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International Journal of
Business and Management Research (IJBMR)
Open Access | Rapid and quality publishing Review Article | Volume 8, Issue 1 | Pages 05-19| e-ISSN: 2347-4696
UTILIZATION OF TEACHING MANPOWER IN THE
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS OF AJUMAKO-ENYAN-
ESSIAM DISTRICT, GHANA
1 2
Foster Kwashie Dugble , Damianus Kofi Owusu
1
Mphil, Department of Mathematics, University of Cape Coast Junior High School, Cape Coast, Ghana
2
PhD student, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana
*Correspondence: fosterkwashie@gmail.com , damian.kowusu@gmail.com
░ ABSTRACT: In The study investigated the extent of teacher utilization problems in the junior high schools (JHSs)
in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District. It specifically sought to find out whether there were differences in teacher utilization
with respect to gender, ownership of school, number of subjects taught, teaching experience, qualification, professional status
and rank in the Ghana Education Service. A sample of 192 teachers made up of 160 teachers and 32 head teachers provided
data for the descriptive study. Two set of questionnaires were designed for heads and teachers with reliability coefficients of
0.78 and 0.81 respectively. The SPSS was used to analyze data collected by using statistical tools such as frequencies,
percentages, means, standard deviations, Chi-square test, t-test and Pearson’s correlation. All the analyses were at a
significance cutoff of 0.05. The study revealed that although majority (88.8%) of the teachers were under-utilized in terms of
teaching load, they were over-worked in the areas of teaching-related and co-curricula activities. There was a statistically
significant association between subject(s) taught and teaching load of the teachers, and both male and female teachers had
comparatively equal teaching load. Also, the junior-rank teachers had greater and heavier teaching workload than their senior-
rank counterparts. It is recommended that additional Mathematics, Integrated Science, ICT and English teachers should be
posted to the District’s junior high schools to augment the existing teacher population.
Keywords: Teaching Workload, Teacher Utilisation, and Teachers’ Workload Rating
tomorrow (Baffour-Awuah, 2004).
░ 1. INTRODUCTION
It is generally accepted by governments that education is the
The recognition of the importance of education makes it
pivot of economic and social development of any nation.
necessary for policy makers in developing countries like
Education is essential in a nation’s development because it
Ghana to be concerned with the issues relating to the
equips the individual with skills, competencies, technical
educational sector. Since Ghana’s independence in 1957,
know-how and knowledge that are ingredients for higher
governments have set up educational review committees
productivity. Productivity helps to raise the gross national
which have made recommendations for the reforms of the
product and the rise in productivity is an indicator of economic
educational system in Ghana. For instance, the Dzobo
growth and development. Education also enhances good
committee report of 1972 (recommended the JHS Concept)
citizenship, morality, sense of patriotism, ecological
and the free compulsory Universal Basic Education
consciousness, self-reliance, fellow feeling, internationalism,
Programme (FCUBE) policy Document (1992 constitution)
empathy and dignity of labour. Studies have also shown that
and 2007 educational reform have contributed immensely to
literate workers are more productive (World Bank, 1988).
the structure of Basic Education in Ghana.
Many prominent people and statesmen in Ghana have also
recognized the importance of education and described it to be
Before the educational reform, the curricula was bookish
the lifeblood of a nation. For instance, Bimbila Naa, Dasani II
hence the new reform intended to vocationalise the curricula.
made reference to the value of education and opined that
The JHS concept which was implemented in 1987 stipulated
education is the only foundation of a nation’s development and
that all children enter the first year of primary school at age 6
therefore it is only when our children are given adequate
and are expected to go through a minimum of 9 years
education now that we can hope for a prosperous Ghana
education (i.e. 6 years of primary and 3 years of Junior High
Education). At the end of Junior High School, children can
5
Website: http://www.ijbmr.forexjournal.co.in Utilization of teaching manpower in the junior high school
International Journal of
Business and Management Research (IJBMR)
Open Access | Rapid and quality publishing Review Article | Volume 8, Issue 1 | Pages 05-19| e-ISSN: 2347-4696
either enter the world of work or continue to the secondary complained that teachers in some subject areas are over-
level. The senior secondary level which comprise 3 years, utilized while others are under-utilized. The major concern of
began in 1990. In line with this, the old Educational system the study was to find out the rate of utilization of the JHS
(middle School System) was phased out in 1989. teacher in the district. The study has become necessary in
order to establish whether the JHS teacher (in the Ajumako-
The general view held by the people in the Ajumako-Enyan-
Enyan-Essiam District) works above or below 40 hours a
Essiam District is that the teaching load of teachers is less than
week.
