John N. Oliphant, Lesotho Presentation to 9th International Policy Dialogue Forum 5-7 December 2016 Siem Reap, Cambodia

1. IICBA ON TEACHER ISSUES
Towards a Teacher Support and Motivation Framework for
Africa
By John N. Oliphant, Lesotho
05 Dec 2016

2. Introducing IICBA
 The International Institute for Capacity Building in
Africa is one of UNESCO’s Institutes established in
1999.
 Situated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 Its mandate is to strengthen the capacities of the
54 African Member States in the area of teacher
development.
 In pursuit of its mandate IICBA has three key
programs as follows: Technical assistance to
member countries, training, and research

3. Purpose of the Presentation
 To position IICBA in the worldwide initiatives on
TEACHER SUPPORT AND MOTIVATION led by the
International Teachers’ Task Force
 To highlight some of the activities and long-term
commitments and projects of IICBA in TEACHER
SUPPORT AND MOTIVATION issues, challenges and
policy initiatives on the African continent.

4. Background 1/2
 The significance of teachers is well documented and
acknowledged.
 There is no quality education without qualified and
motivated teacher.
 Yet we know from some research that in Africa teachers
are generally poorly paid and they face difficult working
conditions (Sinyolo, 2007; Wilson, 2003); teachers are
forced to “moonlighting’ with all its consequences on
teaching quality; teacher hiring (and firing) is
bureaucratic & slow (Mulkeen, 2010) etc. Need for more
context-based knowledge in Africa.
 Education International and UNESCO; the International
Teachers Task Force and various partners all recognize in

5. Background 2/2
 The centrality of quality teachers and their
motivation and support have been recognized
in various African and global fora; e.g. The
Kigali Conference of Ministers of Education
and various global partners
 They also find expression in CESA 16-25 –
Continental Education Strategy for Africa, AU’s
Agenda 2063 and the Incheon Declaration of
2015

6. Recent IICBA’s Initiatives on Teachers
Issues and Teacher Motivation
 Seminar with African stakeholders and partners
and Education International in Addis Ababa on
26th September 2016
 Critical examination of the significance, currency
and relevance of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO
Recommendations on teachers.
 Coming out of this seminar and related meetings
were recommendations and An African statement
for the World Teachers Day in UNESCO HQ on
October 5th, 2016.

7. September 2016 Recommendations of IICBA
and Partners for Africa– ON MOTIVATION ISSUES
 The need to invest in comprehensive and holistic teachers’ policies
 Ensuring that teachers have a voice
 Professionalization and better status of teachers, covering the need
to re-valorize the status of teachers and teaching as a profession
 Provision of the right incentives (monetary and non-monetary) to
enhance teachers’ motivation: salaries and social protection,
teachers’ autonomy, school governance and leadership etc.
 Provision of quality support to newly trained and recruited teachers
– significance of meaningful teaching practice placements in diverse
locations
 Improving and expanding teacher professional development and
ensuring clearly defined guidelines for career advancement, school
leadership and management roles

8. Towards the Development of a Continental Teacher
Support and Motivation Framework (TSMF)
 The need to develop a Continental TSMF (to guide policy &
practice) was agreed at the September seminar; WHAT IS
NEEDED?
 With IICBA’s facilitation and support a Concept Note on the
development of the TSMF was developed and circulated among
various partners and stakeholders for enrichment. Generally
accepted and being finalized.
 A phased methodology was agreed to develop the TSMF and
ultimately a diagnostic tool for use by individual countries to
diagnose and analyze teacher support and motivation
issues/dimensions WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW & DO.

9. Concluding Remark
 IICBA pledges its full support to the
International Teachers’ Task Force initiative
and theme of this Siem Reap, Cambodia
conference and subsequent related
activities
 It invites all in this conference to support
its African teacher support and motivation
initiatives outlined in this presentation
 Thank you

10. Contacts
Dr. John Oliphant (International Consultant)
jn.Oliphant@gmail.com
Mr. Omar DIOP (UNESCO-IICBA Education Specialist)
o.diop@unesco.org