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Impact of external factors on teaching capacity
School leaders were asked to what extent they thought their school’s capacity to provide instruction was being hindered by external factors. These factors were natural disasters, pandemics (such as Covid-19), and epidemics (such as measles). They could respond with ‘To a large extent’, ‘To a moderate extent’, ‘To a small extent’, or ‘Not at all’.
Students from schools affected by external factors
Table SLT3.2 shows the percentage of students in Tonga whose school leader reported that their school’s capacity to provide instruction was hindered ‘To a large extent’ or ‘To a moderate extent’ by an external factor.
Natural disasters hindered instruction to a large or moderate extent in schools attended by 53% of students, a slightly higher proportion than pandemics. Pandemics hindered instruction in schools attended by 52% of students in PILNA 2021. Instruction of about half the students in Tonga was affected to at least a moderate extent by these external factors.
Epidemics hindered instruction in schools attended by 32% of students.
What does this mean?
Half of all students in Tonga attended schools where instruction was hindered ‘To a moderate extent’ or ‘To a large extent’ by natural disasters or a pandemic. Epidemics affected the instruction of about one third of students in the country.
This research shows that school leaders believe these external factors had a substantial impact on the instruction of students in Tonga.
