Unesco calls for more teacher support and training in Africa’s schools

It’s not easy being a teacher. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recently released a report revealing a critical need for improved teacher support and training particularly through better-designed teacher guides in advancing foundational learning in Africa.

Titled ‘Learning Counts’, the report states that teachers will struggle to effectively translate the curriculum into action in the classroom if there’s a lack of support to address their knowledge gaps and adverse classroom conditions.

Despite progress, the report highlights significant challenges – including high out-of-school rates and low completion rates – which emphasise the need for continuous improvement in education systems.

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The report also reveals discrepancies between curriculum standards and the design of textbooks and teacher guides. It calls for a review to enhance coherence and implementation.

Report director Manos Antoninis said teachers in particular are given a hard deal.

“Africa expanded its education system rapidly since 2000 and many children rushed into classrooms and as a result, governments had to rush the hiring of teachers,” he said.

“Many of them were not prepared, there are so many challenges that teachers have to overcome, and they also have quite low academic qualifications themselves, it is inevitable that they will struggle.

“Research has proven that teachers who lack basic knowledge of the subjects they teach, but how they teach certainly impacts the learning of students.

“Governments in Africa have not invested enough in teacher education, even the few education programmes that exist are not necessarily well-geared to prepare teachers for the realities they face in the classroom. They tend to be more academic and theoretical where more practice will prepare them to know what is going to happen in the class.”

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Ongoing professional training was also important to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and refresh their qualifications.

“Apart from upskilling teachers, we also need to capacitate them, and part of that is improved teacher support systems. How should we better be designing these systems to give guidance better support and overall better conditions for teachers?

“The type of documents that teachers have to get ideas, especially in the first few years of their career, how to approach the curriculum, how to work with the textbook,” said Antoninis.

The focus countries for this second spotlight report included South Africa, Mauritania, Niger, Uganda and Zambia.

Hendrick Makaneta, director of the Foundation for Education and Social Justice Africa, said the report highlighted similar challenges that face the South African education system. He concurred that the current arrangement with training and support in South Africa was setting teachers up for failure.

“Teacher support is inadequate because the development of teachers is left to facilitators who very often have to work with many schools in a district. We need to acknowledge there are non-governmental organisations that are equipped with facilitators who can make a contribution to teacher development.

“Hence such facilitators should be brought on board.”

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Makaneta said this gap could lead to a poor quality of learning and teaching in many schools, particularly those in townships and rural areas. He added the plans put in place require constant revision as the world is changing daily.

“What is lacking is the ability of the teachers to move with the necessary speed to teach in better ways than before. The foundation is not surprised that pupils in private schools continue to excel even in the post-school education sector,” said Makaneta.