79927 Yemen SABER Country Report TEACHERS 2010 Policy Goals Status 1. Setting clear expectations for teachers Expectations for students’ learning exist, but low working time requirements may limit teachers’ ability to fulfill both teaching and non-teaching tasks effectively. 2. Attracting the best into teaching Teacher pay is competitive, but the salary schedule could be broadened to attract teachers to work in hard-to-staff areas and teach critical shortage subjects. 3. Preparing teachers with useful training and experience There are no accreditation rules in place for pre-service training providers, and induction programs are not offered to beginning teachers. 4. Matching teachers’ skills with students’ needs There are untapped incentives to get teachers to work in hard-to-staff areas and to teach critical-shortage subjects. 5. Leading teachers with strong principals Selection criteria are vaguely defined and principals’ leadership role is administrative. 6. Monitoring teaching and learning There are no national student learning assessments at the primary level, but data management systems do include information on teacher performance. 7. Supporting teachers to improve instruction Some data are directed toward improving instruction, but there are no requirements for the amount of time allocated to professional development. 8. Motivating teachers to perform Few behavior-related accountability mechanisms exist, and performance incentives and sanctions are weak. THE WORLD BANK YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Education System at a Glance TFs in education (basic education and the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative). 2 Enrollment in primary Yemen is a low-income country with a young and education increased from 3 million in 1996 to 4.3 growing secondary education population; female million in 2007. The challenge in the sector is to students exhibit lower enrollment rates, and the continue to absorb a rapidly growing school-age teaching force is largely male, especially in population while improving the quality and relevance of leadership positions. education. Moreover, it is important to continue to increase enrolment rates in basic education (currently In 2008, Yemen spent 5.2 percent of GDP on public at about 74 percent), especially among girls and young education. 1 In the early years of the decade (2001), women, and to reform curricula, further develop Yemen was devoting 9.6 percent of GDP for public teacher training, and strengthen quality management. education provision. In 2008, Yemen spent 16 percent of total government expenditure on education. In 2000, Figure 2. Number and share of public school students this figure was double, at 32.8 percent. by level and location Yemen’s education system consists of Basic Education from grades 1 to 9 (ages 6-14/15) and Secondary Education from grades 10 to 12 (ages 14/15-18). Figure 1. Number and share of public school teachers by level and location Source: World Bank, SABER –Teachers 2010. Around 5.9 percent of teachers are employed in the private sector and around 3.6 percent of students attend private schools. Figure 3. Number and share of private school teachers by level and location Source: World Bank, SABER – Teachers 2010. More than half of Yemen’s multi-donor Trust Fund (TF) Source: World Bank, SABER –Teachers. allocations (US$ 58 million) are directed to multi-donor 1 2 World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2010. Word Bank, Country Assistance Strategy FY10-13. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 1 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Figure 4. Levels of decision-making authority Yemen should pay close attention to equity, particularly gender disparities. Despite progress over the last years, Hiring or Distributing Evaluating in 2008, gender parity in education remains low (0.66 Firing for basic, 0.45 for secondary) and youth female literacy Ministry of    (ages 15-24) stands at only 70 percent (as compared to Education 95 percent for males). Gender parity in basic education Sub-national has slightly improved, with the share of girls in basic Education    education rising from 40.5 percent in the 2004-2005 Authority school year to 41.8 percent in August 2008. 3 Deep- Local Education   rooted traditions also constrain the ability of women to Authority engage in the broad labor force, which potentially School   undermines the utility of female education. Overall, a Source: World Bank, SABER-Teachers 2010. World Economic Forum report on gender issues (“Global Gender Gap 2010�) ranked Yemen the lowest of 134 countries. 4 Figure 5. Distribution of public school teachers by age Reforms have increased access, equity and quality of and gender education. Over the past 5 years, noteworthy reforms in basic education have included the abolition of school fees, improvements in annual work planning, contracting of female teachers in remote parts of the country, tying of teacher posts to the school rather than to the individual, reductions in teacher absenteeism, and capacity-building at all levels of education service delivery. Conditional cash transfers and capitation grants have also been introduced. The Cabinet approved a Secondary Education Strategy in 2007. The majority of teachers is in the 30- to 39-year-old age bracket and is male, and leadership positions are primarily filled by men. Around 71 percent of public school teachers are male. In the private sector, however, only around 22 percent of teachers are male. Further, 92.1 percent of principals are male. Source: World Bank, SABER-Teachers 2010. The Ministry of Education (MoE) sets policies, and implementation is carried out by the sub-national (Governorate) and local (District) levels together with as Local Councils (Municipalities). All teachers can join the 2 national teacher organizations. Collective bargaining and strike action are legal, but permission must first be sought to render a strike legal. 