Country Support

Role of the TTF Secretariat

Teacher policies are context-specific, meaning that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. As a result, countries can request tailored support from the TTF.

The TTF Secretariat coordinates a global alliance, acting as a broker between countries requesting policy support and the various bodies that can provide the appropriate support (technical assistance, experience etc). The Secretariat also supports countries by building capacity on use of the Teacher Development Policy Guide and providing tools to support its use at the national level.

The TTF has been instrumental in supporting nine countries to develop a new comprehensive teacher policy. Policies have been developed and approved nationally in both Madagascar and Uganda, while final policy drafts are pending approval in Benin, Ghana and Togo. Ongoing support processes are underway in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Lesotho and Malawi.

Criteria for selecting beneficiary countries

The TTF’s support to countries is demand-driven and underlying principles were developed during two experts’ meetings (Paris, September 2011, and Dakar, December 2011) which was attended by country delegates and Task Force Steering committee members. The principles were aligned with the objectives of addressing the teacher gap in countries furthest away from the previous EFA goals.

It was agreed priority should be given to countries that:

1. Are furthest away from realizing universal primary education;
2. have the largest teacher shortage (according to the projection made by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics);
3. present a realistic request, oriented towards reducing teacher shortage in its education system and ways to address the gap in the field of policy, capacity development and financing.

Beneficiary countries should also be able to present reliable information on the general context of the education system, which includes:

• Documentation on sectoral policy analysis;
• Reliable data on the demographic context;
• Information on the macroeconomic and the budgetary context;
• Information on the school context;
• Information on the teaching force; and
• Information on the recruitment of pre-service/in-service training, and management of the teaching personnel.