1. INTRODUCTION
This paper focuses on teacher motivation and incentives in low-income developing countries LICs in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
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. In order to assess the extent to which the material and psychological needs of
teachers are being met, the following issues are discussed: • What are the main determinants of the occupational and social status
of teachers? Are there any significant trends in the overall status of teachers in LICs?
• What drives teachers to do their job well? What provides job satisfaction for teachers?
• What is the importance of pay levels in determining teacher motivation? What is known about teachers’ reliance on secondary
employment outside of the classroom? • How effectively are teachers recruited and deployed to schools?
• How serious is teacher attrition at both the school, national and international levels? Are there any striking differences between the
public and non-state sector? • To what extent is poor motivation and opportunistic behaviour reflected
in high and rising rates of teacher absenteeism in LICs? What are the main reasons for teacher absences from school?
• What is the impact of decentralised systems on teacher motivation, retention and absenteeism? What role can the community play?
• To what have these issues been identified as being critical for achieving UPE?
The evidence base It is generally accepted that the competence and commitment of teachers
should be the most important determinant of learning outcomes. What is striking though is just how little systematic research has been undertaken on
motivational and incentives issues among teachers in LICs. There has not been a single article in any of the four leading international comparative
education journals during the last ten years that has focused on teacher motivation and pay in any LIC in either Africa or Asia.
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Nor has it been possible to locate any study that systematically tracks levels and determinants
of teacher motivation, deployment and absenteeism over time in any LIC. In
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The Service Delivery Team at DFID commissioned this paper.
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Compare, International Journal of Educational Development, Comparative Education, and Comparative Education Review
2 short, therefore, the evidence base is very weak and urgent steps are needed
to develop a comprehensive research programme in this area. Another key finding of this review is that it is very difficult to make broad
generalisations about teacher motivation and incentives. Nonetheless, there is a strong generalisation imperative in global discourses about education, which
often leads to simplistic and quite mistaken conclusions and recommendations.
In addition to reviewing the available documentation, primary data on teachers’ pay was collected from over 20 countries.
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Teacher trade unions in all LICs in SSA and South Asia were also contacted, but the response rate
was very poor.
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The assistance of the following individuals in furnishing information for this review is gratefully acknowledged: Hazel Bines, Peter Clarke, Peter Colenso, Bridget Crumpton,
Martial Dembele, Bhim Devkota, Ron Fuller, Liv Norhoff Haraldsen, Baboucarr Jeng, Swathi Kappagantula, Henry Kaluba, Michael Kremer, Henry Lucas, Faustin Mukyanuzi, Moses
Musikanga, Steve Passingham, Paramente Phamotse, Poul Rasmussen, Halsey Rogers, Pauline Rose, Alistair Ross, Amanda Sives, Robert Smith, Mercy Tembon, and Kate Wesson.
Laure Beaufils made extensive comments on the first draft.
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2. OCCUPATIONAL STATUS
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