Teaching policies and learning outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues and options - Summary

In a context of education crisis, it is crucial for national teaching policies to be more tightly connected with the broader education improvement agenda, as well as systemic and school-based efforts to monitor improvements in the quality of learning.  At systems level, teachers and their representative organizations must be drawn more meaningfully into efforts to increase the responsiveness of instructional practice, curriculum and assessment policy to local poverty contexts and in addressing systemic challenges as they affect teaching practice.

At the front line of educational provision, the vital role of teachers in driving and monitoring real-time improvements in learning outcomes also requires greater attention. Indeed, there is increasing country evidence around the world on the impact of rights-based pedagogic approaches and classroom-based learning assessments in achieving more equitable outcomes for the most vulnerable learners, and in improving the quality of schooling from the bottom-up. Until now, little attention has been paid to feeding such experiences into the broader policy picture in the African context.