CAUSES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS LATENESS TO WORK IN RURAL AREAS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Lateness is one of the most serious unethical activities that many businesses face nowadays. Few companies can boast that all of its personnel are present at all times. Employees frequently arrive late for work, leave early, extend tea, lunch, and even toilet breaks, attend private business during working hours, fabricate illness, and lengthen time to collect instruments of the trade, as well as spontaneous absences from work.

All of this is referred to be absenteeism in the workplace. Many factors influence lateness, according to Chandhury, (2006), including personal illness, a sick relative, family conflicts, lack of job satisfaction leading to low morale, lack of personal competence, lack of friendly work group norms, poor leadership at the workplace, lack of effective supervision and inspection of employees, assignment of other duties outside the workplace, bad weather conditions, union influence, and petty theft. Employee difficulties vary from one firm to the next, despite the fact that they are prevalent in many.

There are various explanations for differences in the recording of lateness among teachers, according to Hazeltine (1999). Teachers differ from one another. While one student may arrive at school and promptly enter the classroom to prepare for the day's work, another student may encounter numerous distractions on the route to school. Another may have more parents waiting to speak with him in the morning, making it later than 8:30 a.m. when they arrive at school. In light of this, Hazaltine (1999) suggested that teachers remember that being punctual is a form of exhibiting civility, which is a part of love, and a method for individuals to demonstrate love and respect to one another. Teachers must be on time not only in the morning, but also for each class throughout the day. The potential for disruption develops geometrically with seven periods in a day and extremely specified times for each. As a result, punctuality is a vital life skill for the world of work, as it is not uncommon for instructors to be sent home or fired for always being late.

For Nigerian public secondary schools, tardiness in reporting and failure to stay in work places for new instructors is a major concern. This is because secondary school education is regarded as an important sub-sector in the educational system as well as for the country's economic development (Jidamva, 2012). Delaying and failing to report teachers in public secondary schools can be the result of inefficiency in the country's provision of quality education, and this contributes significantly to the country's failure to achieve the National Development Vision 2025, which sees education as a strategic requisite for economic growth and poverty eradication.

Secondary school teachers are in short supply in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, with demand exceeding supply by substantial margins in some cases. High rates of teacher attrition owing to illness in some locations, roadblocks in teacher preparation systems, unappealing working conditions such as perceived poor pay and arbitrary teacher deployment methods are all factors contributing to this (Mulkeen et al., 2007). Other variables that contribute to teacher turnover, according to the report, include unappealing work environments, unprofessional treatment of instructors, a lack of professional development opportunities, and insufficient supportive supervision. Attrition can be induced by attaining retirement age, disease, or death, according to UNESCO (2010), and is mostly determined by demographics, health conditions, and retirement policy.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The quantity of pupils in a school does not determine how successful an education system is, but rather what kids learn. Teachers have a critical role in increasing students' learning in this aspect. Secondary school teacher demand far outnumbers supply in many regions of Africa, owing to issues such as secondary school teacher attrition, bottlenecks in the teacher preparation system, and perceived unappealing working conditions (Mulkeen et al, 2007).

Secondary education with acceptable learning results is only possible if assigned teachers report to their work stations and stay there. Teachers are well-known for their importance in achieving national and international education and poverty-reduction goals, as well as being significant factors in increasing economic growth and social development. However, there is rising worry that teachers are leaving their jobs in greater numbers, which is reflected in poor teaching performance and learning outcomes (Okon 2017).

Ahmed (2018) pointed out that teachers have faced poor and irregular income payments, a lack of decent accommodation, inadequate teaching facilities, low status, and limited professional development possibilities. Teachers often complain about a lack of incentives, which leads to some teachers leaving the profession. Given this, the study set out to find out why teachers take so long to report to their new workplaces when they initially start and why they don't stay in their work stations long after they have started.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of this study is to the causes of secondary school teachers lateness to school in rural areas. Specifically, other objectives of this study are:

i.          To examine the factors that cause secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas

ii.        To determine the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects academic performance of students

iii.      To determine the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects their work output

iv.      To proffer measures by which teachers lateness to school in rural areas can be curbed.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

i.          What are the factors that cause secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas?

ii.        To what extent does teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects academic performance of students?

iii.      To what extent does teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects their work output?

iv.      What are the measures by which teachers lateness to school in rural areas can be curbed?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The outcomes of this study will address and provide information on the subject of secondary school teachers not reporting on time and not staying long after reporting in work stations in a practical way. Policymakers, planners, administrators, and other stakeholders in the education sector could benefit from the findings in terms of strengthening reporting methods and reducing the problem of no reporting and not continuing in teaching. The findings will also help to inform and motivate more research as one of the methods to keep more instructors in the teaching profession in the educational system. This is because teachers are the most important resources in ensuring that the teaching and learning process is implemented successfully in schools.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will be focused on causes of secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas. Specifically, this study will focus on examining the factors that cause secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas, determining the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects academic performance of students, determining the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects their work output and proffering measures by which teachers lateness to school in rural areas can be curbed.

Teachers of selected public secondary schools in Uyo LGA of Akwa Ibom State will serve as enrolled participants for the survey of this study.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will be limited to causes of secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas. Specifically, this study will be limited to examining the factors that cause secondary school teachers lateness to work in rural areas, determining the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects academic performance of students, determining the extent teachers lateness to school in rural areas affects their work output and proffering measures by which teachers lateness to school in rural areas can be curbed.

Teachers of selected public secondary schools in Uyo LGA of Akwa Ibom State will serve as enrolled participants for the survey of this study, thus the sample size was limited because only a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, therefore the results cannot be generalized to other secondary schools outside the state.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Causes: a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition.

Teachers: A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

Lateness: the fact or quality of happening or arriving after the expected or usual time; unpunctuality.

Get this material NGN 5,000

Message Us on WhatsApp  »