Multigrade Teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa : Lessons from Uganda, Senegal, and The Gambia
Multigrade teaching is an increasingly important policy option for African countries as they seek to provide schooling for out-of-school children in areas of low population density. In multigrade teaching, a teacher works with students from two or...
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20100114233101 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2697 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5952 |
| Summary: | Multigrade teaching is an increasingly
important policy option for African countries as they seek
to provide schooling for out-of-school children in areas of
low population density. In multigrade teaching, a teacher
works with students from two or more grade levels at the
same time, in a single classroom. This study examines the
challenges of implementing and supporting multigrade
teaching through case studies of multigrade schooling in
Uganda, Senegal, and The Gambia. These three countries
offered different perspectives. In Uganda the schools
observed mainly used one teacher to teach two grades, and
had benefitted from a pilot project that had provided
specialist training for teachers and additional learning
materials. In Senegal, there were different models of
multigrade schooling, including some experimental
one-teacher schools. In The Gambia, multigrade teaching was
being used largely by default, as shortages of teachers left
some schools with more classes than teachers. From these
three very varied cases, some general patterns emerged.
Multigrade teaching was widely used in all three countries.
It was estimated that 20 percent of primary schools in
Uganda and 18 percent in Senegal had some multigrade
classes. In most cases this use of multigrade teaching was
not part of a planned initiative, but a practical response
to teacher shortages. Multigrade teaching is a promising
option for provision of education services in small schools.
In Uganda the quality of the pilot multigrade schools was
perceived to be comparable to monograde schools in the same
area, attendance and retention were higher, and examination
results were similar. |
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