UNESCO indicates an additional 68 million teachers are needed in Sub-Saharan Africa 

A UNESCO estimate indicates that achieving universal basic education by 2030 in Sub-Saharan Africa requires an additional 24.4 million primary school teachers and nearly 44 million secondary school teachers.  

Nairametrics gathers that this was a focal point of discussion during a recently held webinar which gathered over a hundred participants, comprising experts, education professionals, and teachers, to delve into various facets of the issue.  

The topics included teacher motivation, working conditions, governance and management, utilization of information and communication technologies, and recruitment policies. 

The role of teachers in education systems  

Mr. Dimitri Sanga, Director of the UNESCO Office in Dakar, paid tribute to teachers, appreciating their daily efforts to improve education systems while highlighting their essential role in an increasingly technology-driven world.

He acknowledged that teachers spearhead the efforts to 

• “Address the learning crisis in the region”.                                       

 According to him, teachers are

• “Experts capable of helping individuals navigate the growing volume of unverified information, data, and knowledge to make sense of it”. 

Teacher workforce gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa 

The discussion highlighted that Sub-Saharan Africa, has the world’s most overcrowded classrooms, as it also grapples with the heaviest teacher workload globally.  

Also, severe staffing shortages affected 90% of secondary schools, compounded by the profession’s waning allure, intensifying the learning crisis. 

Addressing these pressing issues, Ms. Habibata Thienta, the head of the Teachings & Learning cluster, shed light on teachers’ challenges, including overcrowded classrooms, extended working hours, and disengaged students, resulting in diminishing teaching quality.

Some educators even abandoned the field for informal jobs due to financial pressures, contributing to a shortage of qualified teachers.

Those remaining often lack sufficient training, further compromising the delivery of quality education. 

Key recommendations  

The webinar’s success hinged on valuable insights from expert speakers. 

The themes discussed were teacher motivation, training quality, teacher management and recruitment policy after which Mr. Guillaume Husson concluded the webinar by underscoring three pivotal recommendations for shaping teacher policies: 

1. Prioritize teacher motivation as a cross-cutting theme in policy development.
2. Advocate for the active involvement of teachers in policy processes.
3. Enhance context-based initial training, valuing local practices and relying on reliable statistical data.