African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 6(2) - Full Length Research Paper - Where have all the (qualified) teachers gone? Implications for measuring sustainable development goal target 4.c

Oct 15, 2026

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Analyze 2013 Liberian Annual School Census data from the Educational Management Information System and complementary information from teacher education program organizers and graduate samples across 2007–2013. Report dramatic growth in the share of “qualified” primary teachers after civil war disruption, yet pupil–teacher and pupil–qualified teacher ratios in 2013 remained unequal versus policy goals. Conclude EMIS limitations hinder locating C-Certificate graduates; interviews show many, but not most, were employed in education, with inaccuracies driven by questionnaire participation and name inconsistencies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Importance of teachers for achieving educational outcomes

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 6(2), pp. 30-47, April 2018 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.62.18.013 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Where have all the (qualified) teachers gone? Implications for measuring sustainable development goal target 4.c from a study of teacher supply, demand and deployment in Liberia Mark Ginsburg*, Noor Ansari, Oscar N. Goyee, Rachel Hatch, Emmanuel Morris and Delwlebo Tuowal 1 University of Maryland, USA. 2 Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas Enrique José Varona, Cuba. Accepted 3 April, 2018 | ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes data collected in the 2013 Liberian Annual School Census undertaken as part of the Educational Management Information System and supplemented by information gathered from teacher education program organizers as well as from samples of graduates from preservice and inservice CCertificate granting programs undertaken in Liberia in during 2007 to 2013. The authors report that the percentage of “qualified” primary school teachers (that is, those with at least a C-Certificate, which Liberian policy sets as the minimum qualification) expanded dramatically after the education system was decimated during the years of civil war (1989 to 2003) . We also indicate that in government primary schools in 2013, the pupil-teacher ratio (24 .8) and even the pupil-qualified teacher ratio (36 .2) was lower – that is, better – than the policy goal of 44 pupils per teacher. However, teacher hiring and deployment decisions led to large inequalities in these input measures of educational quality. At the same time, the authors discovered that the findings from the analysis of Liberia’s 2013 EMIS data did not fully answer the question of where the (qualified) teachers are, in that we were not able to locate in the EMIS database substantial numbers of graduates of the various C-Certificate teacher education programs. However, contrary to the EMIS database findings, when telephone interviews were conducted with samples of these graduates, it was learned that many, but not the majority, of them had been employed in the education sector in 2013. The sources of this inaccuracy include: a) the principals of some schools had not been invited to the workshop where they were oriented to filling out the Annual School Census questionnaire; b) some principals, who attended, did not return the questionnaire; and c) some female and male teachers had used different names when enrolled in the C-Certificate program than they were using as teachers in 2013. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of the limitations of the EMIS data for reporting key indicators in
Liberia and in other countries in relation to monitoring the global Sustainable Development Goal \#4 . Keywords: Qualified teachers, Liberia, measurement issues, sustainable development goal target 4.c. | | --- | | *Corresponding [author. E-mail: mginsburg49@yahoo.com. Tel:](author. E-mail: mginsburg49@yahoo.com. Tel:) 202-669-5196. | INTRODUCTION With apologies to Peter, Paul, and Mary , who popularized the song in the 1960s, and Pete Seeger, who wrote the song in 1955, 1 we have substituted “(qualified) teachers” 1 According to Wikipedia ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Have_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Have_)[All_the_Flowers_Gone%3F](All_the_Flowers_Gone%3F)),“Seeger found inspiration for the song … [from for “flowers” in the title for this article. Other lyrics of the song also seem relevant to the theme of this article, in a] traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934), which Seeger had read [previously] .” that some of the female teachers who left the profession did so because they got married (“gone for husbands”) and, unfortunately, some male teachers previously left their classroom roles to become soldiers (“gone for soldiers”) and some of these teachers as well as those who contracted diseases, including more recen

FAQs

What data sources does the paper use to study qualified teacher availability in Liberia?

It uses the 2013 Liberian Annual School Census data collected through the Educational Management Information System, plus information from teacher education program organizers and samples of graduates from C-Certificate programs (2007–2013).

What does the paper find about the share of qualified primary teachers after the civil war?

The percentage of “qualified” primary teachers (meeting Liberia’s minimum C-Certificate qualification) expanded dramatically after the education system was decimated during the civil war years (1989–2003).

Why does the paper say EMIS data do not fully answer where qualified teachers are?

EMIS records do not locate substantial numbers of C-Certificate graduates. Telephone interviews with graduate samples indicate many, but not the majority, were employed in education in 2013, and inaccuracies stem from incomplete questionnaire involvement and name differences between program enrollment and 2013 teaching roles.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley