In the film, Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, the life of Frank Abagnale is dramatised. Abagnale was a fraudster who, in the 1960s, faked qualifications to work as a doctor, airline pilot, and lawyer. While pretending to be a doctor, he reportedly supervised medical procedures.
How would you feel if you visited a doctor and you discovered they weren’t qualified? Has the thought that they might not be qualified ever crossed your mind?
It probably hasn’t, as we assume all our doctors are qualified. The same feeling would apply to many other qualified professionals, such as teachers, that we engage with.
You wouldn’t want to be taught by an unqualified teacher, or your children for that matter. Unfortunately, this is the reality for many around the world.
The Learning Crisis
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, only 62% of primary school teachers have the minimum teaching qualifications (UNESCO Institute of Statistics). In 2021:
| Country | Percentage of teachers with the minimum teaching qualification |
| Cameroon | 81% |
| Ghana | 65% |
| Guinea | 69% |
| Togo | 71% |
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Despite slow progress, the world is falling behind the targets set out.
By 2030, without additional measures, 300 million young people will be without basic numeracy and literacy skills. Lifelong learning opportunities and economic growth are therefore being stunted. In 2019:
| Country | Percentage of young people prepared for the future in reading |
| Burundi | 2% |
| Cameroon | 22% |
| Guinea | 11% |
| Togo | 15% |
(Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics)
According to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023 (United Nations), the Covid-19 pandemic caused learning losses in 4 out 5 countries studied, and low-and-middle income countries face a nearly $100 billion annual financial gap to reach their targets.
The need for qualified and trained teachers is greater than ever.
The importance of teachers
John Hattie, a prominent education researcher, emphasises the critical role teachers play in learning. Detailed in Visible Learning (2018), Hattie identifies factors that significantly impact achievement. He highlights that teacher quality, including their ability to foster strong relationships, provide effective feedback, and implement evidence-based teaching strategies, are among the most influential contributors to learner success. Hattie stresses the importance of teachers understanding their impact, using data to inform practices, and focusing on high-impact strategies, such as clear goal setting, collective teacher efficacy, and direct instruction.
Effective teaching, he argues, transforms learning outcomes meaningfully.
How is the Commonwealth Education Trust making a difference.
Through the programme, Teach2030, The Commonwealth Education is investing in teachers in low-and-middle-income countries.
Teach2030 is a professional development platform providing low data, contextualised online courses, workshops, teaching tips and resources. It can help both individuals and schools to upskill their practice and is applicable to classrooms of any age group and subject. Teac2030 focuses on strategies that will help teachers foster strong relationships, provide effective feedback, and implement evidence-based teaching strategies.
Since 2019, Teach2030 have enrolled more than 30,000 teachers in over 100 countries, with over 95% of teachers improving their teaching and/or digital skills by taking Teach2030 courses.
“Teach2030 has helped me to make my teaching more innovative. I would like to encourage others to use Teach2030 to improve their teaching and achieve professional growth.” – Shubhangi a teacher from India
All children deserve a quality education from a transformative and supportive teacher. Learn more about the work of The Commonwealth Education Trust here.