3 Ibid. 4 http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-gender-gap. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Goal 1: Setting clear expectations for The definition of teachers’ working time should be teachers broadened to ensure that work completed outside of school is accounted for. A statutory definition of Advanced  working time exists, acting as a common understanding of how teachers’ tasks are determined and Expectations for students’ learning exist, though remunerated. This definition refers to the number of low working time requirements may limit hours spent at school. While this definition includes teachers’ effective fulfillment of both teaching more than the number of teaching hours, it is limited by and non-teaching tasks. not recognizing that lesson planning and grading may take place both outside of classroom teaching and National curriculum and student standards exist. The potentially in a teacher’s home after the end of the MoE is responsible for designing a national curriculum, school day. Mindful of underestimating teachers’ which sets the contents in detail, informing teachers of working time, Yemen might consider expanding this required subject content that should be taught to definition to ensure that working time accounts fully for students at different grades. The Ministry is also tasked the number of overall working hours. This would with setting standards for what students must know recognize the additional hours that teachers may need and be able to do at each grade level. to put in outside school time to achieve high levels of student learning. Teachers are guided by performance goals; while teachers’ tasks are defined, no time management Total annual working time is well below that of high- requirements have been established for effective performing systems. The total amount of working time completion of these tasks. Teachers’ tasks are guided to devote to teaching is 672 hours for basic education by performance goals. In determining the content of teachers (21 hours per week) and 576 hours for teachers’ tasks, the Ministry has outlined that teachers secondary school teachers (18 hours per week).Data are are responsible for: teaching, grading assignments, not available to determine the number of hours supervising students, integrating difficult students, dedicated to lesson-planning and grading. Generally, in mentoring fellow staff members, standing in for absent high-performing systems, teachers are expected to teachers, carrying out administrative functions and work 1520 hours annually, with a range from 1265 collaborating on the school plan. However, the Ministry hours in the United Kingdom to 1960 hours in Japan has not set specific time requirements for the amount (Figure 6), and devote to 60 percent or less to teaching of hours that teachers are expected to devote to non- time to ensure that teachers can give sufficient working teaching tasks such as lesson-planning and grading. time to lesson-planning and grading. The required number of school hours is well below Figure 6. Total Working Time of Teachers that of top-performing systems. The MoE determines teachers’ working time thereby providing protection to teachers from arbitrary time management decisions at the school level. The school year consists of 729.6 hours (192 days) in school at the primary level and 864 hours in school at the secondary level respectively. This number of school hours at both primary and secondary levels required of students falls short of that in high- performing systems (1200 hours). It is therefore unclear whether teachers have adequate time to meet expectations for student learning. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 3 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Sources: OECD, Education at a Glance 2009 for Japan, New Zealand, Denmark, Netherlands, South Korea and United Kingdom; World Pay and benefits are generous; but a salary scale based Bank, SABER-Teachers 2010 for Egypt, Chile, Jordan, Djibouti, Lebanon, Yemen and West Bank & Gaza. on years of service alone might deter high-performing applicants. 97 percent of teachers are employed as civil servants. Starting salaries are extremely competitive by Goal 2: Attracting the best into teaching world standards and are equivalent to 156.4 percent of the country’s GDP per capita – substantially more than Emerging  most high-performing systems, where average teacher pay is around 82-119 percent of their GDP per capita Teacher pay is competitive, but the salary (OCED, TALIS 2009). Compensation packages schedule could be broadened to attract teachers incorporate several benefits including sick leave, to work in hard-to-staff areas and teach critical retirement pay, pensions and work allowances. Work shortage subjects. allowances are provided for all civil servants in health and education ministries, but provision health benefits The MoE sets requirements to enter teaching, but a are not included. Salaries rise moderately over a career, non-trivial proportion of teachers do not meet them. A and after 15 years a teacher with the minimum Bachelor’s degree in Education is required for both qualification (secondary school