Financing our future: how to improve the efficiency of education spending in North Macedonia Policy brief February 2023 1 This policy brief aims to discuss North Macedonia’s key constraints and needed policy responses in the field of education financing, contributing to the debate on how to improve the efficiency of education system as a key investment for our future. It draws on the findings presented in the “North Macedonia Education Public Finance Review” prepared by the World Bank. 2 Education spending is inefficient and declining Spending on education between 2010 and 2020 has declined from 5.1 percent to 4.0 percent of GDP (Figure 1). Compared to regional peers (such as Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia), North Macedonia spends slightly more on education as a share of GDP, but far less than other small eastern European countries1 (1.4 percentage points [pp] less) and the EU-27 (1 pp less), Figure 2. The decline of the share of education spending as a percentage of the general government (GG) is equally high. In a matter of decade, it contracted from 14.6 percent in 2010 to 10.4 percent in 2020 (Figure 1). This is far below the internationally recommended levels by the Education 2030 Framework for Action, stating that at least 4-6 of GDP and/or at least 15–20 percent of total public expenditure should go to education.2 Figure 1. Education financing has been declining 6 16 5 14 5 Percent of GG spending, rhs 12 4 10 4 Percent of GDP 8 3 6 3 2 4 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Source: Eurostat, national authorities, and World Bank staff own calculations. 1 The seven small eastern European countries (7SEE) include: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia. 2 https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/education-2030-incheon-framework-for-action- implementation-of-sdg4-2016-en_2.pdf 3 Figure 2. 7SEE and EU-27 spend significantly more on education (spending as % of GDP) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 o gr a ia ia 7 tia 7 ia ia ia ia ia ia -2 EC ni ne tv en an ak sn rb ar on oa to EU La lg Se ov Bo te SE hu ov ed Cr Es Bu on Sl Sl Lit ac M M rth No Source: Ministry of Finance (MoF) and World Bank staff own calculations. However, mobilizing more resources is only part of the challenge. No less important is ensuring that resources are used efficiently, which appears to be the bigger challenge for North Macedonia. Raising the level of funding without first reducing spending inefficiencies may not lead to the desired outcomes. Prioritizing reforms to strengthen the efficiency of spending in the system by ensuring that every Denar spent delivers the maximum possible value is therefore an essential first step for the country. More teachers continue The country needs to improve the systems’ efficiency, to be hired despite the inter alia by consolidating the school network. The student decline. current school network is costly to maintain and is not On average, following demographic and enrolment trends. Despite a for every 14 significant drop in students over the last decade, there has been an over-hiring of teachers in the primary and secondary school networks. For example, between 2006 students lost, and 2019, only 8 local governments - LGs (out of 80) 1 teacher is hired. saw an increase in students, while at the same time, all of them increased teacher staff. In addition, decisions on hiring teachers have not followed a consistent economic rationale and throughout have not been merit-based. Overall, on average, for every 14 students lost, there was one teacher hired.3 As a result, the student-teacher ratio in North Macedonia has drastically gone down, to the extent that it is now far below the OECD average (10 3 Kicevo and Caska are two particular cases: in the former, the number of students increased by 354 while the teacher staff increased by 275, and in the latter, the number of students increased by 29 while 25 teachers were hired (that is, almost one new teacher hired for every new student in both cases). 4 students per teacher in North Macedonia in comparison with 15 students per teacher in the OECD countries). Moreover, this decline of student-teacher ratio has not led to improvements in the quality of education, as evidenced further down in this Brief. To address this, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank, the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) has prepared a network optimization plan and a methodology according to which the optimization would take place. The introduction of the newly drafted funding formulas for primary and secondary education levels should be a priority.4 The current formulas provide no incentives to optimize the network and incentivize the maintenance of the ‘status quo’ of declining efficiency, and are not always used as prescribed nor in the right sequence. There is evidence that the formula allocations are affected by staffing levels and not by enrolment parameters as they should be. The goal should therefore be to convert the current unfunctional formulas into ‘per student’ formulas that incorporate performance-based financing, so that they begin to exert impact on decisions regarding the management of school networks and human resources in education, particularly for LGs. In