RFTA - Regional Facility for Teachers in Africa

African countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, struggle to make teaching appealing and intellectually rewarding. Identifying effective teaching methods and supporting teachers in developing necessary skills is challenging. With an estimated need for 15 million new qualified teachers in the region by 2030, inadequate working conditions, inefficient deployment systems, and ineffective teacher training jeopardize the delivery of high-quality, inclusive education. To address these issues, there is a critical need to elevate the status of education professionals.

The Facility welcomes participation from all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and will be executed through the following components:

• Provision of technical assistance to countries to facilitate the development and implementation of policies, education initiatives, and professional development programs for teachers.
• Testing and expansion of successful programs in teacher education and training, with a focus on specific priorities, including those relevant to fragile contexts.
• Establishment of research partnerships to explore teacher policies, their satisfaction and well-being, and the generation of evidence for enhanced teacher governance and professional development.

The facility complements other operations of the Regional Initiative for Teachers in Africa led by the African Union Commission and UNESCO.

Overall, the expected outputs of the Facility are:

• Strengthened national capacity to design and implement teacher policies, professional norms, and standards, including effective data collection and monitoring systems on teaching practices.
• Enhanced national capacity to improve teachers' working conditions and status, promoting competitive and equitable recruitment, and ensuring inclusive deployment of teachers.
• Improved delivery of effective, gender-sensitive teacher professional development programs, with upgraded digital and green competencies through initial and continuous training, along with the identification and scaling of innovative solutions at national and regional levels.