CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

The National Policy on Education (2010) States That “education is not only the greatest force that can be use to achieve national objectives but also the greatest investment  the government  can use for quick development of its political , sociological, economic and human resources ”. Education is also the most important investment to change the individuals communities and nation as a whole. The policy further states that, no nation can rise above the quality of its teachers. This is an indication that the policy attaches great importance to teachers for the development of the educational system and by implication, the totality of the nation in general. The teacher is a representative of the larger community, an academic specialist, a methodologist and character trainer who administers and runs the school in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the larger society.

Teachers engage in character molding, intellectual development and nation building. As facilitators of human development, they produce engineers, doctors, pharmacist, administrators, politicians, scientist, and other professionals. The absence or shortage of teachers hinders development. Several investigations had been put to test to further ascertain the position of welfare. are teachers part of the decision making body? Are they well paid? Are teachers promoted as at when due? Are teachers salaries regular? What is the future of teachers? Are teachers satisfied with  their jobs? These and other questions form the basis of this research work.  

The teacher as an instrument of success needs the physical, psychological, economical and social comfort. Okemwa (2013) confirms that every organization which has to succeed must have contended workers. According to olando (2013) one of the signs of diminishing conditions in organizations is low job motivation and satisfaction. It leads to strikes, slow down, absenteeism and employees turnover. It may also lead to low productivity, disciplinary and organizational difficulties.

A teacher (also called a school teacher or, in some contexts, an educator) is a person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competences or values. Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague how to perform a specific task).

"Teachers and education are of crucial importance in preparing young people and societies for the future. Investing in education and in building a strong teaching profession makes good sense. Denying teachers the essential means to foster learning in the classroom is a crime against our children's future and violates international law."

The most important information to have regarding an employee is a validated measure of his or her job satisfaction since people join and work in organizations in order to satisfy their personal needs (berder, 2010).  Job satisfaction can be better Understood when one considers both the factors related to job and individual (postanjee, 2011)

Job satisfaction is a universal phenomenon. Most of the expectations of workers somewhat Correlate worldwide, although there are divergent differences due to sociological, political and cultural backgrounds. However, there are similar expected aspects from a job from all global workers, such as good pay, good environment, recognition and respecting their human rights. On the other hand job satisfaction is a desired commodity worldwide, (Heywood 2010). Heywood says that Countries like Unite States, Australia, Germany, Korea, United Kingdom, take job satisfaction with high regard.

Job satisfaction has been studied by various disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, economics and management sciences. It has been an explored subject in work and organizational Literature.

Job satisfaction has been studied widely due to the fact that, many experts believe that its trends can affect the labor market behavior and influence work outcomes, work effort, employee presence or absenteeism and turnover. Job satisfaction of the workers is considered as a predictor of overall individual wellbeing, (Diaz Serrano and Cabral Vieira 2009) as well a good predictor of intentions or decisions of employees’ leavening or staying at the job (Gaziogulu and Tansel, 2012). Beyond research literature and studies, Job satisfaction is a significant feature in everyday life and must be emphasized by all means if individuals and organizations can grow and develop to the desired ends (Jorge and Heloisa 2010).

Heywood (2010) says that in United States workers find on their job satisfaction in the work itself, and not expect it from their bosses, however, once they detect dissatisfaction they are free to look for other jobs that fulfill their needs. In Germany companies take it their responsibility to satisfy their workers. Workers in Germany take organizations to court if they do not meet the satisfaction levels that are expected. In England it was discovered that workers are given family leaves, good payments, and child care. Workers who feel satisfied, have less absenteeism, and show up on the work more often and there were no cases of turnover (Heywood 2010). Organizations have a significant effect on the people who work for them and some of the effects are reflected on how people experience the job   (Specter, 2007). This makes job satisfaction a substantial factor to both the employee and the employer (Jorge and Heloisa 2009). As a feature of social welfare, job satisfaction is important and this is taxonomy of a good job.

In third world countries it seems the issue of job satisfaction is taken lightly that is the reason  Why, there has been many cases of job turnovers in schools, cases of indiscipline, absenteeism and underperformance (Tanya Khan 2009)`. The challenges realized from problems of inadequate teacher job satisfaction are quite enormous. For instance challenges of education in Pakistan are immense, both in scale and complexity. The Ministry of Education, Donors, NGOs and educational researchers and teachers have highlighted many problems facing school teachers.