education) can expect to primary and secondary school teachers. Around 13 earn around 1.5 times his/her starting salary. Figure 7 percent of teachers hold neither a university degree nor shows that high-performing and rapidly improving a diploma from the Teachers Institutes, and are systems pay their teachers with 15 years of service considered unqualified by the MoE. Only about 40 between 1.15 and 1.77 times the starting salary. In percent of teachers hold a bachelor’s degree. Yemen, it currently takes a beginning teacher 35 years to reach the top of the salary schedule. The absence of A process screens applicants to initial teacher performance-related pay is concerning because this education programs. Applicants to teacher education could deter results-driven individuals from entering into programs must meet the university providers’ selection the profession. While the salary schedule or monetary criteria, which include: (i) having obtained the high bonuses are not directed to attract teachers to work in school certificate with a pass rate of 70 percent and hard-to-staff schools or to teach critical shortage above; and (ii) achieving the entering class’s required subjects, there are some monetary awards given to pass rate. The pass rate of 80 percent for the incoming teachers who take up positions in rural areas. class of 2008-09 to education programs was also required of candidates to English language, engineering MoE is tasked with monitoring infrastructure, hygiene, and computer science programs. Only the pass rate to and sanitation standards of public schools; however, 8.2 enter medicine was higher – at 85 percent – while the percent of schools fail to comply with such standards. faculties of Shariah and law, business, information Average student-teacher ratios in public schools are 28. communication & technologies, and applied sciences required a lower passing grade (75 percent), as did the Teachers can apply to become principals and horizontal faculties of arts and physical education (70 percent). In promotions exist. Sub-national authorities have the 2009, 91 percent of applicants were admitted into ultimate say on promotions of teachers to leadership teacher education programs. Both primary and posts, such as lead/master teachers. However, these secondary school teachers can enter concurrent training promotions do not necessarily come with additional programs (where subject matter knowledge and salary benefits. pedagogical skills can be acquired simultaneously). Yemen might consider increasing alternative models of pre-service training to ensure that a large, diverse pool of potential teachers may be attracted into the profession. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 4 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Figure 7. Teachers’ salary increases after 15 years, Box 1. A review of teacher training programs selected systems A summary of teacher training programs  Teacher training programs for primary education teachers  The urban 3 year teacher training institutes, post basic diploma (grades 10-12);  The rural 5 year teacher training institutes, post primary diploma (grades 7-11); Sources: OECD, Education at a Glance 2010 for South Korea, New  The 2 Year Post-Secondary Diploma Zealand, Finland, Italy and Hungary. World Bank, SABER – Teachers (PSD). Primary education teachers with 2010-2011, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, West Bank and Gaza, post-primary and/or basic diplomas are Tunisia and Chile. Note 1: for South Korea, New Zealand, Finland, Italy and Hungary, the figures are for primary school teachers. able to study for qualification programs and receive a PSD.  In 2000, aspects of these pre-service training Goal 3: Preparing teachers with useful programs were molded into in-service training training and experience programs and came under the responsibility of the Deputy Minister of the Training Sector Emerging  within the Ministry of Education.  The 4 year university program began in 1971-72 There are no accreditation rules in place for pre- to prepare secondary school teachers. This was service training providers, and induction expanded after 1986 and in subsequent years programs are not offered to beginning teachers. and now there are 30 Faculties of Education. The Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research Teachers receive focused training in a subject discipline. (MoHESR) is responsible for regulating pre-service In Yemen, all teacher trainees must attend a School of training institutions. The Ministry’s mandate should give Education. it the ability to ensure that pre-service teacher training institutions operate well and ensure that once students Primary and secondary school teacher trainees have finished training, they are suitably prepared to specialize in one subject discipline. Around 70 percent preside over their own classroom. However, the of credit hours are devoted to subject discipline and the Ministry has not established an accreditation process to remainder to pedagogy theory and methods. This is ensure that institutions abide by an acceptable standard positive, as teacher’s knowledge of the subject they of teacher training quality. An accreditation process can teach has been found to correlate with teacher be useful to provide information to potential teachers effectiveness. and employers about the quality of teacher training institutions. Classroom experience is a prerequisite before new teachers can preside over their own classes, but more To further examine the possibility setting up an time could be devoted