addition, budgeting, funding, and reporting processes are complex, disconnected and lack clarity which leads to poor oversight and accountability. In 2020, the CG provided 97 percent of the 4 percent of GDP allocated to education. Thus, although LGs finance only 3 percent of the cost of preprimary, primary, and secondary education, they handle 89 percent of the spending at these crucial levels of education. Despite the fact that the CG provides most of the funds, the funding comes with too few strings attached and LGs have no obligations to disclose the criteria and standards used to decide on the distribution of funding per school. Other than monitoring that the funds are spent on the specified budget category, there is no follow-up by any CG unit (including MoES) on how efficiently these funds are spent. This leads to oversight deficiencies by MoES and lack of incentives for the LGs to adjust the school network as the CG financing is already secured. Inefficiencies are further exacerbated by the misaligned spending structure The inefficacy of spending is even more pronounced if we take into consideration the enrollment rates and the spending intensity across education levels and LG types. If we look at the spending per student as percentage of GDP per capita, North Macedonia has a high intensity (amount spent per student enrolled) of spending in preprimary and higher education, as a result of the low coverage in these education levels. On the other hand, primary education, even though it accounts for most of the spending, has a low spending intensity per student. 4 MoES, in coordination with other institutions involved in the education process, has designed new funding formulas (for primary and secondary education), which offer a solid opportunity for addressing the existing shortcomings. 5 This misalignment of the spending structure is also obvious if compared to regional peers, as spending per student in primary education in North Macedonia is the second lowest, while pre- primary and higher education are the highest (Figure 3). Figure 3. Spending per student and education level 2018, as % of GDP 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 a ia ia tia ia ia ro ia ia 7 -2 ni ar tv an en ak on eg oa ba EU La lg ov hu ov ed n Cr Bu Al te Sl Sl Lit ac on M M rth No pre-primary primary secondary tertiary Source: MoF and World Bank staff own calculations. A child living in one Moreover, there are vast disparities between LGs, many part of the country can of which spend far less than the national per-student go to a school that is average of MKD 53,000 MKD (US$ 883). A child living in provided with one part of the country can go to a school that is provided with five times as much funding as a school in another 5 times part of the country. For instance, in primary education, per-student spending may range from MKD 32,000 (US$ as much funding as a 533) to MKD 182,000 (US$ 3,030), a difference of 5.6 times school in another part between the lowest and highest spending LG.5 of the country. 5 This depends in part from the type of LG (rural vs. urban) and the transport needs for schools, but also on the current funding formula that seeks to ensure that less-populated LGs receive more funding to cover all their expenses. 6 In addition, most of the spending is for covering current expenditure, leaving very little room for capital spending (Figure 4). Salaries take up the lion’s share of the education budget, averaging 75 percent in pre-university education, reaching over 80 percent in primary education.6 The share spent on salaries in tertiary education is lower, standing at 51 percent. In the period 2018-2021, capital investments accounted for only 4.4 percent of the overall spending for pre-primary, primary, and secondary education. This is less than the average of 7 percent for regional peers that are at higher level of development and likely have less immediate needs for reconstruction, but still invest more. The low level of capital spending is even more striking considering that over 40 percent of the buildings in the primary and secondary education networks require repair and reconstruction or are dilapidated.7 Figure 4. Salaries consume the vast majority of the education budget 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2018 2019 2021 2018 2019 2021 2018 2019 2021 Pre-primary Primary Secondary Staff compensation Current other than staff compensation Capital spending Source: Ministry of Finance (MoF) and World Bank staff own calculation. 6 The latest 15 percent increase in teacher salaries from pre-primary to secondary education agreed in March 2022 between the Government of North Macedonia and the Teacher’s Union is likely to further increase the share of salary compensation in the composition of current education spending. 7 There are 157 schools (about 15 percent) in the primary and secondary school network whose year of construction or last reconstruction/rehabilitation was in the 1980s or earlier, according to data from the State Statistical Office. 