40 hours a week. During an education forum held in 2004,
some workers of the public departments in the District A number of determinants could contribute to the existing
expressed the view that Junior Secondary School (JSS) situation. These include preparing lesson notes, teaching load,
teachers in the District do less teaching than required. They the setting and marking of exercises, recording of marks,
attributed this to tardiness, absenteeism, lateness and laziness. performing administrative duties and organising co-curricula
activities such as clubs and society meetings and income-
Junior High School teachers of the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam
generating projects. It was worth analysing these determinants
District complained about their private time being denied them
in order to measure the extent to which teacher utilization in
as a result of marking of assignments, recording of marks and
the JHS of Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam district was influenced.
preparing lesson notes, undertaking co-curricula activities and
The aim was be to find out whether the determinants
performing administrative duties. According to the teachers,
individually or collectively contribute to teachers working
most of activities often took place outside school hours. They
above or below 40 hours a week.
therefore, argued that the total time used in carrying out
teaching and teaching-related duties far exceeded the 40 hours Another area of concern of this study was to find out whether
a week work period prescribed by labour laws for workers in significant differences could be observed in the rate of teacher
Ghana. This argument supports Horrick’s (1973) complaint utilization in the Junior Secondary Schools of the district in
that the average teacher works longer hours and receives less relation to the stipulated national norms on teacher
pay than most semi-skilled workers. establishment and utilization. It was equally expedient to find
out if comparisons of school location, size, subject(s) taught
The GES norm for the pupil-teacher ratio in the JSS is 20:1
and ownership would reveal major differences in teacher
while that for teaching load is a minimum of 25 periods per
utilization rates.
week (GES, 1988). The minimum number of periods to be
taught by every teacher in the JSS did not take account of the A thought-provoking question that emerged out of the casual
other duties of the teacher such as time spent on lesson complaint by JHS teachers was, were the teachers actually
preparation, marking, and co-curricula activities like overburdened? If yes, was it all the teachers were being over-
supervision. burdened? It therefore, became necessary to examine the
situation on the ground in order to determine the staff strength
It identified and examined the duration of the teachers’ time
and the utilization capacity, which would tell whether or not
on task with pupils and teaching-related activities. These
the teachers are being overburdened.
variables were considered to make up the teachers’ total
workload per week.The computation of the time schedules was The findings of the study may be useful to the District
based on the time on task specified on the teaching time table Education Directorate when it wishes to post new teachers and
and the average time estimates that were given by the redistribute existing teachers in the field in order to solve the
teachers’ responses regarding teaching related activities which problem of under-utilization and over-utilization of teachers in
were undertaken outside the time table schedule. the District.
The study could be a guide to policy makers and educational
░ 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM planners, in the recruitment and placement exercise of
Notwithstanding the general opinion of the public that JHS
teachers. Moreover, the results of the study may be useful in
teachers are working below 40 hours a week, JHS teachers of
finding out reliable and meaningful time estimate of the
the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District claim they are
teachers’ out-of-classroom activities for policy making. This
overburdened with work. This complaint by the teachers had
may provide new insights on how teachers should be utilized,
been compounded by the implementation of the Education
especially with the advent of continuous assessment.
