36 ongoing registration, and school repair issues. In some countries (though not in the ones included in the study) rural teachers must travel to nearby towns to get paid, closing the schools. Local-level flexibility regarding the dates schools start and end is desirable but may result in abuses, since monitoring becomes difficult. In countries where these issues are a problem, policy discussions must focus on them and measures must be taken to eliminate the root problems.

There is some evidence across countries that teacher absenteeism is related to accessibility. Investments in rural roads and transportation might be studied for an impact on improved teacher attendance. These may be important in helping teachers who live at some distance come to the school every day rather than take off Mondays, Fridays, and the holidays. Similarly evidence might be sought regarding the effects of improved working conditions. More attractive schools have been linked to the likelihood that students and teachers will stay on the premises.<sup>113</sup> The costs and benefits may be examined of building more attractive schools at a slightly higher cost or of repairing schools to improve appearance and functionality.

# **TEACHER ATTENDANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY**

Wastage of instructional time to some extent may be “normal.” It may be due to the makeup of the human reward system of the brain that is set up to function on a short-term frame, and the rewards of the teaching profession for teachers are not immediate (if they can be obtained at all).<sup>114</sup> Unless teachers actually enjoy interacting with children and are reinforced by small improvements in day-to-day learning, a bit of daily time loss seems inconsequential. Children usually prefer not to study, anyway. The stresses of large classes, unresponsive students, and insufficient knowledge to deliver demanding curricula may make teachers avoid the tasks that they consider tedious. The solitary nature of the job makes it possible for teachers to get away with little work, particularly when school management is ineffective and the parents are poor.<sup>115</sup> Poor service provision to low-income populations is a problem in education, but similar trends are found in health studies (Table 2-2).<sup>116</sup> What incentives have been more effective in getting teachers to show up? Effective options thus far have been limited.

Educators consulted during the research overwhelmingly suggested salary increases. However, these increases are not usually linked to improved attendance.<sup>117</sup> Nevertheless, teachers in some countries are so poorly paid that few can afford to live just from teaching. In some countries it is appropriate to question whether there should be many poorly paid teachers who work part-time or fewer and better paid teachers working full-

> 113. OED 2004.

> 114. For a detailed explanation of the neuropsychological research available see Abadzi 2006, p. 120. 115. Bridges and Hallinan 1978.

> 116. In addition to high absenteeism, health care providers often withheld available care from the poor, did not follow protocols, or did not give the poor the best advice. (Das and Hammer, 2004, 2006; Leonard et al. 2005)

> 117. Chaudhury et al. 2004a, 2004b, 2004c