PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AND TEACHERS’ JOB SATISFACTION (A STUDY OF ILORIN SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KWARA STATE.)

CHAPTER ONE

Background to the study

            According to A.T Alabi, people have been managed in groups and organizations since prehistoric times. The success of any organization including the school system hinged on the establishment of a conducive working environment geared towards the advancement of the productive capacities  of people at work. These capacities are in pursuit of achieving the educational objectives as well as satisfying the needs of individual  staff. Bearing in mind that the quality of education in any society depends considerably on the number and quality of its personnel, the teacher is no doubt the pivot on which qualitative education and development hangs. The primary aim of school personnel management is  to secure sufficient numbers and categories of suitable teachers and support staff to undertake  the task of educating the students  to the standard expected by the students, the parents and the society at large. Thus, the quality of education provided in schools depends directly on the capability, commitment and motivation of the teachers together with significant number of non-teaching staff employed in a variety of support roles. According to O’Neil, (1994), human resources available to schools constitute their most valuable asset and their greatest management challenge. This study examines the personnel management practices and teacher’s job satisfaction in Kwara State Secondary Schools.

           According to O’ Neil (1994), Teachers can be classified according to professional training and length  of teaching  experience. They also differ in their opinions and attitude towards teaching. Some are more satisfied with their work than others. Some teachers have left the profession for other jobs; others have remained  on the job for as long as it is convenient  for them to shop around for other part-time jobs. At the same time many teachers have been known  to continue teaching under the same circumstances that repel others. Given quality learning in the secondary schools depend on the recruitment, selection, retention and development of professional teacher. Effective personnel management  procedures are essential  precondition  for the employment and continual  development of adequately qualified  and  dedicated staff that would promote an optimum level of performance  towards the provision of quality education in the secondary school level of education. In the secondary school system, the work of the personnel manager is carried out by the school head (the Principal) in consultation  with School Board or Commission as the case may be. The competence of the school head in personnel activities coupled with the  support of the Teaching Service Commission in the formulation of the effective personnel policies  go a long way towards the attainment  of educat goals of secondary schools as well as the potentials and  goals of the individual personnel.

           Job satisfaction is assumed  by the researcher to be a great contributing factor to the level of work performance among secondary school teachers in Kwara State  Secondary Schools. It is also assumed that if teachers in Kwara State LED are exposed to ideal and effective personnel management practices they would perform excellently  on the job and this would  help in the task of achievement  of  the stated goals of secondary school system in Kwara State in particular and in Nigeria in general. Many precious researchers have postulated that higher level of job satisfaction is associated with higher work achievement Taseem&Socters (2006).

           For a long  time, job satisfaction has been considered important to work performance or achievement of goals, group cohesion and organizational equilibrium. It may lead to increased production, improved relation and the maintenance  of a dynamic organization. Thus, an organization is a means of achieving  both individual and organizational goals. In order to accomplish the set goals, an organization specifies  the desired relations among tasks, responsibilities  and people. The employees  on the other hand, evaluate  these relationships to ascertain to what extent they are achieving their personal goals. Satisfaction of teachers is derived from the extent to which the organizational and personal goals are achieved. The problem is that it is not possible  to achieve equilibrium  and this often leads to employees’ dissatisfaction . Therefore, ideal personnel management  practice and job satisfaction are very crucial in any organization including the school system and any organization that ignores these, does so at the detriment or expense of the achievement of the organizational  goals and objectives.

Statement  of the Problem

           Considering  the fact  that Nigerian School teachers have been viewed by public  as not performing up to expectation in recent times, questions have been raised as to what factors are responsible  for this, particularly in a developing country such as Nigeria  where both the State and the Federal governments now realize that education is a necessity for the social, political, technological and economic growth of the   country.

           Farbar and Miller (1981), have also observed that no professional group has been criticized  as frequently as the teachers. They are accused of fairly to control students’ violence and of being unreasonable in their salary demands.