In Pakistan, concerning motivation and job satisfaction levels. This was realized vividly, during the national conference of Teacher Education held in December 2014 organized by Academy for Education Development (AED), USAID and Ministry of Education (MoE). Similarly UNESCO report on the ‘Status of Teachers in Pakistan’ published in October 2003, point out that nontransparent appointment practices, politicization, poor management, lack of transport and security are some of the major problems leading to inadequate teacher job satisfaction (Tanya Khan 2014).

Problems of teacher job satisfaction have also been cited in Nigeria, where teachers’ agitations and demands for improved compensation are given little attention due to the problem of the inadequate resources, in the Ministry of Education, to meet satisfactory needs of the workers. As a result the government in Nigeria and the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) are in constant standoffs over the increase in salaries, benefits, and improving the working conditions of teacher Nwachukwu  (2016).

Since independence in 1963, job satisfaction has remained an imperative point to ponder in most Nigerian organizations. Many documents have drawn attention to the fragility of perceived teacher job satisfaction. Notably in the recent policy which demands for teachers to stay in the same station for five years mandatory without asking any transfer has been a setback to teachers’ professional freedom, a right of choice, the teacher unions have also raised concerns on teacher job permanency and pensions. Thus, there are a range of factors concerning teacher job satisfaction in Nigeria, like salaries, promotions and other pertinent needs in a profession (Nakera and Wesang’ula 2010).

This study investigates factors that influence Secondary School Teacher’s Job Satisfaction in some secondary schools in Kaduna Metropolis. This study highly recognizes the person of a teacher and it also deeply expounds the concept, teacher job satisfaction levels and how it directly affects the teacher’s performance.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

There has been poor performance of students in secondary school, this is because teachers are not satisfied with there jobs due to job insecurity, poor payment of salary  this study is set to investigate the factors influencing secondary school teachers job satisfaction in Kaduna north  local government.   

Teachers have been claiming that the fallen standard of educational system is partly due to poor teacher welfare and motivation. It investigated how factors such as timely payment of teachers’ salaries, availability of teaching and learning materials, conducive teaching and learning atmosphere, promotion of teachers as at when due and being part of a decision making body could motivate and enhance teacher-efficiency and uplift the educational system at large.

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing  secondary school teachers job satisfaction of Kaduna Metropolis. This includes:

i.                   The Impact of Teachers Job Satisfaction in Secondary schools.

ii.                 Factors Affecting the Teachers Job Satisfaction in Secondary schools.

iii.              Strategies that could curb the factors affecting Teachers Job Satisfaction in Secondary schools.

1.4     Significance of the Study

The study is an investigation on job satisfaction among teachers in some selected secondary schools in Kaduna metropolis. This study is important because it is the first of its kind, carried out exclusively for these schools.

The study was intended to enlighten the Ministry of Education about the importance of teacher job satisfaction and its influence on performance.

It will also be helpful to educational managers to always observe key factors that influence teacher job satisfaction in order to ensure that they sustain teacher satisfaction levels in secondary school education.

The result of this study will be of immense benefit to the government, teachers, administrators, policy makers, curriculum planners and Non-governmental organizations.

The outcome of this study would be beneficial to the government in planning and decision making. It would help in policy formulation, implementation, evaluation and reformation of teachers welfare. The findings of study will reveal to the government the needed incentives for teachers for effective teaching and learning in secondary schools.

1.5            Research Questions

For the purpose of this study, the following questions were looked into.

i.             Does teachers job satisfaction have influence on the Secondary schools?

ii.            Does teachers job satisfaction have impact on the students academic performance?

iii.          What strategies could be adopted to curb the factors affecting teachers job satisfaction in Secondary schools?

1.6   The scope of the study  

The study looks at the job satisfaction among teachers in Government Secondary Schools in Kaduna metropolis. It is delimited to all the teachers in the secondary schools in Kaduna Metropolis.

1.7     Limitation of the Study

The study had encountered a number of constraints in the event that some of the findings of the research do not happen to be accurate. The reason should therefore be attributed to some of the factors, however less relevant effort have been made so far towards making this research findings as authentic as in other research.         

Notably among these constraints includes the following administration, this is the effort of research towards data collection as noted in non-challant attitude exhibited by the respondents, low return rate of questionnaire despite all frantic effort to retrieved them.

Financial constraints and lack of time were some of the problems encountered by the researcher.

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