Paper short abstract:

This fieldwork-based research highlights the struggles of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union to use leverage generated by current interest in meeting MDG targets to improve the long-term quality of education in the country.

Paper long abstract:

This research, based on fieldwork undertaken during 2012, highlights the struggles of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union to use leverage generated by current interest in meeting MDG targets to improve the quality of education in the country. Since the end of the civil war in 2002, education has been the focus of much attention and investment. Improving the quantity, in terms of increases in student enrolment rates and numbers of trained teachers has been prioritized by the government and international donors. The Sierra Leonean Teachers Union (SLTU) has been increasingly concerned with the quality of education provided. The SLTU regards the heightened interest in education as an opportunity to drive qualitative improvements nationwide. It has been working with NGOs to provide certificated training courses for Untrained and Unqualified (U-U) teachers. It has also been collaborating with the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), in order to introduce compulsory studies aimed at enhancing knowledge of Sierra Leonean cultures, thereby fostering greater trust and understanding between different ethnic groups. Inevitable trade-offs have ensued between increasing the quantity and the quality of education provided and the SLTU is concerned that the focus among donors and the government is overly geared towards the former. Its attempts to prioritize improvements in the quality of education are having some success but are hampered by structural factors (lack of financial and institutional resources in the regions) and the perception of rank-and-file members that senior union officials are not commitment to improving their situation.