Field Notes for Innovation: Developing a social-based approach for teacher absenteeism

Teacher absenteeism is a critical obstacle to education in Mozambique. Faced with this challenge, some schools in Mozambique have started to leverage their social networks, particularly the involvement of parents, as part of a ‘social-based approach’ to encourage teacher attendance. Initial reporting suggests that this may be an effective new strategy, however, there is a lack of official data and clear understanding of this approach.

To better understand the underlying activities and mechanisms, Save the Children Mozambique together with the Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children (CUBIC) conducted a brief research project and documentation exercise. This document presents key insights gained from this work to help other groups further develop and test their own strategies to reduce absenteeism.

The central principle for a social-based approach appears tobe increasing the engagement of the community in the decision-making and operation of schools. This allows the communityto take a level of ownership and responsibility – which inturn helps use resources from the community to address schoolchallenges – including absenteeism.

Each community is different and therefore the necessary activities differ slightly from context to context. However, this booklet summarizes seven core activities that were commonly reported by schools as part of their approaches. Includingthe description of the activities, potential impact on relevantbarriers to teacher attendance, key stakeholders involved, and implementation tips.