to practical experience. accreditation system, in May 2010, a Higher Council for Entering teachers are required to complete 3-6 months Accreditation and Quality Assurance was set up under of practical experience as part of their training. This falls the MoHESR. significantly below that of top-performing systems, where classroom experience requirements include at least 1 year. Given that the initial years in the teaching SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 5 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 profession can impact long-term effectiveness, Yemen Using the criterion of teachers’ years of experience in might look into whether practical experience time the profession as a basis for approving transfer requirements are aligned with preparing teachers well. requests may be increasing inequities, exacerbating hard-to-staff schools’ recruitment problems. In Induction programs are not offered. New teachers in Yemen, the number of years of teaching experience Yemen do not participate in any induction program that determines whether a teacher is able to transfer from could help them to smooth their transition from one school to another. In some education systems, training to work. Yemen may consider introducing an using years of teaching experience to grant transfer induction program, as most high-performing systems requests has had undesired effects: when teachers gain have. greater experience and potentially reach a point where they can understand more deeply the diverse needs of Figure 8. Length of induction programs, selected students, they are allowed to transfer to better- systems performing schools (which usually offer better working conditions and serve more socio-economically advantaged students). This could deny disadvantaged areas access to experienced teachers, leaving the least knowledgeable and potentially the least effective teachers in hard-to-staff schools and possibly increasing turnover rates. There are identified critical shortage subjects, but Sources: OECD, 2009 Creating Effective Teaching and Learning there are no incentives for teachers to teach them. Environments: First Results from TALIS for Japan and the United Ensuring that there are skilled teachers in every subject Kingdom; SABER – Teachers 2010 for Chile, Djibouti, Yemen, Jordan, area is a challenge faced by most education systems. Lebanon, West Bank & Gaza and Egypt. Yemen has taken steps to identify a set of critical shortage subjects (mathematics, English language and Goal 4: Matching teachers’ skills with physics), which could potentially facilitate planning for increased recruitment in these disciplines. Yemen’s students’ needs policies are more closely aligned with those of Jordan – Emerging  by identifying critical shortage subjects – than those of Lebanon or Egypt, where such subjects are not There are untapped incentives to get teachers to identified. This increased foresight is commendable; work in hard-to-staff areas and to teach critical even in top-performing systems, principals report shortage subjects. difficulties in recruiting for certain disciplines. Unfortunately, however, there are no incentives for Teachers are not provided with monetary bonus teachers to actually take up teaching posts in these incentives to take up posts in hard-to-staff schools. subjects. Yemen might wish to look into whether While teachers can be offered to work in rural areas on shortages in subjects that potentially offer more the periphery of cities, there are not hard-to-staff competitive job market opportunities can be addressed incentives in place to attract them to these areas. In through monetary and non-monetary incentives to many countries, insufficient incentives for teachers to entice qualified individuals considering other work in hard-to-staff schools results in the least professions to choose to enter teaching. To attract mid- qualified teachers teaching in schools that serve the career professionals from other fields, Yemen might most disadvantaged students; this contributes to consider establishing more flexible routes into teaching further inequality in teaching quality and learning such as abridged courses for experienced professionals. outcomes. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 6 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Figure 9. Incentives for teachers to take up posts in school budget, responding to information requests from certain geographic locations and hard-to-staff areas local education authorities, and representing the school. However, principal’s official duties do not explicitly encompass providing instructional guidance to teachers. Principals must participate in performance evaluations, and their pay is competitive relative to high-performing systems. Local education authorities conduct regular evaluations of principals’ performance. Principal pay is very competitive–principals can expect to earn 234 percent of the GDP per capita similar to top performing systems (which pay school principals more than 100 percent of their GDP per capita). However, the same salary schedule is applied to both principals and teachers. Yemen might wish to consider whether the types of candidates it attracts to principal positions Source: OECD, Teachers Matter 2005; World Bank, SABER-Teachers differ considerably from regular teachers. Further, 2010. principals do not receive monetary rewards based on performance. Yemen would be advised to look into how Goal 5: Leading teachers with strong performance-related pay could act as an incentive to motivate principals, especially