Education for All: Teacher Demand and Supply in Africa

This paper examines the place of teachers in the primary education systems of Botswana, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania (Mainland), Zambia and Zimbabwe. Based on an analysis of country reports prepared by governments prior to the World Education Forum conference in Dakar in 2000, the paper reports on levels of teacher demand and supply, teacher education systems, teachers' qualification levels, strategies on how to attract and retain qualified teachers and the way teachers are recognised in the Education for All (EFA)process.

It finds that teacher shortages will result in many countries being unable to achieve the EFA goals unless more is done:

• even without accounting for teacher attrition due to retirement or death from AIDS, demand for teachers is outstripping supply;
• to achieve the EFA goals in Africa, population growth will mean that an extra 1.36 million teachers will be required by 2015. Some countries will require more than a 70 per cent increase in the number of teachers in 1999, while many will need to double the current number of teachers;
• while some African countries estimate that they will have a surplus of teachers by 2015, many countries will have a shortage or a severe shortage;
• low levels of teacher qualifications and skills are having a negative impact on student retention and attainment; and
• governments have limited resources available to increase teacher numbers and skills.

The report concludes that if the Education for All goals are to be achieved, the international community will have to do more to fund and support the training of teachers.

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