Publication: Moving Teachers to Malawi's Remote Communities: A Data-Driven Approach to Teacher Deployment
Loading...
Date
2017-11
ISSN
Published
2017-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
There are severe geographical disparities in pupil-teacher ratios (PTR) across Malawi, with most teachers concentrated near commercial centers and in rural schools with better amenities. Most of the variation in PTR is concentrated in small sub-district areas, suggesting a central role for micro-geographic factors in teacher distribution. Employing administrative data from several government sources, regression analysis reveals that school-level factors identified by teachers as desirable are closely associated with PTR, including access to roads, electricity, and water, and distance to the nearest trading center, suggesting a central role for teachers' interests in PTR variation. Political economy network mapping reveals that teachers leverage informal networks and political patronage to resist placement in remote schools, while administrative officials are unable to stand up to these formal and informal pressures, in part because of a lack of reliable databases and objective criteria for the allocation of teachers. This study curates a systematic database of the physical placement of all teachers in Malawi and links it with data on school facilities and geo-spatial coordinates of commercial centers. The study develops a consistent and objective measure of school remoteness, which can be applied to develop policies to create rules for equitable deployments and targeting of incentives. Growing awareness of disparities in PTRs among district education officials is already showing promising improvements in targeting of new teachers. Simulation results of planned policy applications show significant potential impacts of fiscally-neutral approaches to targeted deployments of new cohorts, as well as retention of teachers through data-calibrated incentives.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Asim, Salman; Chimombo, Joseph; Chugunov, Dmitry; Gera, Ravinder. 2017. Moving Teachers to Malawi's Remote Communities: A Data-Driven Approach to Teacher Deployment. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8253. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28914 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Geopolitics and the World Trading System(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-23)Until the beginning of this century, the GATT/WTO system worked. Economic research provided a compelling explanation. It showed that if governments maximize the well-being of their own countries broadly defined, GATT/WTO principles would facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation over their trade policy choices. Now heightened geopolitical rivalry seems to have undermined the WTO. A simple transposition of the previous rationalization suggests that geopolitics and trade cooperation are not compatible. The paper shows that this is only true if rivalry eclipses any consideration of own-country well-being. In all other circumstances, there are gains from trade cooperation even with geopolitics. Furthermore, the WTO’s relevance is in question only if it adheres too rigidly to its existing rules and norms. Through measured adaptation to the geopolitical imperative, the WTO can continue to thrive as a forum for multilateral trade cooperation in the age of geopolitics.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication Global Poverty Revisited Using 2021 PPPs and New Data on Consumption(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-05)Recent improvements in survey methodologies have increased measured consumption in many low- and lower-middle-income countries that now collect a more comprehensive measure of household consumption. Faced with such methodological changes, countries have frequently revised upward their national poverty lines to make them appropriate for the new measures of consumption. This in turn affects the World Bank’s global poverty lines when they are periodically revised. The international poverty line, which is based on the typical poverty line in low-income countries, increases by around 40 percent to $3.00 when the more recent national poverty lines as well as the 2021 purchasing power parities are incorporated. The net impact of the changes in international prices, the poverty line, and new survey data (including new data for India) is an increase in global extreme poverty by some 125 million people in 2022, and a significant shift of poverty away from South Asia and toward Sub-Saharan Africa. The changes at higher poverty lines, which are more relevant to middle-income countries, are mixed.Publication From Patriarchy to Policy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Legal institutions play an important role in shaping gender equality in economic domains, from inheritance to labor markets. But where do gender equal laws come from? Using cross-country data on social norms and legal equality, this paper investigates the socio-cultural roots of gender inequity in the legal system and its implications for female labor force participation. To identify the impact of social norms, the analysis uses an empirical strategy that exploits pre-modern differences in ancestral patriarchal culture as an instrument for present-day gender norms. The findings show that ancestral patriarchal culture is a strong predictor of contemporary norms, and conservative social norms are associated with more gender inequality in the de jure legal framework, the de facto implementation of laws, and the labor market. The paper presents evidence for a political selection mechanism linking norms to laws: countries with more conservative norms elect political leaders who are more hostile to gender equality, who then pass less progressive legislation. The results highlight the cultural roots and political drivers of legalized gender inequality.Publication Global Socio-economic Resilience to Natural Disasters(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-22)Most disaster risk assessments use damages to physical assets as their central metric, often neglecting distributional impacts and the coping and recovery capacity of affected people. To address this shortcoming, the concepts of well-being losses and socio-economic resilience—the ability to experience asset losses without a decline in well-being—have been proposed. This paper uses microsimulations to produce a global estimate of well-being losses from, and socio-economic resilience to, natural disasters, covering 132 countries. On average, each $1 in disaster-related asset losses