Addressing the Early School Leaving Issue in Niger: An Improvement of Teachers’ Status from Contract to Permanent

Abstract

Education plays an important role in the socioeconomic development of a country. In many developing countries including Niger, education is placed as one of the key priorities of the government. The Renaissance Programme Act 2 made education mandatory and free for all Nigeriens until the age of sixteen and the authorities have created four ministries to manage and regulate the sector. Despite the importance given to education by the government, early school leaving remains an important issue as Niger has the highest rate in West Africa. This situation is expected to continue if rapid actions are not taken. Moreover, the issue is more pronounced in primary and secondary schools with an average rate of 37.15% between 2013 and 2017. Although the problem involves several actors, contract teachers have been considered to be the main driver of the education sector. Drawing on the path dependence and critical juncture of the Historical Institutionalism framework, this article examines the issue of early school leaving in Niger’s education system. The model focuses only on teachers in primary and secondary school and explains how a change of their status (from contract to permanent teachers) may reduce the number of early schools leaving students. The study finds that, due to financial constraints, the government maintains the status quo rather than changing the status of contract teachers to permanent teachers. Furthermore, the paper shows the need for the government of Niger to focus on the two years training program for new teachers to be more equipped with adequate skills and competencies to deliver quality education to students and therefore maintain them in the education system. This study is of particular interest to policymakers in Sub Sahara African countries where contract teachers play a leading role in the education system to overcome the issue of early school leavers.