Teacher shortages threaten primary education goal in Africa, Arab States – UN

Looming teacher shortages could prevent sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States from achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of providing universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, according to a new United Nations report.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report -Teachers and Education Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015 – also highlights shortages of specialized teachers in developed countries such as Ireland, Spain and the United States, partly resulting from changing demographic and labour conditions.

Prepared by UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics in Montreal, it presents new projections on the demand for teachers while assessing the quality of teaching around the world.

The report, to be formally launched during Education for All (EFA) Week from 24 to 30 April, also examines the working conditions and status of teachers by analyzing diverse factors such as entry standards, salary scales, teaching hours and deployment policies.

The research highlights serious problems with teacher training and quality in many parts of the world, and finds that those countries needing the most teachers generally have the least qualified personnel in classrooms.

The theme of this year’s EFA Week is “Every Child Needs a Teacher.”