What is the value of peer learning for seasoned policy experts? Do national governments learn better when they learn directly from one another rather than from elsewhere?
The GPE Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) Africa 19 Hub has been addressing these questions as it facilitates rich learning exchanges on experiences, local innovations, effective practices and good policies between sub-Saharan African countries who may otherwise not have the opportunity to connect as readily without the hub to promote African solutions for African issues.
The KIX Africa 19 Hub supports 19 governments in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa in their pursuit of national education development goals.
Recently, the KIX Africa 19 Hub has supported countries to strengthen teacher policies, using South-to-South evidence and research on what works to recruit, train and manage teachers. Through networking, peer learning and knowledge sharing webinars, policy actors are deepening their understanding of how to better support, motivate and empower teachers.
Teachers placed at the heart of reforms
Governments across sub-Saharan Africa have long recognized the pivotal role of teachers and are accelerating teacher policy and teacher education reform as top priorities in their development plans. In fact, virtually all ministries of education in sub-Saharan Africa have placed teaching and learning and teachers’ issues at the top of their educational agendas.
The KIX Africa 19 Hub’s activities, such as facilitating cross-country knowledge exchange, are responding to country demand while being rooted in evidence of the positive influence of teachers on learning outcomes.
Still, many teachers in sub-Saharan Africa don’t possess the skills, knowledge and attitudes to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for their students. This has contributed to an already profound learning crisis in the region.
Through consultations with relevant education stakeholders in partner countries, a recent scoping study commissioned by GPE KIX on teachers and teaching identified regional specificities and priorities for teacher professional development (TPD) and teacher management at primary and secondary level across the contexts in the hub.
Countries such as Kenya, Liberia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, which have undergone a curricular and pedagogical shift to learner centeredness, are now prioritizing standardized frameworks and regulations of TPD to ensure alignment between national curricula for students and curricula used in teacher education.
The need for teacher training for inclusion and gender responsiveness was mentioned by Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe, particularly for teachers to be able to recognize and respond to children with learning disabilities or who are coping with impacts of abuse and trauma.
It has been a challenge to recruit enough qualified, motivated teachers in many sub-Saharan African countries, with different recruitment needs evident across the region.
Increased numbers of minority language speakers was mentioned as a key priority (e.g., Eritrea, Gambia and Uganda) as well as the increased numbers of female teachers, for secondary level (e.g., South Sudan) and for teaching STEM (e.g., Uganda and Tanzania). Better deployment of teachers for inclusion and to improve ratios in rural areas was also highlighted (e.g., Malawi and Nigeria).
Bringing regional expertise on teacher policy development from Zambia and Uganda to Ethiopia
After receiving a request for technical assistance from Ethiopia in May 2024, the KIX Africa 19 Hub facilitated a three-day capacity-strengthening workshop on teacher policy development for the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. Experts from Uganda and Zambia shared their countries’ experiences in drafting, approving and implementing policies to recruit, train, motivate and manage teachers.
Thirty-seven stakeholders from the Ethiopian government, teacher training institutions, teacher unions and civil service commissions participated, forming a national team of experts presently transforming into a nascent technical working group that will guide the development of a comprehensive teacher policy for Ethiopia.
Over 90% of Ethiopian workshop participants said they found the lessons from Uganda and Zambia useful and left the workshop feeling clearer about how to develop, advocate for and implement an effective teacher development policy in Ethiopia.
The hub is currently helping the Ministry of Education to develop a clear road map for the creation of a national technical working group that will implement progressive policy reforms.
