Teachers are the single most important input to learning, and  in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa teachers’ emoluments  account for the majority of spending on basic education (Bold et al.,  2017). However, in many countries in the region teachers are poorly  distributed between schools. In particular, schools in remote areas are  frequently understaffed compared to those closer to towns and large  villages, reflecting a reluctance among teachers to accept postings in  areas with significant hardship (Mulkeen, 2010). By contrast, schools  in or close to towns and larger villages, where more facilities and  amenities are available, often have more teachers than required by  government standards, even where the overall supply of teachers  nationwide is inadequate. An estimated 28 percent of the variation in  staffing between schools in the region cannot be explained by variation  in the size of enrollments in schools (Majgaard and Mingat, 2012).