7 Overall spending on The COVID-19 pandemic had a further negative effect non-salary items in on the structure and level of spending. Education primary education spending, as a percentage of general government declined in nominal spending, has declined as a result of the COVID-19 terms by pandemic. The decline in primary education amounted to 15 pp, while the decline in secondary education was 40 percent even more pronounced, at 21pp. The spending cuts mostly came at the cost of reducing the spending on in 2020 compared non-salary items, while salary spendings have increased to 2019. in both 2020 and 2021. Overall spending on non-salary items in primary education declined in nominal terms by 40 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 and has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, as non- salary spending in 2021 was still lower than in 2019 by 5 percent, despite the fact that in-person teaching was restored and hygiene and other COVID-19 related needs increased. In secondary education the changes are even more pronounced as the decline of non-salary items in 2020 was 52 percent, and non-salary spending in 2021 was lower by 18 percent compared to 2019. As a result, salary spending now covers a larger share of overall spending by schools in both primary and secondary education and threatens the sustainability of the system. The share of salary spending as a percentage of overall spending increased from 82 to 85 percent between 2019 and 2021 in primary education and from 66 to 74 in secondary. In addition, the disparity among LGs is wide. In primary education, the disparity ranges from a staggering 97 percent of overall spending for salaries in Gostivar, Brvenica, and Bosilevo to 64 percent in Gradsko. In secondary education, the disparity is also large, ranging from 92 percent of overall spending in Gostivar and Kicevo to 60 percent in Kriva Palanka and Centar Zupa. This suboptimal structure of spending threatens the sustainability of the system and reduces the ability to finance other critical areas, including capital investments and the professional development of teachers. The inefficiency of spending also points to equity issues in access and quality of education Access to education has improved over the years, especially in preprimary and tertiary education; and at all levels for specific minorities. However, there is still a wide gap in coverage compared to other countries in the region and the EU average (Figure 5). Low levels of preprimary enrolment create an uneven playing field, with many children entering primary school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Less than 10 percent of children in the poorest quantile attend preprimary school compared to more than 50 percent of the wealthiest children. In the long term, such low coverage and inequity, if unaddressed, would create deficiencies in human capital which start early and lead to accumulated vulnerabilities later in life. 8 Figure 5. Participation in education, gross enrollment rates (%) 80 107 Albania 95 55 79 87 Bulgaria 97 72 69 95 Croatia 100 68 88 104 Latvia 108 74 95 100 Lithuania 109 93 42 North 98 Macedonia 80 43 69 100 Serbia 90 56 62 100 Slovakia 95 67 97 100 Slovenia 91 45 92 102 EU-27 114 77 pre-primary primary secondary tertiary Source: Eurostat and World Bank staff own calculations. 9 Approximately Low enrollment rates hinder the develop- 50,000 ment potential of children and lead to suboptimal accumulation of human capital. In the preprimary age cohort, over 14.000 children (from preschool to children do not attend pre-primary education. secondary school age) are The same number of primary school age children, not in school. To put this in i.e. 14,000, are not participating in education, and perspective, this is equivalent over 22,000 children of secondary school age are to every child enrolled in not in school. For illustration, this would be equal primary education in all cities to all children enrolled in primary education in in eastern North Macedonia all cities in the eastern part of the country being being out of school. out of school. These figures of out-of-school children are by far the highest among regional comparators (Figure 6). Moreover, the same inefficiency is repeated in tertiary education as only 37 percent of all students graduated on time (that is, without repetition of years), which poses a drain of resources as most of the tertiary education network in North Macedonia is public.8 Figure 6. Out-of-school children, by the end of primary education, as % of the population of the corresponding age, 2019 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 ia ia a ia ia ia tia a on th bi ni ar ak n tv en oa ed or to a ia r La lg Se ov hu ov ac N Cr Es Bu Sl Sl Lit M Source: Eurostat and World Bank staff own calculation Note: Out-of-school rate is calculated as 100 – (students of a particular age who are enrolled in education at any level / Total population of that age *100) 8 More than 85 percent of students are enrolled in public higher education institutions. 