DEEPEN has as its overall impact the improvement of learning outcomes for children in private schools, especially those from low income households who attend low fee schools.

At the core of the changes that DEEPEN seeks to promote in private schools are improvements in pedagogy. Teachers are critical in this change.

DEEPEN needs to know more about teachers in low cost private schools. Much anecdotal and limited ‘hard’ evidence reports that the majority who teach in low fee schools are unqualified, many having only a senior school certificate, they are generally young and receive low levels of remuneration compared to both those who teach in public and approved private schools. Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many, teaching in low fee schools is “a last resort”.

Their circumstances and the context in which they work are fundamentally different from those in public or better-off private schools. They have little opportunity to access professional development programmes, owners and heads of their schools are reluctant to invest in their further training, and they lack the identity and support that their government counterparts enjoy through union membership.