Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers - Report

Part 2

Employment, career opportunities and retention of teachers

11. The materials before the Joint Committee reveal a considerable diversity of circumstance relating to these aspects of the situation of teachers.

12. However, a particular feature of the reports is that the majority reveal many similar core concerns. Specifically, it is apparent that the processes of substantial economic rationalism or structural adjustment which have occurred over the last decade have had profound implications for teachers and education. No country to which the Joint Committee has directed its attention, by considering the documentation referred in Annex 1, has been immune from such influences.

13. In that regard it is significant that, whilst there are indications from the reference materials and meetings held that the norms expressed in the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation are steadily becoming better known throughout the world, there has actually been some decline in application of them in many countries since they were promulgated in 1966.

14. The Declaration which marked the outcome of the ICE recognised that it was clear that the text of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation still remains basically as valid as it did in 1966, an opinion already expressed by the Joint Committee. Since that time the world has experienced dramatic economic and political shifts. In considering the impact on teachers and education the Joint Committee recognises the need to avoid an over-simplistic assessment of cause and effect.

15. Although there have been many adverse effects on teachers resulting from processes of economic rationalisation, these have, by no means, been the only operative forces. Enormous structural adjustment has been a direct product, in many Eastern European countries for example, of the rapid and dramatic political developments which have taken place in that region. Moreover, the last decade has seen unprecedented general change, both in technology and in societal environments and expectations, in a manner which has directly impinged on schools and teachers. All of these interacting factors have had important implications for the extent to, and speed with which, the concepts of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation have been capable of being either put into practice or maintained.

16. A clear message which is conveyed to the Joint Committee by these developments is that the morale of teachers, almost universally, is currently low. It is therefore important, objectively, to identify the reasons for that situation - giving due recognition to the fact that the operative factors giving rise to it are variable (at least in their intensity) from region to region. The continuance of such an atmosphere bodes ill for both recruitment and retention of high quality teachers.

17. In the present economic, political and social context within regions, there are often inherent tensions arising between the stakeholders concerned - government, teachers and the community at large. These have been apparent in the developing countries for some time but, in recent years, some of the practical consequences of structural adjustment policies and related educational reforms in the more industrialised countries have become far more obvious and acute in their impact than was at first apparent.

18. The Joint Committee observes that, in virtually every country reported upon, the status of teachers in the relative employment hierarchy still remains low or, in some instances, has actually deteriorated in recent years. This recurrent and fundamental theme helps explain the reported decline in morale of teachers. For example, in Africa, many areas of Latin America and some countries of Eastern Europe, teachers receive such poor salaries that they often have to seek other means of survival, including taking second jobs. In some areas the concept of "privatization" of teaching is tending to produce situations in which fee-paying students receive preferential treatment in contrast to those who are not. With some notable exceptions, teacher remuneration and status compare adversely with those of other professions, with the result that the more able students are not attracted to the teaching profession, or leave it when they find better employment opportunities. The increasing personal insecurity of teachers and violence in schools are phenomena which impact adversely on teacher morale and performance. Additionally, in many industrialised countries teachers have been under fairly consistent public criticism from families, business leaders and politicians alike, as a consequence of an apparent loss of public confidence in teachers and education systems.

19. It is reported that some factors which contribute to the perceived unattractiveness of the teaching profession to the brighter students include:

- the stress and teacher dissatisfaction associated with the gradual breakdown of traditional consensus regarding the purposes and functions of education and, more specifically, the role of teachers;

- recruitment restrictions and a loss of attractiveness, provoking a general ageing of the profession, particularly at the school level, which is seen as inhibiting an infusion of new blood, ideas and career progression;

- the processes of rationalization, which have had an adverse effect on professional status in many countries, where teaching is seen as something of a second class option. This has contributed to the steady feminisation of the profession at the pre-secondary levels and, therefore, tends to stereotype such areas of teaching as a women's profession with the result that fewer men are attracted to it. Real equality between men and women is often still the exception rather than the rule.

20. Whilst there are variable factors operating within regions, some general causes for a decline in teacher status have been:

- a perceived failure of Governments to interact effectively with teachers to establish proper educational policies and to provide resources to implement them, especially as public resources directed to education have declined;
- a neglect by teachers to promote their own status and professionalism in times of economic austerity. Almost by default, they have allowed a community perception to develop that their main preoccupation has been with their own salaries and benefits, which may consume up to 90 per cent of the education budget in many countries;
- the emergence of community perceptions that teachers are failing to deliver an educational outcome considered to be satisfactory, thereby attracting widespread public and governmental criticism, to the detriment of their professional status;
- in the context of government attempts to reduce costs, the efforts by teachers' organisations to resist measures which increase class sizes and reduce teacher qualifications, conditions and pay, have often been characterised as major obstacles to educational development. This dynamic has tended to denigrate teachers and lower the general community perception of the quality and value of public education. Schools and educational professionals are bearing much of the blame for the increasing difficulty of coping with enormous economic and societal changes which have been taking place, including economic globalization, social dislocation, slowly growing economic productivity and increased unemployment.

