Status of Primary School Teachers and Its Effect on the Delivery of Primary Education in Zambia

Abstract

This study has provided information on how primary school teachers perceive themselves with regard to social status; how they are perceived by others in the society and more importantly how their perceived status affects their service delivery in the primary education sector. The first part of the paper argues that public perception is that the status of primary school teachers in Zambia is relatively low compared to other occupational groups such as law, medicine, accountancy and so on. The paper also discusses numerous reasons perceived to be responsible for the low status of primary school teachers which include low salary and poor working conditions such as poor accommodation which leads to low motivation levels among primary school teachers. The paper concludes that the low status of primary school teachers does have a negative effect on the delivery of education and provides examples of how this happens.