Some factors contributing to the attrition of secondary school teachers in Zambia, 1984-1988
Date
2011-06-24
Authors
Subulwa, Mwakamui Charles
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Abstract
The present study attempted to find out the extent to which qualified teachers never actually begin teaching(graduation loss) loss) and the extent to which serving
teachers leave the profession (active loss) in relation to sex, subject of specialization and level of
qualification in the period 1984 to 1988.
The investigation endeavoured to establish whether or not a relationship existed between graduation loss and sex;
graduation loss and level of teacher qualification;graduation loss and teacher's subject of specialization;active loss and sex; active loss and level of teacher
qualification; and finally between active loss and teacher's subject of specialization.
A population of 2,464 teachers who had graduated from secondary school teacher training institutions in Zambia,
including the University of Zambia, in the period 1984 to 1988 was identified. The population was then categorized
into sub-populations according to sex, level of qualification and subject of specialization. The classification resulted in ten sub-populations.
After classification, stratified random sampling was used
to draw 144 subjects from the ten sub-populations.
Check-lists were used to collect nominal data on these
subjects. The chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at the .05 or better levels of significance.
The study found that a teacher's sex has no significant influence on either graduation or active loss and that the area of subject specialization does not significantly
influence graduation loss. However, the study also revealed that the type of qualification a teacher holds
significantly influences both graduation and active loss and that the area of subject specialization is significantly related to active loss.
The study concludes with recommendations on how to deal with the problem of teacher loss in schools, one of which is that the Bachelor of Arts degree with Education be
made more specific to teaching needs.
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Keywords
Attirition--Secondary School teachers--Zambia