results in well-being losses equivalent to a $2 uniform national drop in consumption, with significant variation within and across countries. The poorest income quintile within each country incurs only 9% of national asset losses but accounts for 33% of well-being losses. Compared to high-income countries, low-income countries experience 67% greater well-being losses per dollar of asset losses and require 56% more time to recover. Socio-economic resilience is uncorrelated with exposure or vulnerability to natural hazards. However, a 10 percent increase in GDP per capita is associated with a 0.9 percentage point gain in resilience, but this benefit arises indirectly—such as through higher rate of formal employment, better financial inclusion, and broader social protection coverage—rather than from higher income itself. This paper assess ten policy options and finds that socio-economic and financial interventions (such as insurance and social protection) can effectively complement asset-focused measures (e.g., construction standards) and that interventions targeting low-income populations usually have higher returns in terms of avoided well-being losses per dollar invested.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Student Learning Outcomes in Tanzania’s Primary Schools(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01)This policy note is an attempt to systematically analyze and document emerging trends in the evolution of students’ learning outcomes in Tanzania’s primary schools. The note is based on two rounds of the Service Delivery Indicators Survey in Tanzania, 2014 and 2016, and provides guidance to the Government on: (1) regional, district and school-level variations in gains in pupil achievement scores; (2) student, teacher and school level factors associated with learning outcomes; and (3) key observable factors associated with highest gains in test scores. The good news is that the Government’s concerted reform efforts are showing positive results in quality of schooling: test scores in English, Math, and Kiswahili for Standard four pupils have improved significantly over time. They have improved all across Tanzania, with largest gains registered in disadvantaged targeted districts (EQUIP-T3), followed by rural areas. Low-performing regions are catching up as the impacts of several large-scale investment programs are taking root. These improvements in test scores appear to be associated with improvements in teacher effort and subject knowledge. Rising pupil-teacher-ratios pose risks to continued learning improvements, particularly as the Government is preparing for rapid expansion in enrolments in the wake of the Fee-Free Basic Education Policy. Students tested for 2016 will be entering Form 1 secondary in 2018-19. For the improvements in learning at the primary level to have maximum impact, particularly in disadvantaged regions supported by EQUIP-T, they will require immediate attention to and investments in secondary schools to take these students through the full cycle of quality basic education promised by FFBEP. Female students, overage students, and non-native Kiswahili speakers continue to lag behind in learning, posing threats to the long-term equity of the system. Careful measurement of teacher practices at secondary level can provide ways to supportteaching behavior conducive to the well-being of these children.Publication What Matters for Learning in Malawi? Evidence from the Malawi Longitudinal School Survey(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-10)Since the introduction of free primary education in 1994, Malawi has achieved rapid expansion in access to school, but the resulting rapid growth in enrollments have outstripped the increase in resources and capacity of the system to deliver learning. The result is an education system with widespread overcrowding and large disparities in conditions, access, and learning outcomes between schools. "What Matters for Learning in Malawi? Evidence from the Malawi Longitudinal School Survey" presents one of the most comprehensive pictures ever presented of conditions, practices, and learning outcomes in a low-income country. Using data from a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of more than 500 schools; 4,000 teachers; and a gender-balanced, random sample of more than 13,000 grade 4 students, this book presents a robust analysis of the school-, teacher-, and student-level characteristics that prevent students from learning. The analysis reveals a strong relationship between the remoteness of a school’s location and inequities in school conditions, including the availability and condition of infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, finance, staffing, and supervision. Large class sizes limit the effectiveness of even skilled and highly motivated teachers. Poor learning outcomes are also evident in schools with high proportions of students who have illiterate parents; speak minority languages; are older than the typical age for their grade; and, particularly, have a poor mindset. A dedicated chapter focused on girls’ learning shows that student-level characteristics account for the majority of variation in learning outcomes; of those characteristics, gender is associated with the biggest inequities. The book introduces a new Disadvantage Index (DI) as tool to understand the ways in which multiple dimensions of disadvantage at the school level interact, and it models the impact of investing in low-cost classrooms and additional lower primary teachers at the most disadvantaged schools. What Matters for Learning in Malawi? will be of interest to researchers, educators, and policy makers who have an interest in improving learning outcomes in low-income countries and populations.Publication Fiscal Implications of Free Education(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01)Tanzania became one of the first low-income countries to abolish fees for lower secondary education (grades 8-12) in 2015. One of the pledges of a new, reformist government, the policy built on the country’s previous experience of abolishing primary fees in 2002. The new Fee-Free Basic Education Policy (FFBEP) extended the abolition of formal fees to lower secondary education, and prohibited both primary and lower secondary schools from levying informal fees, such as for inspections. The introduction of FFBEP has already enabled a large increase in the proportion of students entering primary school, and the proportion transitioning to secondary level. Over the next few years more than a million additional lower secondary places will be required to meet the increase in demand. This rapid expansion