Impact of Teacher Promotion on Teacher Performance in Selected Government Aided Secondary Schools in Iganga District

Abstract

Teachers’ promotion provides them with the opportunities for growth, increased responsibility and improved social status as well as high job commitment. However, the teachers’ work place performance has not shown the desired results, and the situation has persistent despite the school leaders emphasizing teachers’ promotion. The study aimed at exploring the impact of teacher promotion on teacher performance in selected government aided secondary schools in Iganga District. The study objectives included; to establish the existing promotion criteria for teachers among selected secondary schools, to ascertain the determinants influencing teacher promotion among selected government aided secondary schools, to determine the ways in which teachers’ promotion has influenced their performance among selected government secondary schools. The study employed a cross-sectional research design, where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. The sample comprised of head teachers, deputy head teachers, District Education Officer, District Inspectors of Schools, and teachers. These were purposively and simple randomly selected. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Data was analyzed quantitatively through the SPSS and thematic content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The study findings revealed that teachers tend to be promoted basing on their education level, performance appraisal results, work-based performance, seniority and years of experience at work. Study findings revealed that there is a positive effect of teacher promotion and teacher performance (r=.686) with coefficient of determination R2=0.471 which shows that 47.1 % variation in teacher performance is explained by gaps in teacher promotion. It was noted that promotion enhance teachers’ job commitment, increasing teachers’ work morale, adherence to routine tasks, increased co-operation and harmony among teachers and improvement in students’ academic performance score. The study also revealed that availability of vacancy, school financial base, government policy on recruitment, and assessment and evaluation of one’s skills; these are the critical factors affecting teacher promotion among selected government secondary schools. Basing on the research findings, it is therefore concluded that most teacher promotion has a great impact on their performance in government secondary school teachers in Iganga District (r=.686). The study therefore recommended that Education Service Commission should endeavour to be fair in the selection of qualified candidates based on merit and not politically influenced by union members or politicians; and areas of further research were suggested.