The State of Private School Teachers in Uganda
Introduction
Uganda National Association of
Private Schools and Institutions (UNAPSI) has taken close observation about the
issues and challenges affecting private school teachers in Uganda. Private schools have grown at a rapid rate in
Uganda. According to recent estimates in Uganda, 27% of schools at primary level
and 66% of schools at secondary level are private; private school enrolment is
estimated at 16% in primary schools and 51% in secondary schools. Uganda has 41
Universities where 34 of these are privately run. There are 141 tertiary
institutions and 86 of these are privately run. Student enrolment in higher
institutions is estimated to be 157,000 students in universities of which 39% (60,000)
are in the 31 private universities. Attendance in these schools is not limited
to the non-poor or children in urban areas. A large number of children
belonging to poor households study in private schools which charge low fees; nearly
40% of villages in Uganda have access to a private school within the village
itself. It is now obvious that government alone cannot single handedly satisfy
the educational needs. This is partly the reason that has led to the emergence
of private schools, across the country. These schools cut across nursery,
primary and secondary schools, and more recently have been extended to private
universities. Their complementary role in the achievement of the nation‘s
educational objectives can hardly be overemphasized. It should however be noted
that the success of any educational system whether private or public to a large
extent is dependent on the adequacy and commitment of its teaching staff. These
private unaided schools are owned and funded privately with no state support.
For purposes of recognition, they have to ensure adequate pupil-teacher ratio,
conform to certain qualifications regarding recruitment of principal and
teachers and assure their financial viability. However, all management
decisions are taken by the school, including recruitment procedures and teacher
salaries. They frame their own admission rules and fee structure for students.
These schools are growing as small and medium scale business houses, making
extra profits, but they do not make the required payment to the teachers. While
the term small school‘ can be defined in many ways, common measures refer to
pupil enrolment, the number of teachers and the number of classrooms. An
exploration of data available from the country‘s District Education Office
reveals that approximately 78% of primary schools in Uganda had three or fewer
teachers to attend to all grade levels, and more than 55% had 100 or fewer
students. However, because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Ugandan
children are privately educated. While there has been an overall improvement in
enrolment at the primary level in the country during, a study has reported that
enrolment in private schools has been better than the government ones. In the
present scenario, private schools have blanket protection from any potential
local political policy or movement to redress teacher‘s grievances and teachers
perceived to be hostile to private interests are dismissed at will. They enter the institutions at the mercy of
someone; they quit at the fury of some other. The vicious cycle of silent and
never reported violence continues. Private teachers especially those who work
in small privately owned schools are vulnerable to lack of job security and
hostile and stringent work environment at work place. Such an oppressive state
of affairs has lead to the job dissatisfaction, depression, and lack of
interest in work and sense of alienation among most of the teachers working
mostly in small private schools. As per experiences and observations, they are
beset with myriad of issues today which even the state has ignored. Besides
exploitation, overwork, minimum wages, discrimination in salaries and lack of
mental satisfaction and happiness at work place are some pressing problems of
such school teachers though such problems vary from institution to institution
and cannot be generalized for all the privately owned educational institutions
at any place of the country.
The Government exercises very little regulatory
authority over most functions of its districts, especially with respect to private
education policy. As a result, there is tremendous socioeconomic, cultural, and
political variation within the states also.
School teachers‘salaries are
often perceived to be lower than those of other professionals; this perception
is especially strong among teachers. This affects the teachers‘ motivation to
educate (OECD 2009; Figlio and Kenny 2006; Ortega 2010, Player 2009, Heutel
2009, Loeb and Page, 2000); causes good teachers to leave the profession
(Imazeki 2005; Harris and Adams, 2007; Scafidi et al., 2007); and good students
to avoid choosing an education major in college. These in turn would produce negative
effects in students‘ learning. To improve the quality of education it is
essential to pay special attention to teachers and to implement policies to
attract, motivate and retain the most talented individuals in the profession. Uganda
National Association of Private Schools and Institutions (UNAPSI), on its part,
accept there is a problem. ―It is unfortunate that we are unable to attract
bright minds, the private training institutes are of poor quality and the
government-run ones lack infrastructure. UNAPSI, however, has plans of reviving
private education colleges which will involve setting up a committee that inspects
training institutes.
It is rightly said that; a good
teacher explains, a superior teacher demonstrates and a great teacher
inspiresand so it is expected of all teachers to have certain qualities like
content mastery, love for profession, and love for children. Research studies
shows that (a) private schools have higher teacher attendance and
activity compared to government schools (b) private school teachers get a
fraction of the salary of government school teachers, and (c) private schools
have smaller class sizes.
In a private school, the
teachers are accountable to the authorities (who can fire them), and, the
parents (who can withdraw their children). These teachers also face a different
recruitment and reward structure from those at government schools, they are
forced to sign bonds and agreements by the school administrations where they
cannot quit the school in any condition for years together by themselves; In
case they leave, their salaries of months together is devoured and cut off by
the school authorities, this is the reflection of many big city schools also.
Private schools hire teachers who often do not have a teaching certificate and
pay them a fraction of the salaries of government schools, but they hire more
teachers to reduce class sizes. The heads have far greater control over hiring
and firing of teachers and thus are able to exhibit tighter control, have
higher attendance and only retain effective teachers.
