Multigrade Teaching in Sub-SaharanAfrica : Lessons from Uganda, Senegal, and The Gambia

Mulkeen, Aidan G. ; Higgins, Cathal

World Bank

关键词: EDUCATION SERVICES;    LEARNING MATERIALS;    MULTIGRADE-MONOGRADE COMPARISON;    ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS;    OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-8065-9
RP-ID  :  51830

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Multigrade teaching is an increasinglyimportant policy option for African countries as they seekto provide schooling for out-of-school children in areas oflow population density. In multigrade teaching, a teacherworks with students from two or more grade levels at thesame time, in a single classroom. This study examines thechallenges of implementing and supporting multigradeteaching through case studies of multigrade schooling inUganda, Senegal, and The Gambia. These three countriesoffered different perspectives. In Uganda the schoolsobserved mainly used one teacher to teach two grades, andhad benefitted from a pilot project that had providedspecialist training for teachers and additional learningmaterials. In Senegal, there were different models ofmultigrade schooling, including some experimentalone-teacher schools. In The Gambia, multigrade teaching wasbeing used largely by default, as shortages of teachers leftsome schools with more classes than teachers. From thesethree very varied cases, some general patterns emerged.Multigrade teaching was widely used in all three countries.It was estimated that 20 percent of primary schools inUganda and 18 percent in Senegal had some multigradeclasses. In most cases this use of multigrade teaching wasnot part of a planned initiative, but a practical responseto teacher shortages. Multigrade teaching is a promisingoption for provision of education services in small schools.In Uganda the quality of the pilot multigrade schools wasperceived to be comparable to monograde schools in the samearea, attendance and retention were higher, and examinationresults were similar.