Reform Programme of 1987, which stresses the importance of
the continuous assessment concept. Other JHS teachers
6
Website: http://www.ijbmr.forexjournal.co.in Utilization of teaching manpower in the junior high school
International Journal of
Business and Management Research (IJBMR)
Open Access | Rapid and quality publishing Review Article | Volume 8, Issue 1 | Pages 05-19| e-ISSN: 2347-4696
of teachers is lower than the minimum norm. They claimed
░ 3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
that this is compensated for by the load for lesson
The following research questions had been constructed to
preparations, setting, marking and recording continuous
guide the study:
assessment work, performing administrative duties and
involvement in co-curricula activities. In the researchers’
What is the evidence that teachers are over-worked in
view, teaching related duties have raised the workload of
Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE) District?
teachers beyond the Ministry’s prescription. Kutor (1999)
i. In which subject areas are differences in teaching loads
reported Perry (1998), Mitchell (1986) and Doherty (1980)
significant?
findings showed that there was a reduction of school hours in
ii. What difference exists between utilization rates of
Britain. That, school hours reduced from 1000 hours annually
teachers teaching in the public and private Junior High
to 900 hours. It was also established that the school day has
Schools of Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE) District?
reduced between 30 and 35 minutes.
iii. How significant are differences in the teaching workload
of male teachers and that of female teachers in junior high
However, Kutor (1999) cited the work of Herrick (1973) who
schools in the AEEDistrict?
argued that the average teacher in USA works longer hours
iv. How significant is the difference in the teaching workload
and receives less pay than most semi-skilled workers. This
between teachers of the ranks of principal superintendent
assertion by Herrick is contended or supported by Hoy and
or higher and teachers of ranks below principal
Miskel (1978), who shared the same view that teachers are
superintendent?
doing an average of 46 hours per week in the United States of
America and that about 45 percent of these teachers sacrifice
░ 4. REVIEWED OF RELATED
their lunch breaks to supervise pupils. Baffour-Awuah (2004)
LITERATURE
cited the work of Cresswell (1982) who revealed that through
4.1 Human Resource Utilization collective bargaining between teacher unions and educational
A number of studies have been undertaken in the area of managements in the USA, co-curricula and supervisory duties
human resource utilization in general and teaching manpower are separated from teaching duties. He suggested that districts
in particular. Gillis et al. (1987) as reported by Baffour-Awuah should hire additional staff to perform those duties or pay
(2004) noted that characteristic of labour in the poorest extra remuneration to teachers who performed such duties.
economics is widespread underutilization of the available Kutor (1999) observed that time spent by majority of the
labour supply. Much of this underutilization, from their point teachers and heads on teaching and teaching-related duties
of view takes the form of disguised unemployment familiar in exceeded norm laid down by the labour laws of the country –
industrial countries. That is people do have some kind of a job, more than 40 hours a week. He also observed in the same
and work long hours, but the contribution to output is small. study that the teachers in the Languages, Science and
They noted with concern that, with some reallocation of Mathematics spent much more time on their teaching related
resources and improvement of institutions their labour could duties than teachers of Social Studies, Vocational and
be made more productive. They however observed that the Technical Subject groups. However, Kutor’s definition on
degree of labour underutilization varies greatly in most Asian teaching-related duties appeared to be too broad because it
countries and in the sub-Saharan Africa. Kutor (1999) reported included co-curricula activities and administrative duties,
similar findings; that manpower survey conducted in Ghana in which many teachers do not participate. Therefore, teacher
1960 pointed out that the most serious problem facing the workload comprises the time spent in performing his teaching
country was the widespread underutilization and low duties as well as time expended in performing teaching-related
productivity of labour. duties.
4.2 Time on Task and Total Workload 4.3 Staffing and Teacher Workload
Dzineku (1992) and Dewotor (1992) shared common views. Lewin (1987) as reported by Dzineku (1992) observed that
They explained the total workload of teachers as constituting teacher workload was very light in a study conducted in China,
their teaching load and the time spent performing teaching 1985. According to Lewin, teaching loads in Secondary
related duties. Dewotor (1992), and Harbison and Myers schools were light, and a teacher was allocated about 10 – 12
(1974) shared a common view that the problem of incentive periods a week out of 30 periods a week. A related study
and proper utilization of human resources must not be under conducted by Lewin (1992) in China, Papua New Guinea,
estimated in manpower evaluation. Atta-Boison (1992) and Singapore, Thailand, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana and the
Dewotor (1992) quotedMiskel et al. (1990) said teaching load Philippines on science Education in developing countries
7
Website: http://www.ijbmr.forexjournal.co.in Utilization of teaching manpower in the junior high school
International Journal of
Business and Management Research (IJBMR)
Open Access | Rapid and quality publishing Review Article | Volume 8, Issue 1 | Pages 05-19| e-ISSN: 2347-4696
revealed similar results. He indicated that the average teaching teachers, respectively. Only teachers and headteachers with at
load for the science teachers in the countries used for the study least a year’s duration of service were considered. Hence, the
was about 14 hours per week with about 80% of the time targeted population was 402, while that of the heads was 68
devoted to science teaching. According to him, in most cases, (i.e. 68 schools). In all, the targeted population was 470.