of lower secondary education is a boon for access and an important step for Tanzania to achieve its goal of attaining middle-income status by 2025. However, such a pace of expansion poses a significant fiscal challenge. Careful planning is required at this stage to develop a model of lower secondary education which can be scaled up in a sustainable way. In partnership with the government of Tanzania, the authors have developed a simulation model to estimate the fiscal impacts of various policy parameters with relevance to the implementation of FFBEP at lower secondary level. The findings presented in this note are based on the simulation tool developed for use by the government.Publication Can Targeted Allocation of Teachers Improve Student Learning Outcomes? Evidence from Malawi(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-16)Teachers are one of the most important inputs for learning, but in many low-income countries they are poorly distributed between schools. This paper discusses the case of Malawi, which has introduced new evidence-based policies and procedures to improve the equity and efficiency of the allocation of teachers to schools. The analysis finds that adherence to these policies has been highly variable between the country’s districts, with the most successful deploying 75 percent of teachers according to the rules and the least successful just 22 percent. Using administrative data, the paper identifies the impacts on student repetition rates of reductions in pupil–qualified teacher ratios as a result of the new teachers. The findings show that schools that moved from having more than 90 pupils per qualified teacher to a lower ratio experienced reductions in lower primary school repetition rates of 2–3 percentage points. However, similar impacts on dropout are not observed.Publication Findings from the 2010-11 Basic Education Service Delivery Survey(Washington, DC, 2012-04)Enrollment in basic education in the Republic of the Sudan has risen continuously since 2005. However, service delivery in basic schools and student learning outcomes are generally weak The papers included in this book use survey data to describe how basic schools function in four states of the Republic of the Sudan. The main objective is to provide representative data on basic school resources and student learning levels to allow targeting of resources to priority areas and increase the efficiency of resource use in order to promote student learning. The source of data is the second Basic Education Service Delivery Survey (SDS2) that covered 253 schools in the 2010-11 academic year across the states of Blue Nile, North Darfur, Red Sea and South Kordofan in Sudan. Basic education is the fundamental cycle of education in Sudan, combining primary and lower secondary education into one eight-year cycle. Enrollments in basic schools have surged in recent years, from 3.3 million students in 2000-01 to 4.9 million in 2008-09, with particularly rapid enrollment growth in post-conflict states, including the four states examined in this paper. This paper complements the education sector status report published in 2012.5. It contributes to the knowledge of basic education in the four states by providing a systematic account of service delivery and student achievement in basic schools. These two reports, along with other analytical work, are being used to inform the preparation of a new national education sector plan for 2012-16. Key contributions of this paper include the measurement of learning outcomes, comparisons between urban and rural schools, information on the role of the education councils in school financing and specific data on schools for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Darfur.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Tanzania Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2024-12-12)The Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for Tanzania identifies the impact of climate change on the country’s economy. The CCDR uses macroeconomic, climate, sectoral, institutional, and financial models to identify the economy’s exposure to climate risks and the opportunities to integrate climate action and development. High poverty levels and dependence on rainfed, low-productivity agriculture leaves Tanzania’s economy vulnerable to climate risks. By 2050, climate change could push an additional 2.6 million people in poverty and force up to 13 million Tanzanians to migrate internally. The CCDR presents how implementation of three multisectoral intervention areas could generate climate-positive, resilient, and inclusive growth in Tanzania by 2050. These are: integrating climate considerations when strengthening human capital and social protection; optimizing land and water use and management to boost agriculture and rural productivity, augment climate resilience, and lower greenhouses gas emissions; and prioritizing resilient and low-carbon transport, energy and digital infrastructure systems in urban areas and different sectors. The CCDR details governance arrangements for effective climate change action, presents investment needs, and describes options for mobilizing financing. Action is needed both to reduce vulnerabilities of Tanzania’s current economy and realize the country’s Vision 2050 goal of a more inclusive and sustainable growth trajectory. Targeted climate action could boost private investment and job creation, enabling Tanzania to meet its development objectives in the face of global risks. Technical background reports prepared for the CCDR are available upon request.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Madagascar Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)Climate change has made delivering better development in Madagascar ever more urgent. This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) finds that Madagascar’s aspiration to evolve into an emerging country by 2040 will be derailed unless it can bolster its resilience to intensifying climate shocks to safeguard its modest development gains and boost economic growth. The high frequency of extreme climate shocks since the 1970s has led to significant macroeconomic disturbances and weak growth. This CCDR examines the implications of future climate change for Madagascar’s growth, and the potential benefits of both structural reforms and adaptation investments. It outlines three priority areas for building resilience to climate change, and calculates the costs needed to achieve this. It provides detailed recommendations for finding the finance required, as well as for implementing the policy challenges identified.Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.