Rural Staffing in Malawi: Current Practices and Implications for Equity

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Impacts of Teacher Policies and Reforms in the United States and International Contexts

Abstract

In an effort to equalize primary school teacher distribution, Malawi has adopted a package of policies that include hardship allowances, targeted recruitment, and hiring freezes on overstaffed districts. Although these policies address gaps in the rural teaching force, they may also reinforce disparities between rural and urban teacher populations.
Applying an institutional theory perspective, I use results from document analysis, interviews with nine actors in Malawi's education system, and survey data from 65 rural and urban teachers to consider the implications of these staffing policies and practices for teacher sorting. I find that Malawi's current push to reduce rural pupil-teacher ratios has the potential to exacerbate existing inequities in the distribution of teacher factors like gender, experience level, and ethnicity.

Author

• Alyssa L Morley, Michigan State University