the rate of zambianization of the secondary school teaching force
Date
2011-05-06
Authors
Jackman, Robert Howard
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Abstract
Since Independence, Zambia has made significant steps forward in many areas of development, and the educational system has played a key role in ensuring the future prosperity of the country.
The secondary school teaching force has in the past been dependent on expatriate manpower, however the training of Zambian teachers has now been proceeding for a sufficiently long time for there to be a greater proportion of Zambian teachers within the teaching service than are presently to be found there.
This study, after reviewing previous work on the Zambianization of the teaching force seeks to establish the actual rate at which the Zambianization is progressing.
The rate of attrition of Zambian teachers from the secondary school teaching force is observed to be 18 per cent per year, a rate which if continued, given the present size of the secondary school teacher training programme and the growth of secondary school provision, implies that it would be impossible for the secondary school teaching force to be completely Zambianized.
In order to identify the attitudes of serving Zambian teachers to teaching as their career, so that an assessment could be made as to the likely future attrition rate, a questionnaire survey of all serving Zambian teachers was undertaken during the second term of 1974. This included an analysis of the characteristics of the Zambian secondary school teaching force, their attitudes towards their work and their conditions of service, their intentions regarding remaining in the profession, and their views on certain aspects of the teaching service.
The analysis of this survey attempts to determine those aspects of the work of teaching which may be contributing to the high attrition rate and those which, if reinforced, may help reduce it. The teachers were asked whether they had ever applied for other jobs since they started to teach, and their views on their prospects in other sectors of the economy are discussed.
The probable effects of changes in the differential between teachers' salaries and conditions of service and those of other sectors are discussed, as are those of changes in the administration of the teaching service.
From the evidence of the survey and the statistics abstracted the prediction must be made that while attrition from the teaching service remains at the observed level complete Zambianization of the teaching service will not be achieved. A reduction of the attrition rate as a result of conscious effort, or as a result of complete Zambianization of other sectors thus decreasing their demands, could however result in complete Zambianization of the teaching force within a decade.
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Keywords
Teaching--Secondary Schools Zambia , Teaching--Zambia