Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized — Public Disclosure Authorized Tara Beteille and Priyanka Pandey, Teachers Thema�c Group, World Bank, 2019. A grievance redress mechanism (GRM) is a system As in any profession, effec�ve teaching depends upon Public Disclosure Authorized through which complaints or grievances pertaining basic things working, such as �mely salary payment, to working condi�ons and dues are adjudicated. and fair and transparent recruitments. In many Most countries have some type of GRM in place for countries, the school bureaucracy fails teachers in teachers, the most common being teacher unions. In mee�ng these needs. For instance, when it comes to many countries, teachers can approach the school receiving their salary on �me, as Figure 1 shows, this principal and educa�on officers at different levels of can be a challenge for teachers in several countries.ii government to seek resolu�on of their grievances. They can also access semi-judicial op�ons such as tribunals or go through the legal system of courts. But these op�ons are not always approachable, rarely transparent, and o�en �me-consuming and costly. More efficient and effec�ve GRM op�ons tend to be ins�tu�onalized within the administra�ve system, such as New York City’s Project HR. But salary delays are not the only grievance teachers FIGURE 1: TEACHERS ARE OFTEN NOT face. In India, for instance, other key grievances pertain to appointments, transfers, PAID IN FULL OR ON TIME termina�on/regulariza�on of contracts, and re�rement benefits.iii Without recourse to Chad Afghanistan 10 20% professional GRMs, teachers seek informal routes, such as cul�va�ng connec�ons with powerful poli�cians, bureaucrats and middlemen, with the hope that their grievance will be redressed.iv Such months salary teachers received engagements are stressful and demoralizing, and arrears salary late distract teachers from their core job of ensuring students are learning. DRC over Philippines 75% received less than 40�50% of new teachers received 60% of salary salary late KEY FEATURES OF EFFECTIVE GRMS ACCESS FAIRNESS, TRANSPARENCY, FOSTERING A GOOD CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND TIMELINESS RELATIONSHIP Easy access for Transparency in process, Building trust and boos�ng Providing feedback on the everyone fairness in outcomes, and teacher morale. Complaints effec�veness of policies and �mely handling and are resolved in a way that the GRM to improve future resolu�on of complaints teachers feel heard and services their work-related needs are met The most powerful example of an effec�ve GRM comes from New York City’s Project HR. Project HR in the New York city public school system shows the possibility of transforming an ineffec�ve GRM into an effec�ve one (Box 1), with implica�ons for boos�ng teacher morale, ge�ng rid of teacher resentments from unresolved grievances, and thereby improving teaching in classrooms. Prior to Project HR: Effec�ve grievance redress was non-existent in New York City. Teachers went without paychecks for months, and without access to health benefits. The unresponsiveness of the Department of Educa�on conveyed it did not care enough about teachers to respond and address their concerns on �me – yet, teachers were expected to be accountable. But teachers had low mo�va�on and morale, and saw grievance redress as an obstacle. Project HR: Series of reforms undertaken to establish an effec�ve and efficient GRM Commercial-style call center: HR professionals were urged to see themselves as problem solvers and teachers as customers. Operators who thrived were team-oriented, pa�ent, and empathe�c towards teachers and liked helping them. They saw themselves as key in raising teacher morale, thereby improving student learning. Delega�ng authority and responsibility: Call center staff were given authority and training to resolve rou�ne problems quickly, and guide those with more complex issues in the appropriate direc�on. Call center operators learnt all the details about the way the school bureaucracy worked so they would know who to contact to answer teacher concerns quickly and effec�vely. Ques�ons handled at the call center covered a wide range of issues such as health benefits, salary and assignment, professional development, and teacher cer�fica�on. Buy-in of stakeholders: Department of Educa�on officials were reassured that no one was going to be dismissed or demoted, and not to feel threatened by call centers.. Unions and outside consultants were asked for advice on the design of GRM. Quality control: Operators were �med and monitored, required to be efficient, accurate, courteous. Turnover in operators was high in the first few months due to the pressure―some�mes calls came in at a rate of 400 per hour. But this levelled off. Prior to the reform, all of this was done by hand or through endless phone calls to people who o�en did not know the answer. Impact of Project HR: Call center was a big hit with teachers. Number of teacher complaints about pay, benefits, and bureaucracy declined rapidly within months of call center opening. Freed of the stress and resentment generated from unresolved grievances, teachers and principals were able to focus their �me and energy working with students. Yes. This is relevant for any country that wants to make teaching an a�rac�ve career. In designing GRMs, countries should follow two key lines of ac�on simultaneously: Step 1: Reduce the volume of teacher grievances by: Ensuring clarity on rules and regula�ons and their interpreta�ons. For example, greater clarity on rules of appointment, eligibility criteria, and teacher benefits can reduce the number of grievances filed. Be�er dissemina�on of informa�on on rules and their interpreta�ons: Stakeholders o�en lack knowledge on rules or where to get such knowledge. Be�er dissemina�on of such informa�on can reduce the number of ineligible grievances/cases filed. Step 2: Make GRMs effec�ve at handling and resolving rou�ne grievances by: Ensuring mandate and authority: This involves empowering complaint-handling units to take correc�ve ac�ons. This involves: Providing adequate training: It is crucial to have a detailed understanding of the bureaucracy, who does what, and who holds which power to take correc�ve ac�on. Building trust and a “client centric” culture: Teachers should be seen by GRM staff as clients who need to be served. Training should include interac�ng empathically with teachers and maintaining high customer service standards. Public awareness campaigns about rules, rights and benefits: A GRM would be ineffec�ve if teachers don’t know about it or how it operates. Stakeholders would need to know types of complaints that can be submi�ed, how to submit and where to get the complaint form, standards and �meframe for resolu�on, and what to do if dissa�sfied with the outcome or grievance redress process. Teachers must know that grievances will be treated confiden�ally, there is no retribu�on for complaints, there is no charge for submi�ng a grievance, and that grievances are welcome because they help improve policies and service delivery. Efficient documenta�on and classifica�on of complaints. An electronic system of lodging, and tracking grievances and their resolu�on is essen�al. Monitoring and evalua�ng data on grievances can help improve GRMs and provide informa�on to educa�on policymakers about how teacher-related policies and programs are working. Pilot GRM in one region focusing on only a few issues. Evaluate, fine-tune, and scale-up once sufficient professional capacity is built to handle grievances. i Priyanka Pandey and Tara Beteille. 2019. Making Teaching an A�rac�ve Profession. Teacher Grievance Redressal Mechanisms. Opera�onal Note. Teachers Thema�c Group. World Bank. ii Evans, David K. and Fei Yuan. 2018. The Working Condi�ons of Teachers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. RISE Conference. iii Ramachandran, V., Béteille, T., Linden, T., Dey, S., Goyal, S. and Goel Cha�erjee, P., 2017. Ge�ng the Right Teachers Into the Right Schools: Managing India's Teacher Workforce. The World Bank. iv Beteille, T., 2009. Absenteeism, transfers and patronage: the poli�cal economy of teacher labor markets in India. Stanford, California: Stanford University. v Klein, J., 2014. Lessons of hope: How to fix our schools. Harper Collins.