10 Moreover, there are also wide differences in learning outcomes among students from different backgrounds (Figure 7). In the PISA 2018 testing, the learning gap In the PISA 2018 testing, between the top and bottom socioeconomic status groups the learning gap between was equivalent to almost two years of schooling. Moreover, the top and bottom gender disparities are also significant, as girls outperform socioeconomic status boys by an equivalent of one year of schooling.9 Similar groups was equivalent conclusions can be drawn from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, where to almost North Macedonia had one of the highest proportions 2 years of students in extreme performance categories (that is, below low benchmark and at or above high benchmark) of schooling. in both mathematics and science, which points to equity issues. Moreover, the study showed that home support is the most important predictor of science and mathematics students’ achievement. Thus, school leaders with the assistance of the Government, should deploy mechanisms to provide adequate support for learning to those students who cannot get such support at home. Figure 7. Equity profile in PISA 2018 outcomes Private School (independent) type Public Other Language at home Same as test Males Gender Females Town Location City Economic, Bottom 20% social, cultural status Top 20% 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Source: Based on PISA 2018 and World Bank staff own elaboration. 9 This advantage for girls is later lost in the labor market as they are underrepresented and also under paid, but these issues are outside of the scope and aim of this Brief. 11 The inefficient and inequitable education system delivers suboptimal quality outcomes The quality of education is low, even though there has been some improvement over the years. The nexus between declining and inefficient spending, low equity, few resources and training opportunities for teaching staff forms a vicious circle that hinder education quality improvements. Moreover, comparator countries have been able to achieve better learning outcomes with similar or lower levels of spending on education (Figure 8). Figure 8. PISA 2018 results a) PISA 2018 results and government spending 530 510 Slovenia 490 Latvia Lithuania 470 Croatia Slovakia PISA score (average) 450 430 Bulgaria Albania Montenegro 410 North Macedonia 390 370 350 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 General Government spending per student at secondary, as % of GDP pc b) PISA 2018 results and hours of instruction time 7500 Lithuania Hours of instruction time in 7000 compulsory education Slovakia 6500 Slovenia Albania 6000 North Macedonia Bulgaria Latvia 5500 Croatia Montenegro 5000 4500 350 370 390 410 430 450 470 490 510 530 PISA score (average) Source: Eurydice, PISA database, MoF, and World Bank staff calculations. 12 In PISA 2018, more than The performance of students from North Macedonia half of 15-year-olds in the PISA testing is unfavorable and below most failed to demonstrate European countries and regional peers (Figure 9 and basic proficiency Figure 10). While the country has improved its results in science, mathematics, from 2015, the performance of students in the 2018 PISA testing remained below the EU average score and all the and reading. countries of the Western Balkan region, except Kosovo. More than half of 15-year-olds in North Macedonia failed to demonstrate basic proficiency (Level 2) in the three domains of science, mathematics, and reading and are considered functionally illiterate (Figure 9). This is far from the EU 2020 target to have no more than 15 percent of students below PISA Level 2. Of all test-takers in North Macedonia, less than 1 percent of students were high achievers (Level 5 and 6). This is a worrying sign, as countries with a large proportion of students below proficiency averages are likely to lag when those students join the workforce,10 meaning that companies will not be able to find suitable candidates for the jobs offered and will have to either invest in retraining or leave the post vacant, thus adding to the persistent unemployment issues in the country. Figure 9. Student performance proficiency11 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% 1% 29% 45% 29% 38% 37% 50% 71% 70% 61% 63% 55% 49% 2018 2019 2018 2019 2019 2021 Reading Math Science High proficiency > = Level 5 Basic - Intermediate Proficiency > = Level 2 and Level 5 Below Basic Proficiency < Level 2* 10 OECD. 2014. PISA 2012 Results: What Students Know and Can Do. Paris: OECD. 11 Level 2 is the baseline level of proficiency at which students begin to demonstrate the competencies that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life as continuing students, workers, and citizens. 13 Figure 10. Results from PISA 2018 compared to peers 482 487 471 489 489 484 489 463 466 393 413 394 Reading Math Science North Macedonia ECA EU OECD Source: PISA 2018 data. The average The professional development of teachers is spending per teacher significantly underfunded and not being treated as on professional policy priority. The investment in this area has been development is a mere declining over time and reached a low point in 2020 when no funds were allocated for teacher training. This is EUR 3.5 despite the shift to online learning due to COVID-19 school closures and also despite the fact that most teachers were which is equivalent to not prepared for this type of teaching and needed training a one-way bus ticket and support12. Between 2015-2021, the average spending to Skopje from the per teacher on professional development was a mere EUR neighboring towns 3.5, which is far less than the calculated average cost per training of approximately EUR 4013. This is in sharp contrast to EU countries where over 90 percent of lower secondary education teachers attend three to four different types of professional development activities on average.14 In addition, there is a large discrepancy between the planned 12 UNICEF. 