Teacher management in refugee settings: Ethiopia

In 2018 IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust jointly published a review of the literature relating to teacher management in refugee contexts. Fragmented information on refugee teachers, coupled with a lack of information on host teachers charged with refugee students’ education, pointed to a need for more research. Issues like the  portability of certification and adequate pay are important management factors for both refugee and national teachers. Yet, beyond these issues, there are few studies  that critically analyse teachers’ perceptions. A wider study of how teachers of refugees perceive their selection and management will go a long way to ensuring policies and programmes are appropriate, effective and sustainable.

Following the review’s conclusions, IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust embarked on a series of country studies. Ethiopia was chosen as the first country for this research programme on effective teacher management in refugee  contexts because it is home to one of the largest refugee populations in Africa; it has also made significant policy commitments to increasing protection and support for refugees through a range of ambitious policy pledges and legal frameworks.

The study identifies promising policies and implementation strategies that exist for the management of primary level teachers in refugee hosting regions and reveals potential areas for further development of policies and successful implementation.