Namibia: Teacher incentives in Namibia - Rewarding rural commitment

Namibia is the country with the second-lowest population density in the world. Attracting suitably trained teachers to its remotest schools is difficult, as it is in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Namibian Ministry of Education attempted to address this problem in 2009 by introducing a scheme offering financial incentives to teachers working in remote schools. In this study, undertaken with financial support from UNICEF in 2014, a team from Stellenbosch University in South Africa reported to the Ministry on the effectiveness of the incentive scheme both in terms of teacher recruitment and retention and in terms of student achievement. It made detailed recommendations as to whether and in what form the incentive scheme should continue.

Related Subject(s): Children and Youth

Countries: Namibia