21. World Bank policies have had an important influence on teacher status, especially in low and middle income developing countries. Arguments to link teacher pay scales more to performance criteria than to the level of pre-service training, recruit less educated teachers (at lower pay levels), provide more in-service incentives to improve productivity, and achieve major savings by making some increase in class sizes, without reducing education quality, have led to a climate in which teacher salaries have often been reduced in real terms (most acutely in some Latin American and African countries). Often recruitment of lower qualified entrants has not been complemented by the provision of resources for increased in-service training and qualification. The Joint Committee considers that policies which present in-service training as a substitute for effective pre-service qualification and training seek to build on a very dubious foundation. Even in many of the industrialised countries, where there has been a move towards greater academic qualifications on initial employment, teachers have lost ground, in comparative terms, in relation to other professional groupings with similar qualifications. It cannot be ignored that teacher pay is an indicator of how much a society values teachers. Teacher pay, relative to salaries in other professions, is crucial in determining the quality of individuals attracted to teaching.

22. The Joint Committee notes that, in the context of the continuing feminisation of the profession, very substantial barriers to equal opportunity and treatment of women still remain to be addressed and, until they are, this will continue to have an adverse effect on morale and status. These include:

- the continued disproportion of family responsibilities borne by women;
- impairment of opportunities for promotion and for access to positions of responsibility, particularly because of interrupted careers due to child-rearing and domestic responsibilities;
- the predominance of women in part-time employment, which leads to their being ignored as prospects for promotion;
- remaining negative perceptions, by male-dominated selection panels, of women as potential managers;
- reluctance of women to apply for training and appointment to senior posts, due to ingrained social stereotypes;
- cultural and domestic factors which inhibit acceptance by women of promotional or other deployments to rural or outer metropolitan schools, including lack of suitable housing in some instances;
- residual inequalities of remuneration in many countries.

23. The Joint Committee further observes that, particularly in some of the more industrialised countries, there appears to be an increasing trend, in the context of economic and rationalisation policies, towards the employment of non-tenured, temporary contract teachers. Whilst this provides a degree of managerial flexibility, it inevitably infuses an undesirable note of instability in school staffing, coupled with the unattractiveness of teaching as a career, especially for a beginning teacher.

24. In turn, a recognition of the scenarios described above has brought a sharper international focus to bear on the norms established by the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation and the need to aspire to their attainment, as evidenced by repeated reference in the recent high level meetings, commissions and their published outcomes.

25. In its 1988 Report, the Joint Committee expressed the view that "the status of teachers and the status of education are so intertwined that whatever produces changes in one one will normally produce changes in the same direction in the other". As it emphasised, if education does not command the respect and support of the entire community, then teachers will not command that respect and support. The converse is also applicable. Meeting the needs of Education is of crucial importance, for the quality of its output has enormous long-term implications for the growth and well-being of every country. The Joint Committee considers that the fundamental importance of the recruitment and retention of quality teachers is an issue the critical priority of which cannot be stressed too much.

26. Attracting the best qualified persons and retaining them in the teaching profession is a basic step in promoting good quality education. In addition to adequate salary scales, working conditions conducive to good teaching, and attractive career prospects, a matter of the highest priority is the need to enhance the professionalisation of teaching. It is only in this way that the current regression in standards and also of the concomitant level of commitment of teachers, recently noted by the ICE, will be reversed; and the status of teachers and teaching/learning conditions can be improved.

27. A flexible combination of strategies, adjusted periodically in light of actual experience, will clearly be required to address the problems identified above.