the teachers claimed to spend much time on lesson preparation
5.3 Sample and Sampling Technique
and marking. Dzineku also found out that the average
workload of the male teachers was higher than that of the Teachers under study were many and spread over the whole
females. The study conducted by Kutor (1999) also revealed district. As a result, a sample of these teachers was used.
that the proportion of Languages, Mathematics and Science However, all the teachers and heads who have been in the
with teaching load above the Ghana Education Service district for at least one year in the selected schools participated
minimum norm was higher than that of teachers in the Social in the study because they have had adequate information about
Studies, Vocational and Technical subject groups. But the quality of teachers and their attitudes towards work.
Dzineku (1992) in a related study in Senior Secondary School
The classroom teachers and heads of schools constituted the
found out that those teachers of social studies and science in
respondents because they were in position to provide
the southern part of the Volta Region had an average teaching
information on the subject being studied. They formed the
load slightly higher than that of teachers of Arts subjects. In
core of the instructional system of the schools. Their views on
the same study, Kutor (1999) found out that more teachers in
workloads, class sizes and co-curricula activities in which they
the rural schools teach above the Ghana Education Service
were involved were considered vital for a clearer
minimum norm for Junior Secondary teacher than those in
understanding of the issues under the study.
urban Schools. Dzineku (1992) also conducted a study which
revealed that majority of the schools had student-teacher ratio
Out of the 68 schools (heads), 32 were randomly selected for
of more than the GES minimum norm of 20:1.
the study. Hence, the sample size for the study was 192. This
sample size was determined based on a suggestion made by
4.4 Teacher Utilization in Ghana
Fraenkel and Wallen (2000) that for a descriptive study such
Dzineku (1992) and Dewotor (1992) share a common view
as this, a sample with a minimum number of 100 elements is
that teacher utilization vary according to subjects of
essential.
specialization. Kutor (1999) mentioned again that surveys
conducted by the Ministry of Education suggested that
The proportional stratified random sampling technique was
teachers at the basic education level were not fully utilizing
used in the selection of the schools, heads and teachers. The
their instructional time.
criterion for stratification and selection was circuit, and the
proportional allocation according to size was adopted. All
░ 5. METHODS AND MATERIALS
schools randomly selected had their heads as automatic
5.1 Research Design members of the sample. The sample size in the various strata
was proportional to size because the numbers selected from
Our The research design adopted for this study is descriptive
each circuit was in relation to the number of schools and
survey, to describe time utilization of respondents in terms of
teachers in each stratum. In each case, the names of the
total workload, that is teaching and teaching- related duties as
schools in each circuit were written on pieces of paper and
compared to the norms laid down by labour laws of Ghana.
folded. They were then put into a box, well-shuffled and
This objectives of the study made the descriptive survey
picked one after the other without replacement. The names of
design the most appropriate design toprovide a meaningful and
the selected schools were then compiled and used in the study.
accuracy picture of the situation and provide a report on the
Table 1 presents the number of schools, heads and teachers
respondents behaviour on the basis of data collected.
selected for the study.
5.2 Population
All the teachers and school heads of the 67 public Junior High
Schools and those of the 7 private JHSs in the Ajumako-
Enyan-Essiam District constituted the target population for the
study. The available statistics, for the 2011/2011 academic
year from the District Education Office, Ajumako put this
population at 493 teachers and 77 heads in the seven GES’
circuits and all private JHSs as another circuit. The teacher
population was made up of 323 and 170 trained and untrained
8
Website: http://www.ijbmr.forexjournal.co.in Utilization of teaching manpower in the junior high school
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