02.12.07
Getting teachers to rural schools: deployment issues
The problem of teachers is often considered as a problem of teacher numbers. While there is no doubt that many countries face challenges of teacher supply, there are equally serious challenges of teacher deployment. In many countries there are qualified teachers in urban areas who are unemployed, while here are unfilled posts in rural areas. This pattern of simultaneous surplus and shortage is strong evidence that the problem of teachers for rural schools will not be solved simply by providing more teachers. There is a need for policies that will ensure that the teacher reach the schools where they are needed.
Many countries report that teachers express a strong preference for urban postings. In Ghana, for example, over 80% of teachers said they preferred to teach in urban schools (Akyeampong and Lewin, 2002, p346). There are a number of rational reasons why teachers may prefer urban postings. One of the concerns about working in rural areas is that the quality of life may not be as good. Teachers have expressed concerns about the quality of accommodation (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002, p269-270), the classroom facilities, the school resources and the access to leisure activities (Towse et al, 2002, p645).
Health concerns are a second major issue. Teachers may perceive that living in rural areas involves a greater risk of disease (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002, p269-270), and less access to healthcare (Towse et al, 2002, p645).
Teachers may also see rural areas as offering fewer opportunities for professional advancement. Urban areas offer easier access to further education (Hedges, 2000). In addition, teachers in rural areas are less likely to have opportunities to engage other developmental activities, or in national consultation or representative organisations. Teachers in rural areas may even find it more difficult to secure their entitlements from regional educational administrations, sometimes to the extent of having to put up with obstacles or corruption by officials.
The problem is further exacerbated where the majority of student teachers come from a different background. In Ghana, teachers tend to come from a higher socio-economic background than average for the country as a whole (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002) and to be disproportionately from urban areas. Hedges (2002, p364) describes their reluctance to accept a rural position:
There is a profound fear among newly trained teachers with a modern individualistic outlook that if you spend too much time in an isolated village without access to further education, you become ‘a village man’, a term which strongly conveys the perceived ignorance of rural dwellers in the eyes of some urban educated Ghanaians
