Teaching Well? Educational reconstruction efforts and (non)salaries for teachers in postwar

Liberia

Janet Shriberg, IRC/Teachers College, Columbia University

Rebecca Winthrop (presenter), IRC

Presentation for the roundtable on Teacher Compensation in Fragile States, Situations of Displacement and Post-Conflict Return, October 11, 2006, World Bank, Washington DC

Acknowledgements

• National Teachers Association of Liberia and especially Ms. Margaret Flomo, Acting President

• Liberia Ministry of Education

• IRC Liberia and NY Offices

• Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)

All teachers and other education staff who are working to promote peace and educational growth to improve

the future of Liberia

Special thanks to the Office of Diversity and Community, Teachers College, Columbia University and the NSEP Graduate Fellowship for their generous dissertation research funding

Case Study of Teacher Well-being in Postwar Liberia

Multi-sited

9 counties, Rural/Urban; 15 districts

Diverse sample

Female and male education staff working in Liberia (over 700 teachers, principals, MoE officers, National Association of Teachers in Liberia officers, faculty at UL and Teacher Training Institutes, INGO staff)

Mixed methodologyIn-depth interviews; focus groups, semi-structured surveys, participant observation and document review

Liberia and West Africa

Source: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/africa/liberia/map.htm

Background: Civil wars and displacement

• Over 14 years of civil war and inter-related conflicts with West Africa (1989-2003)

• Displacement

• High numbers of children and youth conscripted into fighting forces

Postwar Liberia and Education• Education considered a priority

• Unemployment rate estimated at 85%

• Illiteracy rate estimated at 80%

• Lack of government resources

• Off-track to meet UPE

• Gender Disparities

• Changing student population

Teacher Shortage in Liberia

• Majority of teachers are under-qualified (primary and secondary)

• Brain drain of teachers, especially in Higher Education

• Lack of female teachers

Processes and policies surrounding teacher salary

“Why so hard to get paid?”• Salary not enough to survive

• Obstacles to obtain salary: Distribution Mechanism

– Inconsistent salary distribution

– Corruption

– Ghost Teachers

• Salary not based on qualification

• No regulated system of benefits

Consequences of Teacher Compensation

on Education Provision & Quality(Preliminary Results)

(1) Pedagogy and Learning Content

(2) Corruption

(3) Teaching as a profession

(4) Teachers’ own psychosocial well-being

Pedagogy and Learning Content

(approximately 50% teachers surveyed)

“The salary I earn affect the way I teach in that the time I have to make a lesson plan, I have to take that time to do other works to

earn money and take care of the family”• Multiple jobs leaves little time for lesson planning and preparation

• Lack of lighting (no money for candles!) limits ability to prepare at night and causes eye strain/weakness

• Hunger and physical weakness leads to difficulty concentrating

• Anxious and Distracted because cannot provide for family (food and school fees)

• No opportunity to pursue further training makes it hard to keep up with subject content and forces reliance on “outdated” teaching methods

Corruption(approximately 10%)

“I use make-up tests to make me money.”

• “Flexible fees” and Bribery

• “Sex for grades”

• Principals have difficulty enforcing teacher codes of conduct

Teaching as a profession

“Our field is a dumping ground.”

• Brain drain-Qualified teachers would rather seek a higher paying job

• Future of teaching wavering: No incentive to become or stay in the teaching field

• Lack of resources for teacher training

Teachers’ own Psychosocial Well-being

“Our wounds are open but we work

bleeding.”• 97.1% said that salary they earn impacts their well-

being negatively

• 23.4% reported feeling worry, anxiety, fear and anger because they are unable to pay for their children's school fees

• 26.4% of teachers, when asked about the ways that teachers have experienced trauma in their lives responded “low salary” (among answers such as war, houses burned, rape, death)

Teachers’ perceptions of the consequences of low salary

Overlapping domains that have reciprocal influences

Decrease in quality learning

Potential to Increase Corruption

Basic needs unmet/ Perceived negative psychosocial well-being

Decrease in qualified teachers