UNAPSI observed that some teachers
are very unhappy with their lot and that most of them are negatively disposed
towards their jobs. Teachers can be effective and productive when they are
happy with their job because productivity is a function of human frame of mind
and motivation is a necessary requirement for effectively in the long run.
Furthermore, Farber (1984) assessed the sources of
stress of suburban teachers in the United States and found that excessive
paperwork, unsuccessful administrative meetings, and the lack of advancement
opportunities in teaching were related to stress. Workload, lack of resources,
poor professional relationships with colleagues, inadequate salary, pupil
misbehaviour, difficult interactions with parents and expectations of other
staff have been identified as sources of stress in many studies (Borg, Riding
&Falzon, 1991; Boyle, et al., 1995; Pierce & Molloy, 1990; Pithers&Soden,
1998; Travers & Cooper, 1993). Smilansky (1984) examined teachers' work
satisfaction and reports of job-related stress in some English elementary
schools, and he found that teachers' general satisfaction and stress at work
were related mostly to their reported feelings about what had happened within
class (such as relations with pupils, the process of teaching, and pupil
behavior in school) rather than to administrative or policy questions (such as
degree of work autonomy, relations with principals). Negative self-perception,
negative life experiences, low morale, and a struggle to maintain personal
values and standards in the classroom all take their toll (Goodman, 1980;
Schnacke, 1982; Schwanke, 1981). Stressed teachers had more illness, medicine
intake, anxiety, depression, and sexual passivity. More psychological and
psychosomatic symptoms were reported by teachers experiencing high burnout
(Bauer et al., 2006). As ithappens, many studies have brought out that
private/non-government schools can supply a reasonable quality of school
education at almost 25% to 35% of the cost of government education (Pankaj Jain
1997; Tooley et al 2007; Vachani and Smith 2008). This happens because the
salary of a schoolteacher in the private sector is almost 25% to 35% of the government
salary as found by several studies (see for instance, Bajpai et al 2008a and
2008b) (p 41).
Findings
·
Most Teachers do
not get free time though it is shown as free periods in the timetable.
·
They do not get
sick leaves; have to take leave without pay if they get engaged in some
unavoidable circumstances.
·
Most Teachers are
kept on probation and have no pension system.
·
They are in
constant threat of expulsion by school employers.
·
Teachers lack
administrative support from the principals
·
Teachers have a
feeling that the parents and students have no respect for them
·
Teachers are
underpaid and have extra working hours
·
Schools follow
hire and fire system.
·
Directors are of the
view that teachers are available at low pay.
·
Principals follow
the rules laid by the trustees.
·
The principals do
not decide the salary or appointments of teachers.
·
Teachers feel
they do not get respect from parents, students and management.
·
Teachers are
overloaded with administrative duties.
·
Teacher‘s salary
not at par with the market rate.
Recommendations
Generally, teachers were less satisfied
with advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation, and working
conditions. In the interview the teachers with four to five years of experience
candidly admitted that management is happier to lay off such teachers and
appoint new teachers as they would be able to get two teachers at the price of
one teacher. Director of one school, said, "Many applications that we
receive for secondary schools do not have a professional degree or sometimes
they have a degree in home science and are themselves not qualified to teach,
but since they are willing to work for such low wages why would schools raise
the bar? For every post that is advertised we get at least more than 25
applicants though we do not feature in the top schools."When this is the
condition where is the question for these private schools to pay according to
sixth pay commission? There are some schools that have put teachers in the
sixth pay scale but have their own calculations not as per the government, thus
these teachers never get equal pay scale as in case of government school
teachers. With the low level of salaries, the immediate concern is clearly on
the quality of education being imparted. Adequate payment will motivate
teachers to put maximum efforts and enjoy their work." Poor salary is one
major factor to the lack of talent flow in education sector. It was thus known
from the responses of the teachers that these schools have a stringent pay
policy for their teachers. Today neither the parents nor the students respect
the teachers. This is what the teachers have to say about what they feel about
the teaching profession and what is the attitude of parents, students and
principals towards them. It becomes more important for principals to be aware
of the importance of their supervisory styles in relation to teachers‘ job
satisfaction and should adopt the supportive principal behavior such as
criticism should be handled constructively, praise should be given genuinely,
and principal should listen and accept teachers‘ suggestions. An atmosphere of
trust, confidence and cooperation should be fostered, where teachers can
interact with each other than disengage behavior. Efforts should focus on to
improving job attraction for talented male population and retaining those
already in the profession. The data clearly indicate that teachers derive less
satisfaction from advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation, and
working conditions, so the private trusts should take more interest in
advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation and working conditions
than other factors. Similar type of researches should be conducted at colleges
and university levels. Jacques Barzun-a French American philosopher has rightly
said that, Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost
tradition‘. Teachers Day as usual is observed every year and theoretically the
teacher, their position and the prestige of their profession is glorified like
anything, and also the philosophical discourses are conducted about what and
how a teacher should do in this prophetic profession. But hardly we empathize
with them and understand their problems or highlight the silent violence which
the poor stock faces throughout.
Uganda
National Association of Private Schools and Institutions
P.O.Box 29324 Kampala, Uganda, Email: unaph22@yahoo.com , www.unapsi.org
www.ugandaprivateschools.blogspot.com
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