2020. The Social and Economic Effects of COVID-19 on Children in North Macedonia. Skopje: UNICEF. 13 Calculation is drawn from the World Bank Primary Education Improvement Project in North Macedonia. 14 OECD (2019). Talis 2018 Results (Volume I). Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners. Paris: OECD. 14 and realized budget15 (Figure 11), with funding for teacher professional development being the first to be cut with the supplementary budgets adopted each year. All of this points to the fact that professional development is not considered a priority for the policymakers, which is contrary to the conclusions of the EU Commission for the European Education Area 2025 indicating that “good quality teaching and learning can be achieved when teachers engage in continuing professional development”16. Figure 11. Planned and realized budget for teacher professional development, 2015-2021 300000 250000 200000 Spending in EUR 150000 100000 100000 50000 0 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 Planned Realized Source: World Bank staff elaboration based on MoF data The insufficient investment in teacher professional development impedes opportunities for teachers to meet the requirements of the new Law on Teachers that stipulates teachers to pass 60 hours of professional learning within three years. Although the country requires more mandatory professional development hours compared to most regional peers, it is still less than half of the time that an average teacher in the EU is required to take in a year (Figure 12). This relatively low allocation is also burdened with restrictions, with North Macedonia being the only country among EU and Western Balkan countries that has a restricted system of paid study leave of up to 5 days, while all other countries provide longer and less restricted paid leave, 15 Except for years when novelties were introduced, such as in 2021, with the new concept for primary education. 16 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘on achieving the European Education Area by 2025’. 30.09.2020, COM (2020) 625 final, p. 10. 15 including regional peers.17 To address this situation, the Bureau for Development of Education (BDE) has recently renewed and improved the procedures for identifying teachers training needs and selecting quality providers. A catalog of available professional training programs, based on teacher standards and needs was published in 2022 along with the information for the accredited providers. This has so far enabled some 17 000 teachers (around 90 percent of all teachers in primary education) to attend 16 hours of professional development courses. This reform needs to be sustained beyond the pilot stage as continuing professional development is essential for teachers to improve their skills18 and would allow them to comply with the legal obligation to undertake 60 hours of professional development. Figure 12. Minimum number of hours for professional development per year 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 ro a rze via Po ina Au al Bu ria Cy ia us rth Hu via ac ry Se a ite Fin a ng d Cr m tia Lit Italy ia Sl lta ro Swe ia an en Be ion Ro ium Ch ethe nia ep s Ic lic nd k R nd eg ni i i d lan ar rb an en g on do M nga ub pr st oa pe d a ela t at ba v N ma rtu Un ec rla He a n lg lg M go hu ov ed L L te Al on Ki M & Un Eu ia No sn Bo Source: Eurydice 2021. In addition to the shortage of opportunities for professional development, the teachers’ remuneration system is inadequate and lacks a merit-based approach. Salary progression with seniority is in the nascent phase and acts as a demotivating factor contributing to the low quality of teaching. On average, the difference between the statutory salary of a new teacher in primary and lower secondary and one with 10 or 15 years of experience is just 5.1 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. While this low progressivity is on par to most regional peers, it is much 17 Excluding Belgium and United Kingdom who have no paid study leaves. 18 World Bank. 2018. Teacher Professional Development Around the World. The Gap Between Evidence and Practice. Policy Research Working Paper. Washington: World Bank. 16 lower compared to other small Eastern European countries where the increase is between 20 percent and 50 percent.19 Therefore, improving teacher training opportunities and implementing a proper merit-based remuneration process should be a priority in efforts to improve quality outcomes. Key Recommendations Going forward, there should be a shift in policy thinking towards treating spending on education as a strategic investment, rather than as pure consumption of resources. As such, the country should adopt the principle of cutting student-focused expenditure last to avoid further erosion of the system efficiency, equity and quality outcomes. Below are some key recommendations regarding the issues highlighted in this policy Brief (for further insights please see “North Macedonia Education Public Finance Review”, produced by the World Bank). A. Policies leading to improved efficiency