98 Perspectives in Education, Volume 28(1), March 2010

Primary school teacher deployment: a comparative study

FA TIM A H KELLEH ER  (Ed.), 2008
London: Commonwealth Secretariat
ISB N :  978 0 85092 833 9 (paperback)

ISB N :  978 1 84859 014 4 (downloadable e book)

82 pages

R EV IEW ED  B Y  NA ZIR  C A R RIM

Commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat, this book is a report on a comparative study of

primary school teacher deployment policies and practices in four countries: Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua

N ew Guinea and T anzania. It provides an overview of the different country contexts, a situational

analysis of each country and the policies and practices regarding primary school deployment in the

selected countries. Kelleher points out that the criteria for selecting the countries used in this study

were informed by the M illennium Development Goals (M D G s) and the Education for All (EFA)

campaign of the United Nations. She states:

W ith teachers playing a central role in the achievement of both the education M D G s and EFA,

the impact of teacher numbers, their supply and pupil teacher ratios  both on educational

outcomes and quality  is a crucial area of concern (2008: 3).

K elleher also says:  

T wo of the countries  Nigeria and Pakistan  account for a significant number of children

who are out of school in the Commonwealth. O ne of the countries in particular  T anzania

 has had its teaching population quite severely affected by the prevalence of H IV/AIDS. In

contrast to the other cases, Papua N ew G uinea was actually displaying regressive indicators

in terms of enrolment at the time of the study (2008:71). 

In this sense this book is an important and timely contribution to the attempts to broaden and deepen

the understanding of the experiences, challenges and requirements of the education M D G s and EFA

and to go beyond mere access to schooling, as has been the primary emphasis of EFA. Kelleher

looks at the factors that constrain the achievement of EFA and the education M D G s and those that

compel a focus on issues beyond only ensuring that children have access to schooling. T he centrality

of teachers to schools is a moot point, but the importance of focusing on them in terms of the M D G s

and the EFA cannot be stressed enough, because the responsibility for making the education goals

of the M D G s and EFA work falls squarely on the shoulders of teachers. T eacher availability,

numbers, adequate training with requisite levels of competency, where and how teachers are de

ployed or posted and who they are, are all significant contributing factors to ensuring the success

of the education M D G s and EFA. As such, this book is a welcome and valuable contribution to

debates about EFA  and the factors that are at work in, and which at times constrain, the achievement

of EFA  and the education M D G s. Kelleher brings into focus a significant and central factor in the

overall challenges facing the education M D G s and EFA , viz. the deployment of teachers in primary

schools. 

T he book is admirable, particularly in the way in which it renders rather complex statistical

data in an accessible and comprehensible form, which makes the book ‘user friendly’, even for those

who may not be involved with schooling or the EFA. It is concisely written and very informative.

A definite ‘must read’ for those immersed in the field of education and EFA and M D G s. 

M ethodologically, the study used:

Four in country document perusals, using both primary and secondary sources and interviews

with officials and stakeholders (K elleher, 2008:8). 

T he major findings of the comparative study on which this book reports are briefly described below.



99Perspectives in Education, Volume 28(1), March 2010

1. T eacher deployment policies and practices privilege urban areas and provide inadequately for

the schooling needs o f those in rural areas. T eachers do not want to go to the rural areas as

there are very few incentives to attract them to teach in rural areas. T here are insufficient, if

any, facilities, infrastructure and support for schools and people in rural areas.

2. T eacher deployment policies and practices favour men more than women. W omen are not

‘allowed’ to go to places that will take them away from their spouses, children or homes. T hey

cannot be sent to rural areas if they are not accompanied by ‘their men’ and they are therefore

generally not deployed to rural areas. T his seems to be the case both in terms of existing

policies and in terms of actual practice.

