Meeting Human Resource Needs

Karen Lashman

October 28, 2004

Selected Strategies of Potential Relevance for Health

The Challenge

Numerous SSA countries, especially in Sahel, faced long road to Education for All at end of 1980s:

Extremely low primary enrollments

Continuing rapid population growth: projected 24% increase or + 26 million children in SSA 2000-2015

Fiscal constraints coupled with average primary school teacher salaries well above average for low-income countries constrained hiring at level needed for major scale-up

HIV/AIDS compromising system capacity

The Strategy

Expand coverage/enrollments via recruitment and accelerated training of new cadres—contractual teachers—at significantly lower salaries and benefits than civil servants

Adoption of selected variations on model particularly in rural areas, e.g. community schools

Key Results

Rapid, significant increases in GERs

High impact in severely lagging countries, e.g. Niger GER over 2000/01 – 2003/04 period increased from 37% to 50% and contractual teachers share from virtually nil to 52%

Teacher salaries more closely aligned with other regions, though still relatively high

Consistently high benefit-cost ratios found in evaluations to date, though variability in teacher qualifications vis-à-vis traditional personnel

Evolution of average salary of primary teachers by region of the world

0

5

10

15

20

1975 1985 1992 2000Years

Tea

cher

's sa

lary

rel

ativ

e to

per

cap

ita in

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e

Anglophone Africa

Francophone Africa

Sahel

Asia

Latin America

Middle East

Source: Alain Mingat, World Bank

Lessons to Date

Process at least as crucial to success as technical design

Solid research and evaluation by national experts increased credibility/feasibility

Wide stakeholder consultations including with unions crucial to build requisite consensus

Design catalyzed greater transparency in budget and resource allocation

Perpetuation of dual systems must be avoided

Adoption of gender differentiated recruitment criteria can have unforeseen consequences

Critical QuestionsEquity

Community schools financing borne also by rural poor, often less qualified teachers; rest of system Ministry supported; vulnerability of NGO models

Efficiency vis-à-vis alternatives

Impact on education quality and learning outcomes

Sustainability of model given inherent risks

continuation in other sectors of civil service-based employment fuels discriminatory charges

now dominant contractual personnel can hold system hostage to rising career/benefit demands

The Challenge

Substantial international migration of tertiary-educated, highly-skilled professionals, reflecting strong push & pull factors

Movement both within Africa and to industrialized world; frequently two-step process

Abetted by relaxation of immigration policies in many European countries for tertiary educated

StrategyDemands mix of strategies, not mutually exclusive

Requires balancing internationally recognized right to migrate with urgent need to create and retain a critical mass of quality highly skilled human capital to accelerate economic and social development amid global, highly competitive, knowledge economy

Three prongs:

A. Creating preconditions to induce more to stay

B. Maximizing returns from those who migrate

C. Encouraging and facilitating repatriation

Inducements to Stay: Institutional Level

Catalyzing reforms to revitalize TE institutions, transforming them into more autonomous entities with high quality inputs (e.g. qualified faculty, libraries, research capacity) producing high quality graduates

Introducing alternative delivery models that reduce migration pull e.g. “sandwich programs” with degree awarded by home institution

Tapping ICT to complement inputs, expand reach

Inducements at National Level

Government-sponsored external training in other developing countries with oversupply of labor (e.g. Bank-supported Eritrea project link to Indian institutions)

Provision of integrated training packages with scholarships for foreign study to include financing for minimum equipment and materials needed by returning scholars and travel funds for periodic reconnection with host institutions to upgrade skills and knowledge a la German Academic Exchange Program

Inducements at National Level (cont.)

Creation of Centers of Excellence to attract and retain high quality faculty and students

Building on successful Millennium Science Initiatives in LAC ( Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico), MSI presently under preparation in Uganda

Tapping and strengthening existing institutional interlinkages

Inducements at Regional Level

African Institute of Science and Technology initiative launched October 2004

Private foundation modeled after IIT India and similar in US and MSI

Independent Advisory Board to guide and sustain world class standards

Inducements at Regional Level (cont.)

Well responds to needs of Region with many small countries facing limited financial and human resources to support world class institutions

underlying principles: local ownership; autonomy;open competition for places; selectivity/relevance of curriculum for African needs; mitigate brain drain risks

Maximizing Payoffs from Migration Maintaining close ties to successive generations of migrants via language training, cultural exchanges e.g. Egypt and Tunisia

Encouraging and facilitating remittance flows

Technology and knowledge transfers (e.g. twinning arrangements, research partnerships such as MIT-Singapore)

Promoting FDI e.g. India repatriation accounts

Fostering and supporting diaspora networks

Encouraging Repatriation

International Organization for Migration program for Return of Qualified African Nationals

10 countries participated to date

1500 highly skilled Africans repatriated

Model being extended to other countries, e.g. Afghanistan

Questions for Consideration

1. Opportunities and challenges to adapt and apply these strategies to health sector needs, particularly in Africa

2. Approaches and/or lessons on which the health sector might build to accelerate progress toward the MDGs