as their role is integral in principals instructional leadership. Emerging  Principals can make few decisions to improve teaching Principals’ selection criteria are vaguely defined even though they have a role in evaluating teacher and their leadership role is administrative. performance. Because principals are often the closest observers and sole evaluators of individual teachers’ While requirements to become a principal exist, they work, it is desirable to have them exert some decision- are loosely defined. Setting requirements for principal making authority over staffing decisions (e.g., selecting positions is important because they influence the type teachers; determining teacher pay and influencing of candidate that will apply for this role. In Yemen, teacher promotions). In Yemen, principals have a according to regulations set by the MoE, principals must limited role in selecting substitute teachers. Principals hold a tertiary education degree and have both teaching administer the annual internal teacher evaluations, and and administrative experience. However, the School may have a small say in determining follow-up actions Regulations do not provide any time specifications for to teacher evaluations. Overall, the role that principals experience. Yemen might look into introducing other play appears to be primarily administrative. Yemen may selection criteria to rigorously assess the skills of consider expanding the decision-making authority of principal applicants, such as: performance in previous principals; in most high-performing countries, principals positions; completion of a training course specifically have some say in key areas related to teacher hiring, designed to prepare would-be principals; and on hiring, promotion, and dismissal. A growing body of evidence completion of an induction/mentoring program. shows that principals, when allowed to carry out these functions, apply sound judgment. Principals could play a stronger leadership role in guiding teachers to improve instruction. The job profile of a principal includes having some say over the distribution of time during the school day, managing the SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 7 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Figure 10. Principals’ decision-making role in hiring and Individual teachers and schools carry out their own firing, selected systems student evaluations. Based on their performance in teacher- or school-developed tests, students receive certificates, enabling them to proceed to the next grade. While teacher-designed and directed assessments can complement national assessments, standardized assessments are necessary to allow system to assess levels of student achievement among different students and schools. Yemen participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003 and 2007, but only 4th grade students were assessed. Continuous participation in TIMSS and potentially other international assessments, as well as extending TIMSS participation to cover 8th-grade students, can give Yemen the opportunity to see how its students’ achievement levels measure up with those of high performing systems across the world. Yemen is due to take part in TIMSS in 2011. Source: OECD, 2008 – PISA 2006 for Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Optional teacher evaluations are conducted regularly, New Zealand, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United but they do not consider progress in student learning. States; World Bank, SABE0-Teachers 2010 for Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan The MoE, sub-national, and local authorities are Lebanon, West Bank & Gaza and Yemen responsible for evaluating teacher performance. However, the school (through the principal and the Goal 6: Monitoring teaching and learning local educational authority) is responsible for conducting the annual evaluations. It is a concern that Established  these evaluations do not require participation by all teachers. For both internal performance evaluations, There are no national student learning each teacher’s appraisal is informed by the principal’s assessments at the primary level, and data individual assessment and classroom observation, with management systems do not include information student views being optionally consulted and feedback on teacher performance. from parents and colleagues not considered. The evaluations are based on several criteria, including: There are insufficient standardized national student teacher attendance, student academic performance, performance data available to guide policy, largely compliance with the curriculum, teaching processes, because there are few student learning assessments. methods used to assess students, and student National student achievement data is obtained through participation in the classroom. The teacher’s knowledge two secondary school tests: the General Secondary of the subject matter he/she teaches is only an optional Schools Examinations administered at the national level consideration. Assessing the teacher on his/her use of annually to all school-leavers at grade 12 and the annual homework assignments in the classroom is also sub-national Basic Education Examinations assessment optional. Student learning outcomes are not administered to all students at grade 9. In these considered. assessments, it is not possible to match student scores with individual teachers Currently, data are not available to provide an indication on how many teachers fail their evaluations. