

secondary school teacher

16

TEACHER QUANTITY:

STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN CASE STUDY COUNTRIES

Multiple subject major in teacher training

programmes (Malaysia)

Policy requiring new teachers to serve in rural areas

(Malaysia)

Policy requiring teachers to serve in rural areas as

necessary condition for promotion (Korea)

Incentives for teachers teaching in rural and remote

areas

17

TEACHER QUALITY:

SOME EVIDENCE FROM INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE

Raising teacher quality is vital for improving student

achievement.

There is little positive relationship between student

performance and measured teacher characteristics such

as the duration of their education, qualifications,

experience or salary.

You must get the right people to become teachers!

PISA results show that (McKinsey 2007):

-> The top-performing schools system consistently attract

more able people into the teaching profession.

-> The top-performing school systems have more effective

methods of selecting people for teacher training.

Most secondary teachers now go through some form

of formal pre-service training.

Governments are devoting much attention to

lengthening the period of formal schooling required

for teachers.

In many countries, high achievers do not opt for the

teaching profession.

TEACHER QUALITY:

TRENDS IN COUNTRIES IN EAST/SOUTHEAST ASIA

TEACHER QUALITY:

TRENDS IN COUNTRIES IN EAST/SOUTHEAST ASIA

Duration of required pre-service

education (years)

Post-graduation exam

required for teacher

certification

Lower

secondary

Upper

secondaryAll Secondary

Cambodia 2 5 No

China 2/3 4

Indonesia 4 4 Yes

Japan 4 4 Yes

Korea 4 4 Yes

Lao PDR 3 5 No

Malaysia 4 4 No

Philippines 4 4 Yes

Thailand 5 5 No

Vietnam 3 4 No

Source: UNESCO Bangkok, Secondary Education Regional Information Base: Country Profile;

Duthilleul (2005); Hang (2005); OECD (2005).

TEACHER PAY

PATTERNS IN EAST/SOUTHEAST COUNTRIES

Some countries set very low secondary teacher salaries (Cambodia,

Indonesia, and Lao PDR)

Some countries provide relatively high salaries in relation to GDP per

head (Malaysia, Philippines, Rep. of Korea)

In some countries the increase over the career path is small

(Cambodia, Lao PDR and Philippines)

Some offer high starting salaries but the increase thereafter or from a

s certain point in the career is modest (Philippines, Malaysia)

Some pay starting salaries comparable to alternative professions and

continue to increase throughout the career (Rep. of Korea, Thailand)

Some countries differentiate teacher salaries according to:

Subject specialization (special allowance for critical subject in

Malaysia)

„Fast track‟ promotion („Super Teachers‟ in Malaysia)

Hardship (i.e. remote areas)

LOWER SECONDARY TEACHERS’ SALARIES RELATIVE TO

GDP PER CAPITA IN SELECTED COUNTRIES/ASIA & PACIFIC

Starting salarySalary after 15

years of teachingEnding salary

Australia - 1.4 -

Bangladesh 2.47 - 2.85

Cambodia 0.64 0.77 0.86

China - - -

Indonesia 0.28 0.45 0.85

Japan - 1.6 -

Lao PDR 0.53 0.58 -

Malaysia 1.49 2.55 3.22

Philippines 2.05 2.26 2.43

Rep. of Korea - 2.42 -

Sri Lanka 0.79 1.14 1.14

Thailand* 0.76 - -

Source: UIS (2005). Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015.

Montreal: UNESCO-UIS; *calculated by Punyasavatsut, C. based on data provided by Thai MoE

Note: The figures are from 2000 to 2004 and indicate salaries with minimum qualifications.

SALARY VARIATIONS WITHIN THE REGION:

WHAT DIFFERENCES ARE IMPORTANT?

In any country, the effect of salaries is different

at different stages of a teaching career.

Raising teachers‟ salaries right across the scale

may not achieve the main policy objectives.

Salary scale has to be judged against the problem

at hand: attracting more beginning teachers

requires a different salary solution from

retraining experienced teachers.

Get the right starting salary! – the critical

characteristic shared by the high-performing

school systems was front-loading the salary

system. 22

For more information/updates concerning this study and other activities

under UNESCO Bangkok’s project on Secondary Education Policy

Research in Asia (SEPRA), please visit:

www.unescobkk.org/education/epr/sepra