Adopting a series of measures to improve efficiency of spending, such as optimizing the school network, tightening the teacher hiring process and rationalizing the number of teachers and providing incentives for LGs to improve management of education funds: • Ensure effective application of the new funding formulas for pre-university education levels, with performance elements and links to national priorities and perform ex-post analysis of the reform. • Consolidate the school network and reduce or reallocate excess teachers in primary and secondary education to make spending more efficient. The savings from such actions can be used to increase the competitiveness and progressivity of teacher salaries and financing of teacher training programs. • Revert the unsustainable structure of spending by providing additional or re-direct existing resources to non-salary-related spending, including capital spending that needs to be covered and accounted for in the education budget (including medium-term planning), which is vital for improving education outcomes. • Ensure a stronger package of accountability mechanisms with a clear and transparent division of roles and responsibilities between the local and central levels, an increased level of coordination among institutions and stronger oversight from MoES on achieving the 19 The new Law on Teachers introduces four categories of the teacher (trainee, teacher, mentor, and adviser); distinguishes the professional competencies associated with each of these categories in terms of knowledge, skills, and values; and presents the new professional development model that is to be put in place. 17 desired education outcomes—with funding strings attached that leave some key decisions in the hands of the MoES. B. Policies leading to improved equity • Reduce the number of out-of-school children through improving enrolment in compulsory levels of education by offering financial and other type of support to families from vulnerable socioeconomic backgrounds. This can be achieved through better utilization of already existing mechanisms such as the education allowance and development of early warning systems preventing student drop-out. • Ensure that adequate resources are made available to introduce programs for learning recovery to reduce learning gaps for students from disadvantaged socio-economic background (who do not have adequate home support) and learning losses caused by COVID-19.20 The implementation of a learning recovery needs to start with rapid diagnostic testing to identify students at risk of dropping out, students who are disengaged, students in poverty and students who belong to disadvantaged groups. C. Policies leading to improved quality • Improve the quality assurance mechanisms at all education levels so that they become an essential and regular element of accountability. This could involve improving data collection instruments and quality assurance practices, strengthening internal review processes (such as, the self-evaluation process of education institutions) and setting adequate follow-up procedures. • Foster job-relevant skills in education and further strengthen the collaboration between education institutions and employers, especially in vocational and tertiary education. • Enforce the models for progressivity of teacher salaries and reward teachers who perform well. For example, by the savings created from rationalizing the overall number of teachers or by better allocating the existing teaching staff within the school network (as envisioned in the current school network optimization plan). This process should go hand in hand with the implementation of the legal provisions in the recently adopted Law for Teachers that stipulates mechanisms for promoting those teachers who perform well. 20 The World Bank has introduced a RAPID Framework for Learning Recovery and Acceleration which outlines five short-term, key policy actions: Reach every child and keep them in school; Assess learning levels regularly; Prioritize teaching the fundamentals; Increase the efficiency of instruction, including through catch-up learning; and Develop psychosocial health and well-being. 18 • Provision of continuous and meaningful support to teachers in providing opportunities for professional development and equipping them with appropriate and relevant skills, knowledge and competencies - as essential elements to improve teaching quality. • Improve student outcomes through a better use of existing resources; increasing spending without accompanying reforms may not lead to substantial improvements in student outcomes. D. Policies leading to improved resilience • Finally, the country needs to prepare for future crisis by investing in systemic and human capacities. This may include investment in digital infrastructure by expanding access to the internet in schools, by upscaling digital skills of teachers and students and increasing the capacity of education institutions to design and implement digital pedagogy whether online or in person in the classroom. However, the embedding of resilience into education should involve not only diversification and modernization of the modes of delivery, but also production of high-quality, well-trained teachers who can respond to the future demands of quality education. 19 20