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 8 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 The limited data management systems may limit the effectiveness of these evaluations, as comparisons Goal 7: Supporting teachers to improve cannot be drawn between the performance of teachers instructions at different schools and across time. Identification mechanisms that facilitate tracking teachers over time Emerging  should facilitate teacher management, enabling policy decisions to be made through reasoned justification, Some data are directed toward improving based on data collected. instruction, but there are no requirements for the amount of time allocated to professional Box 2. Reforms underway development. Teacher performance data from evaluations are used The Ministry of Education is trying to strengthen to develop instructional practices, but opportunities data collection, reporting, and verification. An exist to use the data to support teachers in further Accounting and Financial Management Information ways. All professionals can constantly improve, and System (AFMIS) was deployed in 4 central ministries teachers are no exception. In Yemen, the results of – including education. A lack of credible population internal evaluations are used to inform teachers on how data and the use of several inconsistent data they can develop their instructional practices. Results collection methods resulted in inflated educational could be utilized to support teachers in other ways -- for data from 1999-2004, which led to inflated targets instance, through the allocation of professional for the education system. development opportunities and supervisor support. Professional development might enable teachers to Figure 11. Sources used in teacher performance develop their skills throughout their careers. Similarly, evaluations, selected systems offering low-performing teachers the support of experienced teacher-mentors has been shown to contribute to teacher effectiveness in other countries. This is an option that Yemen may consider to strengthen teaching quality. While teachers are not required to finance their own professional development, their participation in such activities is not mandatory. The MoE is responsible for overseeing and funding the provision of professional development, and international donors play a financing role. However, it is not mandatory for teachers to participate, and there are no official time specifications that teachers should devote to professional development. In high-performing systems, required days of professional development range from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 28 days per year. As teachers in Yemen are not required to take part in Source: OECD, TALIS 2010 for Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland professional development, they might be prioritizing and South Korea; World Bank, SABER –Teachers 2010 for Chile, their immediate work agenda and not realizing the Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan Lebanon, Mexico, West Bank & Gaza and potential benefits from professional development. Yemen. Similarly, as principals do not have to ensure that their teachers comply with time requirements, they may not be allocating adequate hours for professional development. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 9 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Figure 12. Number of required days of professional Professional development is reasonably varied and development, selected systems covers aspects related to teaching as well as qualification programs – aligning with recent teacher entry reforms. For teachers who do take part in professional development, different types of professional development activities are offered, including traditional activities such as workshops, conferences and seminars. Observation visits to other schools, participation in teacher networks, and mentoring programs are not offered. Importantly, on offer are two other forms of professional development that are proving effective in other education systems – participation in a school network and qualification programs. Qualification programs have proved useful for teachers seeking to upgrade their 2-year Post- Secondary Diplomas. Primary education teachers with post-primary and/or basic diplomas are able to study for qualification programs while working. This is because over the last 10 years the MoE has expressed Sources: OECD, Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS 2009 for Netherlands, the goal of hiring only teachers who have graduated Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, Brazil, Slovenia, United States and from Faculties of Education. Although the current Australia; World Bank, TPAW 2010 for Egypt, Djibouti and West Bank regulation is that teachers need to hold a university & Gaza. Notes: (1) The number of required days was calculated by degree, the MoE is still allocating a considerable dividing the total number of annual hours by number of daily proportion of the posts to diploma holders and to working hours; (2) These figures refer only to secondary school teachers. general secondary graduates, to ensure that there are sufficient female teachers, to meet staffing needs to Goal 8: Motivating teachers to perform teach at grades 1-6, and to recruit enough teachers to rural and hard-to-staff areas. For example, in 2005 Emerging  about 35 percent of the posts were allocated to diploma and graduates of secondary education. Few behavior-related accountability mechanisms Overall, the content of professional development exist, and performance incentives and sanctions activities is broad, covering not only support in carrying are weak. out administrative tasks but also aspects related to teaching, such as subject matter knowledge, teaching Teachers do not have to fulfill continuing requirements the curriculum, classroom management, instructional to remain in the profession. Yemen does not have in practices, and teacher competencies. place requirements (such as participating regularly and successfully in professional development and performance evaluations) for teachers that must be fulfilled on a continuing basis. In high-performing systems, requirements are used to signal to all teachers that continuous learning and skills upgrading is important for teacher effectiveness and to provide education leaders with opportunities to dismiss the least effective teachers. