CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS AND TEACHERS JOB PRODUCTIVITY

1.1 Introduction

Teachers’ capacity building is the process by which teachers acquire in-depth content knowledge, innovative pedagogical skills, professional ethics and experiences as they interact thoughtfully with professional experts and colleagues on theories, techniques, practices and challenges involved in the implementation of curriculum and resource management in educational institutions. Capacity building programs refers to the professional process that the teachers undergo to improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness in learning performance of students in schools. Capacity building programmes are usually organized for teachers at a designated training centre within or outside an educational institution depending on the nature of the training, time and work locations of the participants.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

In Nigeria, teachers’ capacity building at the secondary school level is organized in form of cluster training by The Federal and State Ministry of Education, The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Teaching Service Commission, and Professional Bodies in education sector. The training also involved facilitators who are research experts selected from the consulting tertiary institutions that provide professional expertise for the training programme in each of the 36 States and Abuja, the Federal capital territory. Participants interact professionally by cross-fertilizing ideas on theories, principles and practices relating to instructional planning, pedagogical styles, evaluation process, time management, class management, record keeping and so on. Participants are expected to replicate the training by sharing knowledge, skills and experiences gained with their colleagues in their respective schools.

Teachers’ capacity building aimed at advancing teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills for best practices and efficiency in instructional inputs and processes for better learning outcome in schools. However, it appears that school principals are much occupied with administrative duties which make them to give little attention to teachers’ capacity building, while the government seems not to provide adequate training facilities and funds for teachers’ participation in periodic seminars, workshops and conferences. This situation often create gaps in teachers’ competence and inadequacies in the quality of instruction, which has perhaps been responsible for the low level of students’ academic performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) conducted between 2016 and 2018 in Nigerian secondary schools which reflected 52.92% in 2016, 59.22% in 2017 and 49.98% in 2018 (Adenipekun, 2018).

Teachers’ capacity building cannot be over-emphasized because of its immense contribution and far reaching positive implication on the quality of teaching-learning process. It is a vital tool for achieving and sustaining quality education. This underscores the relevance of teachers’ capacity building since no education system can rise above the quality of teachers who translate the curriculum to reality in institutions of learning.

Despite the strategy adopted for teachers’ capacity development in Nigeria, students still performed poorly in some public secondary schools, which implied low productivity of teachers. This was partly attributed to shortage of teachers, inadequate textbooks and other learning equipment among others. Productivity is the ability to do the right thing (effectiveness) and do something well or achieves the desired result without wasted effort (efficiency) in the organization (Ayeni, 2018).

Productivity reduces wastages and brings about sustainable quality through capacity building and motivation to induce workers to realize the organization’s objectives. It is generally accepted that productivity measure indicates the rate of growth in capabilities of respective organizations to accomplish their mission/goals and ensure quality service and products. Nwachukwu (2006) viewed productivity as the relationship between output of goods and service, and resource inputs (human and material) which are utilized in the production of goods and services.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Capacity Building Programs and Teachers Job Productivity.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the implication of teachers’ capacity building on teachers’ productivity is worth investigating when one looks at the multiplicity of roles performed by teachers. Teachers are blamed for the poor academic performance in schools, alleging that they are not as dedicated to the cause of education as expected while teachers as a group blamed parents and students for the decline in quality of education. Teachers also blamed the government for unattractive condition of service which capacity building is inclusive.

In Nigeria, secondary school teachers are incapacitated by funds to attend periodic seminars, workshops and conferences to improve their competence in instructional tasks performance. It is also not uncommon that capacity training programmes organized by government’s agencies on many occasions are unduly influenced by key government officials as few teachers/trainees are sometimes selected on the basis of personal relationship while ignoring the majority of the teachers. In most cases those who attended training programmes do not replicate the knowledge and skills gained in their respective schools. This is very inimical to efficiency because it often results in low level of performance.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Capacity Building Programs and Teachers Job Productivity. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To determine whether teachers’ communication skills as a capacity building programme has any relationship with teacher productivity;
2. To establish the influence of teachers capacity development on productivity of secondary schools;
3. To determine the influence of working conditions on teachers’ job productivity in secondary schools;
4. To examine the influence of recognition and training on teachers’ job productivity in secondary schools; and
5. To find out whether any relationship exists between teachers internet usage as a capacity building programme and teacher productivity.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Does teachers’ communication skills as a capacity building programme has any relationship with teacher productivity?
• Does the working condition influence teachers’ job productivity in secondary schools?
• Does recognition and training influence teachers’ job productivity in secondary schools?
• Is there any relationship that exists between teachers’ internet usage as a capacity building programme and teacher productivity?
• What is the influence of teachers’ capacity development on productivity of secondary schools?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant relationship between teachers’ internet usage as a capacity building programme and teacher productivity
• H1: There is a significant relationship between teachers’ internet usage as a capacity building programme and teacher productivity

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Teachers’ communication skill as a capacity building programme does not have any relationship with teacher productivity
• H1: Teachers’ communication skill as a capacity building programme has relationship with teacher productivity

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1.7 Significance of Study

The study of teachers’ capacity building has an important influence on teachers’ productivity and play crucial role in the attainment of educational goals. Teachers are responsible for translating educational policies and curriculum into action during teaching–learning process. Teachers are therefore expected to be effective in the discharge of their duties and this depends largely on their capacity building. However, there are still noticeable gap in teachers’ competence which has perhaps been attributed to the perceived inadequacies in capacity building in Nigerian public secondary schools.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Capacity Building Programs and Teachers Job Productivity in Nigeria. The study is restricted to some secondary schools in Warri-South Local Government Area, Delta State.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Capacity Building: It refers to the professional process that the teachers undergo to improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness in learning performance of students in schools.