Time to teach. Puntland, State of Somalia

Teacher absenteeism constitutes a significant barrier to achieving national educational goals in many low and middle-income countries, where teacher absence rates range from 3 to 27 per cent. While there is no data available from Puntland, State of Somalia, on teacher absenteeism trends, regional cases suggest this is a chronic problem facing many schools throughout Africa, with an average of 15 to 45 per cent of all primary school teachers absent from the classroom on any given day.

The Time to Teach study seeks to address this knowledge gap. Its primary objective is to identify factors affecting the various dimensions of primary school teacher attendance and to use this evidence to inform the design and implementation of teacher policies. Specifically, the study looks at four distinct dimensions of teacher attendance: (1) being in school; (2) being punctual (i.e. not arriving late/leaving early), (3) being in the classroom (while in school); and (4) spending sufficient time on task (while in the classroom).