Abstract
This chapter focuses on teachers in South Asia recognizing the crucial role that they play not only in delivering a quality education but also in implementing educational reform. Teachers in the South Asia Region constitute the largest financial component of the education budget. They are also the key, and more organized, stakeholders (as compared to parents and students who are the ultimate beneficiaries of education) and can actively shape the education environment through their associations and even through their direct participation in politics. Teacher unions and organizations provide an important forum for matters relating to the betterment of the profession but also the advancement of the education environment and ultimately the quality of learning. Using examples from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the chapter highlights how teacher unions and associations in these contexts have championed or hindered the education reform process. The chapter concludes that a collaborative and inclusive policy dialogue ensures that key stakeholders are engaged in the reform process from the inception stage and that they are motivated, rally around, and appropriately implement agendas that improve the quality of learning for students.
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Notes
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These findings are based on a sample of over 250,000 children across all rural districts on Pakistan.
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While previous literature from Pakistan has found that teacher qualifications do not necessarily predict pupil learning or gains in learning, this new piece of evidence is nevertheless important from a policy perspective (see Aslam et al. 2018).
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These calculations are based mainly on Labour Force Survey data. The sample was restricted to wage workers aged 18 or more and with at least 10 years education in order to capture young teachers with at least 10 years of schooling (especially in poorly resourced rural areas).
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The multiple varies much across states because although teacher salaries across the Indian states are similar (being based on the recommendations of a Central Pay Commission), per capita income varies enormously across states. For example, Bihar has by far the lowest per capita income among all the states of India.
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Beteille et al. (2016)
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On their website (http://www.punjabteachersunion.pk/index.php as on 29 October 2018).
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Aslam, M., Rawal, S., Kingdon, G. (2020). The Political Economy of Teachers in South Asia. In: Sarangapani, P., Pappu, R. (eds) Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia. Global Education Systems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_20-1
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