The Sixth Commonwealth Research Symposium on Teacher Mobility, Recruitment and Migration:

Next Steps in managing Teacher Migration

Red Cross Training Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June 8 and 9, 2011

UNESCO-IICBA and

Commonwealth Secretariat Strategies and Programmes

Akemi Yonemura UNESCO-IICBA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Outline •  Context: Issues in global migration, human

development, teacher shortage and migration •  Why Partnership?: Past Commonwealth

symposiums and UNESCO and IICBA’s involvement

•  What has already been done?: Strategies and Programmes of Commonwealth Secretariat, IICBA, other organizations

•  What’s Next?: Potential domains of collaboration and further research topics

Global Migration Trend •  Most of the 200 million international migrants worldwide

(3% of global population) have moved within their region, from one developing country to another or between developed countries.

•  From Africa, less than two percent of the population moved internationally and less than one percent moved to Europe.

•  Among them, brain drain is affecting Africa the most with the highest tertiary emigration rate to OECD countries (9.3%).

Source: UNDP. (2009). Human Development Report 2009. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development.

Migration and Human Development Trend •  Increasing brain drain from low-income countries to high-

income countries, especially that of highly skilled workers •  In teaching profession, given the time needed for teacher

training and the supply has to meet the pace of the demand, international recruitment is a common response.

•  Need to create a global and regional mechanism to support a more equitable distribution of the investment in education and trainingand the benefit from employment created by the international labor mobility.

•  Migration can contribute to a large gain in human development and to do that, barriers to mobility have to be lowered and treatments of migrants have to be improved (UNDP, 2009).

Implication of the migration crisis, particularly the unrest in North Africa on the education

system and teacher migration •  IOM has a wealth of experience in response to migration crisis:

- 1990 Gulf War: 250,000 persons evacuated - 1999 Kosovo: 85,000 persons evacuated - 2006 Lebanon: 35,000 persons evacuated

•  As of 29 May, 2011, the cross-border movement from Libya reached 892,937 migrants. Migrants fleeing Libya entered Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Chad, Sudan but also Italy and Malta.

•  As of 31 May, 2011, an estimated 5,837 people crossed the Tunisian border.- 595 Tunisians- 4,930 Libyans- 312 Third Country Nationals (TCNs). The cumulative number of arrivals in Tunisia reached 458,934.

•  As of 31 May, 2011, an estimated 2,492 people crossed the Egyptian border.- 400 Egyptians- 2,057 Libyans- 35 TCNs. The cumulative number of arrivals reached 314,625.

Source: International Organization for Migration. Available at: http://www.migration-crisis.com/

Challenges and Issues in Data Collection •  The data collection best suited to case studies rather than a

comprehensive global approach, as teacher migration is limited to very specific countries (Caribbean, South Africa, the UK, Canada, as well as Middle East, US) both in terms of hosts and senders.

•  UIS can possibly contribute to flows and stocks for teachers, in

reference to absolute numbers without collecting data on teacher nationality.

•  UIS could possibly explore whether current national teacher EMIS

include country of birth/citizenship of the teaching force, however this could be politically very sensitive for some countries.

•  Investigate from an intra-regional perspective (e.g. sub-Saharan

Africa), not just between rich and poor countries

Global Context on Migration How Can Migration Help Achieve MDGs?

Reference to Migration and Education

•  (G1)  End  Poverty  &  Hunger:  remi&ances,  skills  transfer,  investment  and  knowledge  transfer    

•  (G2)  Universal  Educa<on:  mobiliza8on  of  the  skills  and  financial  support  of  their  na8onals  abroad    

•  (G3)  Gender  Equality:  49%  migrants  are  women  that  can  lead  to  greater  independence  and  autonomy  and  heightened  self  esteem    

African Union’s Response •  The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity (OUA)

adopted the decision in 2001 to: (1) develop a strategic framework for migration policy in Africa to

integrate migration issues in national and regional agenda (2) strengthen intra-regional and inter-regional cooperation (3) create a conducive environment to facilitate the participation of migrants

in the development of their own countries •  The AU Second Decade of Education for Africa (2006-2015) proposes an

arrangement similar to the “Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol,” and encourages bilateral cooperation between countries in teacher training, using the existing capacities.