28. If society is to accord education and teachers a proper and beneficial status, associated with a desirable level of professionalism, then these conditions will need to be satisfied:

(1) educational goals and the training of teachers to meet them will have to recognise the need to make education more directly responsive to the economic and employment requirements of a country, as well as its broader societal needs. There will need to be a much greater flexibility, readiness and capacity to recognise and adjust to rapid change. Teachers will need to forge links with business and the community which they serve, to abate current climates of mutual distrust,

(2) these goals will need to be arrived at by a process of consultation and co-operation between governments and teachers' organisations, as emphasised by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century and the relevant conclusions and recommendations of the ILO's Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational Personnel;

(3) whilst improved salaries, better physical facilities and equipment and lower class ratios have important impacts, the critical features required to raise the image and self-esteem of teachers in the immediate future include more relevant professional training of individual teachers and improved working conditions and work organisation in schools. Emphasis will necessarily vary from region to region. In developing countries, improved basic qualifications, salaries and physical facilities are priority requirements, without which little progress will be feasible. On the other hand, in the industrialised countries, surveys suggest that many teachers are seized with uncertainties regarding their preparedness for and capacity to meet the cultural and other changes facing them;

(4) there is a pressing need for substantial, continual training to assist those whose own training consisted simply of traditional forms of classroom teaching. They must become technology "literate", both in terms of teaching method and curriculum content. Also organisational restructuring within schools and school systems to promote quality and efficiency in teaching will be essential;

(5) teaching will need to come to terms with, and participate in developing, appropriate forms of external evaluation of school performance (and thus of teachers themselves) as a means both of monitoring professional quality and efficiency of the education process, thereby providing reassurance to the community of the professional standards being attained (and maintained) by them.

29. The Joint Committee is of opinion that there is a need for adoption in all countries, of a strategy specifically setting forth these broad objectives:

- attracting a sufficient number of able and motivated young people to the profession. This implies: the adoption of positive recruitment strategies such as major campaigns (at school, national and regional levels and in the media) to promote the importance of education, the image of the profession and the status of teachers;
- offering incentives and scholarships to suitable students with strong academic and extra curricular records; removing age limits and encouraging mature age entrants with experience in other fields to consider taking up a teaching career;
- positively promoting a better gender equality in teaching services; setting up guidance and information services in tertiary institutions; and adapting the content and methods of initial training to meet contemporary needs. Initial training itself must be structured as an instrument of recruitment policy, professionalisation and enhancement;
- facilitating the development of long term career structures for teachers, by establishing appropriate career planning and development mechanisms, supported by fair and comprehensive teacher performance and appraisal systems. These should pay particular regard to the specific needs of women, including training, recruitment and support packages for women in rural areas, provision of targeted leave and in-service training opportunities, recognition of marital constraints by simultaneous assignment of spouses to the same region, and provision of adequate housing, transport and other facilities, and development of part time and job sharing opportunities;
- improving the motivation, professional competence and general professionalism of working teachers by implementing proper processes of continuing professional training and diversified career structures. This implies the development and implementation of both centralised and decentralised relevant, positive and comprehensive systems of continuing education designed to extend knowledge, upgrade teaching skills and mould professional attitudes of' teachers in light of changing needs. It connotes a need for resources with which to achieve that result, and the catalysing of very positive government policies to ensure their continued provision;
- reviewing salaries and basic conditions of employment of teachers. Salaries should be appropriate to qualifications and be properly relative to those paid to other professionals holding equivalent occupations. Due allowance should be made for their workload and proper recognition given to the increasing range of extra curricular and administrative requirements being imposed on them in relation to curriculum development and change, including interfacing with the wider community which they serve. The combination of these demands is presently contributing to a relatively high rate of "burn out", giving teachers incentives in order to enhance their self esteem and their social image, including financial and promotional recognition, provision of paid opportunities to enhance skills and the affording of opportunity to make personal contributions to the development of educational policies and strategies.

30. In sum, there is a pressing need for significant change towards a higher degree of professionalisation of teachers, with a concomitant elevation in their status and the status of Education itself, to meet the changing needs of contemporary society. That change requires governments to both provide the resources to enable it to take place and also, positively, create a general environment conducive to its occurrence which fosters educational partnerships for financing and administration. Equally, it requires teachers themselves to adopt a positive outlook. The challenge must be taken up, on a basis of mutual goodwill, by teachers, governments and the communities, working in concert.

31. The Joint Committee remains convinced that, in confronting the significant problems identified above, the core principles expressed in the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation continue to constitute a sound and solid framework for, and basis upon which the development of education systems appropriate to the needs of modern society can take place. In this context, quality teachers with a proper professional status can be recruited and pursue fulfilling careers which will be attractive to the brightest students. The Joint Committee applauds the steps which have been taken by UNESCO and ILO to promote knowledge of and adherence to the Recommendation in the recent past. The Joint Committee urges an intensification of such activities, coupled with promulgation of the need to address the urgent problems of the teaching profession, as discussed above.