Four out of ten Uruguayan teachers work in a different part of the country from where they live, according to 2018 data. More than 20% of teachers in the National Public Education Administration (ANEP) spend excessive amounts of time commuting—between three and four hours a day—and very excessive amounts of time—more than four hours. At the same time, evidence shows that teachers’ geographic mobility has negative effects on planning, grading, coordination, and integration into the educational community.
These are just some of the findings from Carlos González Alemán’s thesis, which was written as part of the Master’s in Education program and is titled “Teacher Geographic Mobility in Uruguay: A Study of Educational Policies and the Perceptions of Classroom Teachers from the General Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education (UTU) in the Departments of Canelones, Florida, and San José.”
A topic that has been little explored
What are teachers’ perceptions of the effects of geographic mobility, specifically on the performance of their professional duties? What are the regulations governing the transfer of teachers within the ANEP, specifically within the General Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education – UTU (DGETP-UTU)? What are the characteristics of teachers who relocate to teach? These were the main questions that served as the starting point for González Alemán in his master’s thesis research.
However, what does “teacher geographic mobility” refer to? Although the graduate clarified that the term is polysemous, he defined it as “the movement or travel of a teacher between their home and the school where they perform their professional duties, located in a town within the same department or in a different department.”
In this regard, the indicator used to measure the phenomenon was the time (in hours) spent by teachers commuting to and from schools. The researcher also opted for a mixed-methods approach, with a qualitative focus.
He conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with teachers from DGETP-UTU at institutions in Canelones, Florida, and San José. He also analyzed 19 documents, including national legislation and ANEP resolutions, regarding the policy and funding of teacher transfers. Finally, he used secondary data from ANEP’s National Teacher Census for the years 2007 and 2018.
González Alemán’s interest in researching this topic stemmed, on the one hand, from the fact that it had been “scarcely explored” in academic literature. On the other hand, it was driven by the graduate’s personal experience; since the beginning of his career, he has faced the challenges of faculty mobility, which “continues to be a determining factor” in his professional work.
Teacher mobility by the numbers
One of the most significant findings of the study is the high percentage of teachers who move from one location to another, which, in the words of González Alemán, “is significantly high both nationally and regionally”: “40% overall, and in technical and vocational education, the figure is slightly higher, reaching 43%.”
According to data obtained by the graduate, nearly 20,000 teachers worked in a different location from where they lived in 2018. This figure is on the rise; while 4 out of 10 teachers had to commute in 2018, in 2007, 3 out of 10 did so.
At the same time, faculty mobility varies across departments. Some departments are sources of faculty mobility, while others are primarily recipients. However, as detailed in the thesis, “the departments of Montevideo, Canelones, San José, and Florida account for the largest share of transfers, representing 72%.”
And, according to the information that González Alemán was able to obtain, secondary school teachers are the ones who transfer most frequently, compared to other educational subsystems within the ANEP.
A long-standing funding policy
“ANEP’s policy on transportation subsidies for teachers has a long history in the country,”he said, noting that the earliest decree he found dated back to 1971, which established a 50% discount on the cost of transportation tickets for elementary school teachers, students, and teachers in lower secondary and higher education.
As explained in the thesis, with the return to democracy in 1985, a 100% benefit was established for teaching staff: “This policy has been linked to the expansion of secondary education in rural areas and the exercise of the right to education, as it helps bridge the gap between the supply of secondary school teachers and the demand for them in certain parts of the country.”
In addition, González Alemán noted that, from a budgetary standpoint, this policy requires allocating an increasing amount of funds. “Between 2008 and 2019, the budget funds allocated for the transfer of DGETP-UTU teachers increased by 54.3%, while, during the 2007–2018 period, the percentage of teachers who transferred increased by 7.7%,” he stated. In Uruguayan pesos, in 2019, ANEP invested more than 282 million, of which 67 million were allocated to the DGETP-UTU.
As of October 2021, the DGETP-UTU had 4,025 beneficiaries (teaching and non-teaching staff), out of a total of 14,134 teachers and 2,130 non-teaching staff members. It issued approximately 10,000 payment orders per month, according to information from González Alemán’s thesis.
The investigation also revealed some inefficiencies in the policy, which result in tickets being issued to teachers but not used by them, even though the transportation companies have already collected payment for them.
“Based on the information provided by the documentation and the data obtained from the interviews conducted, we can conclude that the use of teacher passes is inefficient and that the teacher pass policy should be revised in order to optimize the resources allocated to its funding,” he noted.
The Effects of Teacher Mobility
But what are the consequences of this experience for teachers? “There is a tendency to point out that the effects of geographic mobility fall on teachers, whether because they feel they are wasting time, facing financial difficulties, experiencing health problems, or seeing their professional development hindered,” said González Alemán, based on what the teachers participating in the study told him.
Stress, anxiety, muscle problems, physical exhaustion, fatigue, the inability to maintain healthy habits, as well as difficulty sticking to personal or family routines, were some of the issues mentioned.
Most teachers also noted that geographical mobility had a negative impact on planning and grading tasks, on coordination with other teachers, and on their integration into the educational community.
However, it’s not all bad. For some teachers, the experience of traveling gave them the opportunity to meet others and learn about realities different from their own.
“It is important to continue conducting in-depth analysis of the consequences of teacher mobility, with the aim of designing education policies that help reduce this phenomenon and mitigate its negative effects on teaching,” said González Alemán.
Possible changes to be implemented
The lack of available class hours for the courses they teach at schools in the towns where they live was the main reason cited by teachers for why they relocate. An insufficient teaching load was another factor mentioned.
“The main motivations cited by teachers are ‘external’ in nature—that is, they cannot be attributed to the teacher’s personal will,” González Alemán explained.
Changes to the class scheduling system were identified by teachers as key strategies for mitigating negative effects. For example, switching to a scheduling format that allows for the consolidation of assignments at a single school, introducing regionalization criteria into the system, and extending the period during which teachers retain their teaching hours at a given institution.
As for support policies, what did the teachers have to say about them? “Most agree on their necessity and relevance, but they have some reservations about how they’re implemented,” the graduate explained.
Although they generally described it as “positive,” they noted that the minimum purchase requirement for vouchers should be eliminated to prevent the waste of tickets. They also agreed that the mechanisms should be improved to prevent misuse of the policy, which, in the teachers’ words, “does exist and is a reality.”
“I hope to contribute to research that deepens our understanding of this phenomenon and provides evidence regarding teachers’ working conditions and policies,” said González Alemán during his defense, which took place on Wednesday, June 29, at the Institute of Education.