•  The AU promotes quality assurance in African higher education, including the development and ratification of Regional and Continental Frameworks (e.g., Arusha Convention) to facilitate students and staff mobility.

Why is migration of teachers an important policy issue?

1.  Teacher Supply •  Both countries which send and recruit migrant teachers often face a

problem of teacher shortage •  Can global management of teacher migration, facilitating mobility from

surplus to underserved countries, help bridging the teacher gap?

2. Teacher Quality •  How can we know migrant teachers have required quality to teach in a

recruiting country? •  How are migrant teachers’ qualifications assessed and recognized in a

recruiting country?

3. Ethical Recruitment of Teacher •  Are recruiting countries “pouching” teachers who are trained by

sending countries, which also face a teacher shortage? •  Are recruiting agencies and governments adhere to fair labor practice?

Global Primary Teacher Demand and Supply

•  The acute shortage of qualified teachers represents one of the biggest hurdles to reaching Education for All goals.

•  Even countries that have achieved Universal Primary Education (UPE) still face ongoing challenges in recruiting, training and retaining sufficient numbers of qualified primary teachers.

•  Not all countries need to increase the number of teachers: 48% of countries surveyed need to increase teaching staff due to growing number of students; 52% countries can reduce teaching forces (2008).

•  Countries in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, face the greatest challenge in meeting the demand for primary teachers.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2010

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Countries facing a teacher gap, 2008

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2010

Countries with Primary Teacher Gaps to achieve UPE by 2015 in Africa, 2008

Teacher  gap  in  annual  percentage  of  increase    

Moderate  (0.25-­‐2.9%)     Severe  (3.0-­‐20.0%)    

Algeria,  Burundi,  Ethiopia,  Ghana,  Mauritania,  Namibia,  Sao  Tome  and  Principe,  Togo  

Burkina  Faso,  Cameroon,  Central  African  Republic,  Chad,  Côte  d'Ivoire,  Congo,  Democra8c  Republic  of  the  Congo,  Djibou8,  Equatorial  Guinea,  Eritrea,  Gambia,  Guinea,  Mali,  Mozambique,  Niger,  Nigeria,  Rwanda,  Senegal,  Sudan,  Uganda,  United  Republic  of  Tanzania,  Zambia  

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2010

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Main Issues on Migration and Recognition of Qualifications

•  Often skilled immigrants are not employed at the level of their qualification

•  Difficulties in comparing educational training systems and licensing requirements in different cultural, social, and economic settings

•  Fears of use of the lowest common denominator thus leading to the

lowering of professional and academic standards

•  Fears linked to the transfer of regulatory authority and obligations to foreign counterparts who may operate under different standards

•  Some schemes facilitating labor mobility focus on the assessment of competency rather than recognition of qualification

Ethical  Recruitment  of  Migrant  Teachers

Protocol  for  the  Recruitment  of  Commonwealth  Teachers  (2004)  

•  offers  an  interna8onal  standard  for  teacher  recruitment  in  54  

Commonwealth  member  states  and  in  some  non-­‐Commonwealth  states.

•  aims  to  balance  the  rights  of  teachers  to  migrate  interna8onally,  on  a  temporary  or  permanent  basis,  against  the  need  to  protect  the  integrity  of  na8onal  educa8on  systems,  and  prevent  the  exploita8on  of  scarce  human  resources  in  developing  or  low-­‐income  countries.  