3. Processes of decentralization regarding teacher deployment are fraught with many problems

including varying levels of competency to be able to deploy teachers effectively on decentra

lized levels; serious problems with regard to nepotistic practices  which K elleher identifies

as ‘wantokism’ in the case of Papua New Guinea, which refers to ‘preference along family,

clan or tribal lines’;  lack of clear policies and/or lack of understanding of what is contained

in existing policies; and complex differences across different locales, including levels of re

sources available and cultural beliefs and practices in the different areas.

4. Lack of a sufficiently qualified base of teachers across the system.

5. Inadequate or lacking school infrastructure which impacts directly on teacher: pupil ratios and

the necessity for teaching in multi grade classes, particularly in rural areas. 

T he recommendations Kelleher proposes in the last chapter of the book are:

1. Clear, well informed and inclusive policies.

2. A focused approach to the education and recruitment of female teachers.

3. Addressing major country specific deployment barriers.

4. Effective decentralization.

5. Implementing transparent and objective deployment criteria/quota and reservation systems.

6. Raising standard in pre service and in service teacher training.

7. T argeted training and recruitment.

8. T eacher incentives.

9. T eacher utilization.

T his book raises two crucial issues. T he first is linked to specificity, and the second is the inextri

cable link between schools and the societies in which they are located. 

In regard to specificity, K elleher points out the need for policies and practices (linked to points

1, 2, 3, and 7 above) to be more explicit and specific in relation to what they are meant to be tar

geting. T he need to be more specific is one of the constraints that has been noted repeatedly in

various and varying ways regarding the problems of an uncritical assumption that matters can be

generalized and universalized in the same way in differing country contexts, different regions and

in regard to different types of people. In this regard, K elleher emphatically points out the need for

policies and by implication the M D G s and EFA  as well, to be more explicit and specific about the

positionality, experiences and conditions facing women qua women. K elleher also notes, equally

emphatically, the need to be more specific in dealing with the experiences and struggles of people

in rural areas. An uncritical assumption that the same intervention can lead to the same results in

different conditions and contexts is shown in this study to be limited. T his leads to the second point,

the inextricable link between schools and the societies in which they are located.

Education, more precisely schooling, does not happen in a vacuum. Schools are located in com

munities, in particular regions with conditions and practices that are germane and specific to them.

T he success of implementation of policies, whatever they may be, is influenced significantly by what

is possible in specific geo political, cultural and economic situations. One cannot ignore the fact that

for schools in rural areas to be able to perform as expected, depends on the overall development of

conditions in such rural areas. One cannot ignore the patriarchal system, values and practices in the

subo rdination of women if one needs to empower and develop women as active and participant



100 Perspectives in Education, Volume 28(1), March 2010

citizens. M ore topographically, one cannot expect developing countries in particular, to achieve the

M D G s and E FA if the material conditions of underdevelopment and legacies of colonialism are not

addressed. Schools do not exist in a vacuum. T hey are inextricably linked to the societies in which

they are situated. Developments in schooling have to be accompanied by the development of

societies. T o ignore the social location of schools would render efforts such as the M D G s and EFA

largely titular and symbolic. T his, in fact, defeats the very aims for which the M D G s and EFA  were

set up in the first instance. T hus, whilst K elleher is able to show the commonalities across different

country contexts and is able to provide a comparative analysis of these contexts, the importance of

recognizing the very distinct ways in which these are experienced in the different countries is what

stands out and needs to be engaged with specifically if E FA  is to become a reality for all in their

actual lives in specific contexts. T he need for being and becoming more specific should not be con

fused with lapsing into relativism. T he EFA and M D G s remain globally important and laudable ‘for

all’, but what they mean and what is required for them to succeed needs to be ‘in touch’ with what

pertains on the ‘ground’ in the lives of people. K elleher’s book is an important empirically based

document about the need to recognize people’s actual experiences and what needs to be done in

order to ensure quality education and a quality life for all as a reality. Kelleher’s contribution to this

endeavour is an important one and the significance of teacher deployment and its impact on the

achievement of the M D G s and EFA is clearly and strongly argued for in this book.  

N azir Carrim

W its School of Education, University of the W itwatersrand

nazir.carrim@ wits.ac.za