           The teacher’s role in the day to day programmes and administration of secondary schools cannot be over-emphasized as the teachers are the pivot around which instruction revolves. The teachers determine to a large extent the result of general academic performance of learners, which in turn affects the image of the institution. The teachers effectiveness in the secondary school is contingent on other organizational and personal factors such as human and material resources, enthusiasm, effective personnel management practices, hardwork and above all job satisfaction.

           Teachers constitute the second most important input in any educational system after the learners. Without efficient and effective teachers in the education industry qualitative learning outcomes cannot be achieved. Adesina (1988) agrees with this statement when he remarked that the heart of the Nigerian educational system is the teacher.

Purposes of the Study

           The important of personal management practice in any organization cannot be over-emphasized  as the success of any organization depends on the type of personnel in such organization. The purpose of this study is to examine the personnel management practices and teacher’s job satisfaction in Kwara  State Secondary Schools.

           An attempt would be made to examine the different  personnel  management practice to see  if such practices would enhance  teacher job satisfaction would lead to high job performance  or productivity  of the teacher.

Specifically , the purpose of the study is:

1.     To examine the different personnel management practice in Kwara State Secondary Schools.

2.     To determine the relevance of personnel management practices on teacher job satisfaction.

3.     To examine the extent to which teachers in Kwara State Secondary Schools are satisfied with their job.

4.     To bring to the awareness of Kwara State Government as well as people that would go through this research work the role that affective personnel management  practice plays in education, especially in secondary schools.

Research Questions

This study, therefore, examines the personnel management practices and teacher’s job satisfaction  inKwara State Secondary Schools.

This has led the researcher to ask the following questions:

1.     Does personnel management practices determine the relevance  of teacher’s job satisfaction

2.     Does effective personnel management practices  play significant  role in educational system, most especially in secondary schools.

3.     To what extent are the teachers in Ilorin South Local Government  Educational Authority  secondary schools satisfied  with their job?.

4.     Does  personnel management practices make any distinctive difference in Ilorin South Local Government Educational Authority Secondary Schools.

Significance  of the Study

The findings of this study might serve as a source of vital information to the educational planners, school administrators, educationist, secondary school teachers, students and the society at large since they are all involved in the secondary education system. The study might be of immense help in maintaining the staff so that they would be able and willing to render effective  and efficient  educational services to the students within the school system. Specifically such as in term of:

(i)              Staff recruitment and selection

(ii)           Regular  payment of salary and  promotion as  at when due

(iii)         Staff training and development programmes

(iv)          Compensation and staff welfares, stimulate teacher to work. They influence attention and motivate interest, which in effect aid teacher job satisfaction.

Scope of the Study

This study is to examine the personnel management practices and teachers’ job satisfaction in Kwara State Secondary Schools. The study is limited to ten randomly selected secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government  Educational Authority out of 49  secondary schools. The  outcome  of the investigation is that various groups of teachers have difference grade or certificate  at distinct  level which can be found in  the school selected and these school are also  not less than ten years old.

Definition of terms

The terms used in this study are operationally defined and explained as follows:

Personnel: In the school setting refers to all those who are concerned with the school in one form of responsibility or another e.g Teaching staff and non teaching staff.

Management:        Is a process by which limited resources are assemble and use to achieve predetermine goals.

Practice: is an act of doing something often so as to learn and become skillful

Teacher: may be described as that person who imparts knowledge, a transmitter of societal virtues, a socialize, model, a pace-setter, an innovator, a director of learning and instruction and an evaluator. To a great extent, a teacher is a sociologist, a psychologist, a philosopher, a moralist, a manager and a leader.

Job: is a piece of work or employment.

Satisfaction: This refers to feeling, contentment and happiness which workers experience   arising from the fulfillment  of an individual’s needs and expectations.

Secondary School: This is the education received after primary education and which precedes the tertiary level of education system.

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