Education International Research
11,54
Decreased
69,57
Remained low
7,69
Remained high
23,08
Increased
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Figure 12: Since 2015, teachers and education support personnel’s involvement in developing education policy has …?
In Africa, unions in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda are working together with EI to strengthen social and policy dialogue As part of the multi-partner initiative “Strengthening Multi-Partner Cooperation to Support Teacher Policy and Improve Learning”,188 EI is working to strengthen institutionalised social and policy dialogue between government and education unions in Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malawi and Ghana, as well as to improve and increase teachers’ involvement in the development of education policy. It was revealed that none of the four countries had seen adequate involvement of education unions in the development of their countries’ Education Sector Plans. EI has therefore supported education unions in advocating for increased union involvement in policy development, and it has conducted multiple training workshops with union members to enhance their ability to engage in technical policy discussions. Union members analysed current policies and developed joint union policy proposals related to teacher policies such as recruitment, deployment, initial teacher training, professional development, remuneration, motivation and retention.
GRO.EI-IE
In May 2019, education unions and Ministry of Education representatives from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda gathered to exchange experiences, enhance their knowledge of strategies for effective dialogue and determine concrete steps to collectively strengthen social and policy dialogue.
Conclusions
0302 NOITA CUDE
Funding for teachers is critical. To attract and retain teachers in the profession, teachers must be guaranteed good employment and working conditions, and they should be provided with the tools, resources and environment they need to provide quality education. In countries that have cut funding to education since 2015, educators report that not only have they suffered cuts to their salaries, but they have also experienced a decrease in the support and resources available to them, an increase in hours and pupil-teacher ratios, and an increase in their responsibilities and workload. Teachers are more than just supply. Teachers have the right to decent employment and working conditions. They also have fundamental trade union and human rights. They are experts in education 188 See: https://en.unesco.org/themes/teachers/nti
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