1. 2017 EAST AFRICA EVIDENCE SUMMIT July 06, 2018 | KAMPALA, UGANDa
Variations in the teacher transfer policy: preliminary insights from teacher attendance and baseline data Kizito OmalA & Isabelle Cohen
2017 EAST AFRICA EVIDENCE SUMMIT
July 06, 2018 | KAMPALA, UGANDa

2. Context: Teacher Transfer Status Quo
Teacher transfers take place frequently
The government mandates that teachers be transferred across primary schools within a district every 3-5 years
Over 10% of teachers were transferred in 2016
Transfers are also irregular
More than 40% of teachers have been at their current posting for five years or more
Teachers are rarely told more than a week in advance

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How can the rotation of officials affect service delivery?
In particular:
Can the promise of improved transfer placement better teacher motivation and performance?
Could this improvement translate into better student outcomes?
Are teachers demotivated by existing transfer practices?

4. Study Design
Proposed Experimental Evaluation (RCT): Allow top-performing teachers to choose their next placement
Compare:
Control group
Treatment group 1: Pupil growth reward + district transfer
Treatment group 2: Pupil growth reward + random transfer

5. BASELINE: Data Collection
Baseline took place in February-March 2018
Surveyed 140 schools and 1,347 teachers
Surveyed 15,000 pupils and tested 66,000 pupils on:
Literacy and Numeracy (P1-P7)
Science and Social Studies (P4-P7)
Funded by CEGA, IGC, and JPAL Governance Initiative

6. BASELINE: 140 Schools
The average school has…
9.9 teachers
550 pupils
8.5 classrooms (temporary and permanent)
143 desks
UGX 6,228,000 in government funding annually

7. BASELINE: How Many Pupils Per School?

8. BASELINE: Teachers
The average teacher…
Has 7 people in their household
Has 5 children
Earns 86% of their money teaching
Commutes for 35 minutes
Receives their salary late 31% of the time

9. BASELINE: How Do teachers Spend A day?

10. BASELINE: How Do Teachers Discipline?

11. BASELINE: Pupils
The average pupil…
Is 10 years old
Has their mother living at home
Has a 50% chance of having attended nursery
Attends school 4.3 days per week
Eats lunch 70% of the time
Believe school will improve his or her future

12. BASELINE: What do Pupils have at home?

13. BASELINE: TREATMENT & CONTROL GROUPS
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT:
Public meeting of all Head Teachers and District Education Official
Lots with concealed names of 140 schools were picked by Head Teachers and dropped in to 3 slots:
Control
Treatment 1: Pupil growth reward + district transfer
Treatment 2: Pupil growth reward + random transfer

14. BASELINE: Treatment & control groups

15. BASELINE: Balance Check

16. Asante kwa usikivu wako!
The End
Asante kwa usikivu wako!
Please address comments and questions to:
Kizito Omala,
Isabelle Cohen,