2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/412973Expanding and improving basic education in developing countries requires, at a minimum, teachers who are present in the classroom and motivated to teach, but this essential input is often missing. This paper describes the findings of a series of recent World Bank and other studies on teacher absence and incentives for performance. Surprise school visits reveal that teachers are absent at high rates in countries such as India, Indonesia, Uganda, Ecuador, and Zambia, reducing the quality of schooling for children, especially in rural, remote, and poor areas. More broadly, poor teacher management and low levels of teacher accountability afflict many developing-country education systems. The paper presents evidence on these shortcomings, but also on the types of incentives, management, and support structures that can improve motivation and performance and reduce avoidable absenteeism. It concludes with policy options for developing countries to explore as they work to meet Education for All goals and improve quality.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankACADEMIC PERFORMANCEACADEMIC RIGORADEQUATE FACILITIESATTENDANCE RATESATTENDANCE RECORDSAUTONOMOUS SCHOOLSBASIC EDUCATIONBETTER TEACHERSCALLCAREERCAREERSCIVIL SERVICECLASS SIZESCLASSROOMCLASSROOMSCOMMUNITY EDUCATIONCOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTCOMPLETION RATESCONVENTIONAL SCHOOLSDECENTRALIZATIONDECENTRALIZATION OF EDUCATIONDISADVANTAGED CHILDRENDISADVANTAGED POPULATIONSDISADVANTAGED SCHOOLSEDUCATED WORKERSEDUCATION ECONOMICSEDUCATION FOR ALLEDUCATION LEVELEDUCATION OFFICESEDUCATION OUTCOMESEDUCATION POLICYEDUCATION QUALITYEDUCATION STATISTICSEDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ACCESSEDUCATIONAL OUTCOMESEDUCATIONAL PROGRESSEDUCATIONAL QUALITYEFFECTIVE TEACHERSEMPLOYMENTETHNIC MINORITYEXAMEXAMSEXPERIMENTAL SCHOOLSGROUPS OF TEACHERSHEAD TEACHERSHIGH SCHOOLHIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONHIGH SCHOOLSHOMEWORKHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESINCENTIVES FOR TEACHERSINTERVENTIONSJOB SECURITYLABOR MARKETSLEARNINGLEARNING ENVIRONMENTSLEARNING LEVELSLEARNING OUTCOMESLEARNING PROCESSLETLITERATURELOWER SECONDARYLOWER SECONDARY LEVELMATH SCORESMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMOTIVATION OF TEACHERSNUMBER OF TEACHERSNUTRITIONPAPERSPEDAGOGYPOOR PEOPLEPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERSPRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE SCHOOLSPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROFESSIONAL GROWTHPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLSPUBLIC SCHOOLSQUALIFIED PROFESSIONALSQUALIFIED TEACHERSQUALITY OF TEACHERSREADINGREMOTE SCHOOLSRESEARCHERSRURAL AREASRURAL SCHOOLSRURAL TEACHERSSALARY INCREASESSCHOOL COMPLETIONSCHOOL DAYSCHOOL DAYSSCHOOL DISTRICTSCHOOL EDUCATIONSCHOOL FINANCESCHOOL HOURSSCHOOL MANAGEMENTSCHOOL NUTRITIONSCHOOL QUALITYSCHOOL SYSTEMSCHOOL SYSTEMSSCHOOL VISITSSCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSCHOOLS WITH STUDENTSSECONDARY SCHOOLSSPECIAL EDUCATIONSPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERSSTUDENT ABSENTEEISMSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSTUDENT ATTENDANCESTUDENT LEARNINGSTUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESSTUDENT OUTCOMESSTUDENT PERFORMANCESUBJECT MATTERSUBJECTSTEACHERTEACHER ABSENTEEISMTEACHER ATTENDANCE RATESTEACHER BEHAVIORTEACHER EDUCATIONTEACHER INCENTIVESTEACHER MANAGEMENTTEACHER MOBILITYTEACHER PAYTEACHER PERFORMANCETEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTTEACHER QUALIFICATIONSTEACHER QUALITYTEACHER SALARIESTEACHER TURNOVERTEACHERSTEACHERS SALARYTEACHERS UNIONSTEACHINGTEACHING DUTIESTEACHING MATERIALSTEACHING METHODSTEACHING POSITIONSTENURETEST SCORESTEXTBOOKSTRAINING OPPORTUNITIESUNIVERSITY DEGREEURBAN SCHOOLURBAN SCHOOLSWORK ENVIRONMENTWORKERSYOUNG PEOPLE