Development of priority skills in continuing training by primary education teachers in Benin

This study presents the challenges and the usefulness of training teachers in priority primary education skills for the Beninese education system, with a view to retaining teachers in their profession. As part of its educational policy implementation, more specifically regarding the recruitment and employment of teaching staff, the Beninese government has been conducting a series of diagnostic assessments of candidates for the teaching profession since 2018. These diagnostic assessments were conducted in primary education on candidates who, on the one hand, held professional teaching diplomas (Elementary Certificate of Teaching Aptitude and Certificate of Teaching Aptitude) obtained after their training at Teacher Training Colleges and Private Teacher Training Institutions, and, on the other hand, held the Baccalaureate. The results of these assessments enabled the government to create a database of potential teachers, who are subsequently deployed each year to primary schools under the name "teacher candidates." The study required sociological, andragogical, pedagogical, and ergonomic analyses conducted through field surveys using appropriate data collection techniques and tools. The educational and skills training needs cited by teachers include a lack of mastery of objective taxonomies, the absence of a project-based approach, and learners' lack of knowledge of teaching-learning strategies. Skills training for teachers requires the acquisition of metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective strategies for quality services that have a positive impact on the environment.