Commonwealth Teacher Research Symposium Themes and Location

(1) 2006: Hosted by Commonwealth Secretariat with support from the UK National Union of Teachers, Surrey, United Kingdom (2) 2007: Hosted by Commonwealth Secretariat with support from the UK National Union of Teachers, Surrey, United Kingdom Theme: International Mobility and Migration of Teachers: Brain Gain, Waste of Loss? (3) 2008: Co-hosted by Commonwealth Secretariat and Education International, Maputo, Mozambique Theme: Gender, HIV/AIDS & The Status of Teachers (4) 2009: Hosted by the National Education Association in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Washington, DC Theme: Closing the Teacher Gap: Researching the Challenges and Opportunities for International Teacher Recruitment and Retention (5) 2010: With SAQA, Bleomfontein, South Africa Theme: Enhancing Commonwealth Teacher Professionalism and Status: Promoting recognition, registration and standards

The 5th Symposium Results Enhancing Commonwealth Teacher Professionalism and Status:

Promoting recognition, registration and standards •  Target groups and subjects: The influence of language (mainly English), gender and

teachers of critical subject areas, such as mathematics and science on migration trends requires closer scrutiny

•  Commercialization: The view that migrant teachers are mere commodities should be directly challenged at all levels through the broad dissemination of research findings to relevant stakeholders

•  Professionalism and status: teacher training, the recognition of teacher qualifications, the professional registration of teachers and the development of professional teacher standards, is actively encouraged through ongoing pan-Commonwealth research

•  Teacher preparation and teaching standards: the interrelationship between time-based and outcomes-based approaches, as well as the manner in which complex teaching and learning can be included in teacher qualifications

•  Comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications across Commonwealth countries: further research should include credential evaluation agencies and the role of recruitment agencies

•  advocacy of teachers’ rights, effective protection of the vulnerable teacher, and appropriate strategies should be promoted to uplift the status of teachers and teaching as a profession.

IICBA’s Strategy for Teacher Development Related to Mobility (2011-2015)

Effective Utilization •  Teacher mobility from member states with excess teachers to states with

shortage of teachers. •  Ensuring welfare of teachers who have moved particularly to post conflict

states. •  Assisting receiving countries to instil mechanism for producing their own

teachers. Quality Training •  Making sure that teachers are well trained (competent) for the level they

are to be deployed on. •  Enabling teachers to transmit values apart from imparting content. •  Making the teachers relevant to the place where they are going. •  Standardising teacher education curriculum which can start at sub-

regional level. •  Comparing training capacity of sub regions with the view of integration. Curriculum •  Harmonizing curriculum at least at the secondary level.

Examples of existing instruments to facilitate mobility

•  Protocol for the Recruitment of Commonwealth Teachers (2004) •  Commonwealth  teacher  qualifica8oncomparability  table  by  South  African  

Qualifica8on  Authority  (SAQA)  (2009) •  UNESCO Regional Conventions on the Recognition of Studies, Certificates,

Diplomas, Degrees and other academic qualifications in HED in African States (Arusha Convention) (1981)

•  ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers; (1966) and the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel (1997)

•  ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration (2006) •  ILO Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention (1962, No 118) and

Maintenance of Social Security Rights Convention, (1982, No. 157) •  WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health

Personnel (2010) •  Philippine Oversea Employment Administration (POEA) (1982 & 1987) •  Tuning Educational Structures in Europe (2000)

Commonwealth  teacher  qualifica<on  comparability  table  by  South  African  Qualifica<on  Authority  

(SAQA)  (2009)

•  A  comparability  study  on  teacher  qualifica8ons  in  32  Commonwealth  countries  between  2008  and  2009  developed  a  Commonwealth  teacher  qualifica8ons  comparability  table,  which  could  contribute  to  the  migra8on  of  teachers.  

•  The  comparability  table  provides  a  transparent  mechanism  by  which  to  compare  the  qualifica8ons  of  teachers  obtained  in  any  of  the  Commonwealth  countries.  

UNESCO Regional Conventions on the

Recognition of Studies, Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees and other academic qualifications in HED in African States

(Arusha Convention) (1981) Promote:

(1)  greater  mobility  of  students  and  professionals  throughout  the  African  con8nent;

(2)  effec8ve  use  of  resources  through  improving  academic  mobility  of  students  and  teachers;

(3)  be&er  recogni8on  of  academic  and  professional  qualifica8ons,  stages  of  study  and  experien8al  learning.

ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966) and the

UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching

Personnel (1997)

It sets forth the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and international standard for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, teaching and learning conditions. It also contains many recommendations for teachers' participation in educational decisions through consultation and negotiation with educational authorities.

WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (2010)

Aims: to (1)  establish and promote voluntary principles and practices for the

ethical international recruitment of health personnel, taking into account the right, obligations and expectations of source countries, destination countries and migrant health personnel;

(2)  serve as a reference for Member States in establishing or improving the legal and institutional framework required for the international recruitment of health personnel;

(3)  provide guidance that may be used where appropriate in the formulation and implementation of bilateral agreements and other international legal instruments; and

(4) facilitate and promote international discussion and advance cooperation on matters related to the ethical international recruitment of health personnel as part of strengthening health systems, with a particular focus on the situation of developing countries.

Philippine Oversea Employment Administration (POEA)

Legal mandate of POEA is to: •  promote and develop the overseas

employment program and protect the rights of migrant workers (1982); and

•  regulate private sector participation in recruitment and overseas placement maintain registry of skills and secure best terms of employment for OFWs (1987).

ILO Instruments on Labour Migration ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration (2006) •  A set of non-binding principles, guidelines and best-practices for

Governments,organizations of employers and workers to pursue a rights-based approach to labour migration

•  The Framework aims to foster cooperation in order to assist inthe implementation of effective policies on labour migration

Migra<on  for  Employment  Conven<on  (1949)  (No.  97) Migrant  Workers  (Supplementary  Provisions)  Conven<ons  (1975)  (No.  

143) (1)  Basic  components  of  a  comprehensive  labor  migra8on  policy; (2)  Measures  to  facilitate  migra8on  movements;   (3)  Promote  equality  of  treatment  and  opportunity  for  migrants  and  

na8onals

Way Forward IICBA’s proposal on management of teacher mobility, recruitment and migration

Overall Development Objective: To promote positive benefits of migration for development and foster new strategies to solve human resource issues and support future managed migration

Specific objectives: aligned with the AU’s migration policy framework : (1)  develop a strategic framework for teacher migration

policy in Africa to integrate migration issues in national and regional agenda;

(2)  strengthen intra-regional and inter-regional cooperation (3)  create a conducive environment to facilitate the

participation of migrants in the development of their own countries.

Migration and Education in Africa: Proposed Domain of Collaboration

Domain Activities / Initiatives 1. Information management system in education and

1.1. Development of a directory of country profile on education and migration in Africa, particularly mobility of teachers at the higher education and TVET levels and general overview on TEIs

migration　

1.2. Thematic studies on: Recognition of qualifications; Study on costs of teacher training, etc.

2. Networking and Collaboration

2.1. Facilitate consultations on recognition of qualification procedures, and competency assessment frameworks

3. Capacity Building

3.1. Capacity building workshop for different stakeholders (re: international guidelines, standards, benchmarking tools relating to education and migration, qualifications, recognition framework, employment, etc.)

　

3.2. Develop capacity building modules and materials for e-learning and conduct Open Distance Learning (is the e-learning for the capacity building? If not then we go for pilot e-learning may be on the second year)

4. Policy Advocacy 4.1. Development of communication materials for advocacy on migration and education issues and rights of migrant workers (linked to Domain 1, 2, and 3) domains.

Suggested topics for thematic studies

•  Recognition of qualifications and its impact o the admission of migrants, their integration in the labor market and the level of job performed

•  Human resource development planning for external and internal demand, and how to assess the priority for recognition of qualifications

•  Pros and cons of unilateral, bilateral and multilateral approaches and their various formats

•  Management of teacher migration: how to identify, regulate monitor the roles and responsibilities of private and public actors involved in the process

•  The impact of labor market demand on foreign credential recognition requirements

Thank you

a.yonemura@unesco.org