Pamplona. February 25th, 2013.

Eoin McGuirk is a Ph.D. candidate from Trinity College Dublin. While at the NCID, he discussed the causes of teachers’ absenteeism. According to McGuirk, one potential explanation for this phenomenon is the impact of ethnic divisions. By using a nationally representative series of random, unannounced school visits in Uganda; and a large opinion survey of citizens in 16 sub-Saharan African countries, he was able to present robust evidence of a link between ethnic divisions and teacher absenteeism. McGuirk concluded that this study has a significant repercussion for policy makers in developing countries; fostering a common national identity could be a solution to this problem.