Strengthening Teacher Workforce Development in Africa

Within the framework of the European Commission’s Global Gateway programme, the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa (RTIA) stands as a flagship cooperation project between the European Union, the African Union and international partners, aimed at strengthening the quality, inclusiveness and sustainability of education systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative responds to the need for a structured and comparable mapping of policies related to the teaching profession, in a context marked by structural shortages of qualified personnel, regulatory fragmentation, and emerging challenges linked to climate change, conflict, sustainable development and digital transformation.

The study, commissioned by UNESCO’s Teacher Development Section, entails a wide-ranging analytical effort, covering 40 Sub-Saharan African countries and involving intensive activities of data collection, systematisation and analysis, as well as consultations with regional stakeholders.

More details

Lattanzio KIBS contributes to the development of an in-depth mapping of teacher policies in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a specific focus on basic education. The intervention is structured around three levels of analysis: the policy context, including the mapping of institutional actors involved in the governance of the teaching profession; the content of policies, assessed in light of the nine dimensions of the UNESCO/Teacher Task Force Teacher Policy Development Guide; and the status of policy development, evaluated through a rubric that enables an assessment of the level of advancement of teacher policies in each country.

The analysis integrates, across all dimensions, considerations of equity, gender and inclusion, as well as the role of education policies in addressing emerging challenges such as climate change, conflict, sustainable development and technological innovation.

Project Impact

The project provides UNESCO and institutional partners with a robust and comparable evidence base on the state of teacher-related policies in Sub-Saharan Africa, strengthening their capacity to guide reforms, investments and support actions for national education systems.

The study’s findings contribute to a deeper understanding of governance dynamics within the teaching profession and help identify priority areas for improvement, fostering a more coherent, inclusive and sustainable approach to teacher workforce development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The analytical report, mapping update tools and online consultation events serve as an operational reference for policymakers and key stakeholders.