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 10 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 There are legal procedures to safeguard vulnerable performing teachers. (The private sector, where all students and ensure that teachers who engage in child 12,055 teachers are contractual employees, may provide abuse can be dismissed. Teachers can face dismissal on lessons.) The benefits of doing so are twofold: first, the grounds of misconduct and unauthorized such mechanisms protect students from the detrimental absenteeism. The procedure for censuring absenteeism and lasting effects of having poor teachers; and second, requires the school to report a teacher’s absence and they can give underperforming teachers a clear the Governorate Office of Education (which is part of incentive to work hard in order to avoid removal. the MoE) administer the sanction. This usually results in Research has shown that removing a minority of low- pay being reduced for each day of unauthorized performing teachers can considerably improve student absence. According to regulations, teachers can be achievement. dismissed for absenteeism, but in practice dismissals are rare. In 2009, 0.04 percent of the teaching force was Figure 13. Regulations for teacher dismissal and dismissed. probationary periods Teachers are offered few financial incentives or other opportunities for public recognition to reward strong performance. Performance-related pay and monetary bonuses for strong performance by individual teachers or by schools are not available. Yemen may look to Jordan for policy guidance – the Queen Rania Award for Excellent Teachers introduced in 2005 provides 25 high- performing teachers with monetary bonuses. Performance evaluations do not result in promotion opportunities. The only way effective teachers are differentiated is through public acknowledgement of their achievement. Given the restricted set of incentives offered, it is important for Yemen to explore alternatives to motivate strong teacher performance. Yemen has put in place a probationary period prior to awarding open-ended status to new teachers. This is positive, especially as the first years of teaching are among the best available predictors of a teacher’s performance later on in the career. However, while qualifications are considered, performance evaluations to determine the granting of open-ended status are not mandatory. Further, the vast majority of public school Sources: OECD, TALIS 2010 for Australia, Belgium, Japan and South teachers are employed as tenured civil servants (only Korea; World Bank, SABER-Teachers 2010 for Chile, Djibouti, Egypt, 0.08 percent of the teaching force is employed under Jordan Lebanon, West Bank & Gaza and Yemen. contract), presumably making employment termination later on very challenging. In 2009, 5000 new teachers were hired, all under open-ended appointments. Once a teacher has an open-ended appointment, weak results in the performance evaluation process may not be used to dismiss ineffective teachers. Yemen should look into designing policies that enable the sub-national educational authorities, who have ultimate responsibility for this task, to remove chronically low- SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 11 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 Acknowledgements This report was prepared in 2011 by the SABER- Teachers Team, which included Lisa Kaufman, Nicole Goldstein, and Alejandro Ganimian and was led by Emiliana Vegas (Lead Economist, HDNED). The report also benefited from the collaboration of Kamel Braham and Tomomi Miyajima. Information and analysis is based on the data and SABER-Teachers conceptual model used in 2010-2011. . SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 12 YEMEN|TEACHER POLICY SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2010 www.worldbank.org/education/saber The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative produces comparative data and knowledge on education policies and institutions, with the aim of helping countries systematically strengthen their education systems. SABER evaluates the quality of education policies against evidence-based global standards, using new diagnostic tools and detailed policy data. The SABER country reports give all parties with a stake in educational results—from administrators, teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—an accessible, objective snapshot showing how well the policies of their country's education system are oriented toward ensuring that all children and youth learn. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of teacher policy. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. THE WORLD BANK SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 13