Page 6 are paid slightly more than rural teachers (which could simply reflect their higher average educational attainment), but they did not appear to be significantly more motivated.

18. Differences in performance could also stem from variation in teacher effort, the extent of quality control by education authorities, and perceptions of school governance. The survey provides key indicators of teacher effort, perceptions of school governance, and a glimpse at the use of formal “top down” accountability structures. On a positive note, the survey responses indicated that teacher absenteeism does not seem to be a major problem in Albanian primary schools: on average, the number of days of unjustified absence in a typical month was only 0.18, with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 5 days. There were no significant differences in teacher absenteeism between rural and urban schools. The number of inspections from RED representatives in the semester prior to the survey varied greatly across schools, from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 36. Rural schools were significantly less likely to receive an RED inspection. Overall, in 20 percent of schools, school directors were not subject to any form of appraisal and sanction if they underperformed. Moreover, about half of the surveyed teachers reported that they were not subject to any penalty if they underperformed. Perceptions of irregularities in the appointment of school directors and teachers were quite high, especially in rural areas. As many as 32 percent and 22 percent of the surveyed school stakeholders believed that school directors and teachers were appointed to posts for their personal connections rather than qualifications “often” or “very often”.

19. The existance and quality of “bottom up” participatory accountability structures – particularly those the Ministry has tried to strengthen – could be important factors for performance. The survey captured previously unavailable information about the bodies that have been established for participatory “bottom up” accountability. The number of school board meetings in the semester prior to the survey (January – May 2009) varied from a minimum of zero to a maximum of five. There were no significant differences in this indicator between rural and urban schools. However, contrary to the MoES directives, in about 30 percent of schools, the school director participated in school board meetings and expressed his or her vote. But again, there were no significant differences in this indicator between rural and urban schools. In about 81 percent of the schools, according to the answers of parent school board members, parent representatives were elected by parents rather than appointed by teachers; and in 43 percent of the schools teacher school board members were elected by teachers rather than appointed by the school directors. These proportions were significantly higher in urban schools as compared to rural schools.

20. The survey found a worrying lack of information among parents about participatory accountability structures in their children‟s schools. About 43 percent of the parents did not know school boards existed, and 28 percent did not know that there were class parent representatives. Only about 80 percent of parents who were informed about the existence of the school boards knew that there were parent members, and of these, 72 percent did not know their names. The lack of information among parents captured by the survey was more severe in rural schools than in urban schools. Of the 72 percent of parents who were aware of the existence of parent class representatives, only half knew their names; and of the parents who knew that parent representatives existed and were elected by parents, 77 percent did not vote in the most recent election.

21. Parent involvement in participatory accountability structures varied greatly across schools. The survey measured levels of parent engagement in accountability structures. The average number of meetings that parents said they had with teachers in the previous semester (January-May 2009) was around 4, yet this indicator varied considerably across schools, and was significantly higher in urban schools. The proportion of parents who usually participate in parent-teacher meetings also varied greatly across schools, from a minimum of 34 percent to a maximum of 100 percent, with an