Improving teacher behaviour ‘critical’

IMPROVING the capacity and behaviour of existing teachers is critical to improving learning outcomes, states a World Bank report.

In its latest Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank has suggested for policymakers to make a concerted effort to raise the performance of teachers.

“In all Pacific island countries, except Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, more than half of the teachers expected to be employed in 2035 have already been recruited,” the World Bank report stated.

“In Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Tonga, more than 60 per cent of teachers expected to be employed in 2035 are already in place.”

The report stated it would take a long time for countries such as Fiji to improve the overall quality of teachers.

“Given this, it would take a long time for countries to realise improvements in the overall quality of the teacher workforce (and hence in student learning) by focusing predominantly on strengthening selection and recruitment of new teachers.

“To have an observable impact on learning outcomes over the next 10 to 15 years, the region’s policymakers must make more concerted efforts to raise the performance of existing teachers.”

The report also added that teacher behaviour often did not help in student learning improvement.

“Pacific island countries, 36 per cent of students attend a school in which their principal reports that instruction was hindered by teacher absenteeism.

“In contrast, data from China, Japan and Korea show teacher absence rate of 1 per cent or less, and 3 per cent in Singapore (OECD TALIS 2018 Database). Moreover, the class time dedicated to foundational learning is often low. For example, less than one-third of Year 5 students in Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines have daily math and language lessons.”