THE EFFECTS OF THE NEW SALARY SCHEME ON TEACHERS' PERFORMANCE

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Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

There is a saying that “the return of labor is salary or wages. The study focuses on the key determinants of job satisfaction among teachers in ogun state, which include the impact of working and living conditions on teacher’s morale, and also the new salary scheme which was implemented by the federal republic of Nigeria for its workers in which are one of them.

In recent times, there has been a growing interest the financial aspect of education. One of the reasons for such interest is the considerable growth in the volume of educational activities to such an extent that education is today one of the largest industries in all countries and in Nigeria. According to Ogbodo (1995), education is the employer of highly skilled personnel in which teachers are most essential.

Education utilizes large amount of a country’s available resources and how it does this affects the well being of the population. One of the resources which education utilizes a great deal is money and this is a very important input on which the success of any school system depends. These resources are essential in the payment of teacher’s salaries, which is the main key factor to motivate teachers.

For teachers to deliver something meaningful to the students, their salaries determine how serious and how motivated they will be, to discharge their duties, for “effective payment of salaries will lead to effective teaching”. Government has been the sole provider of funds for schools and financing of education in the country. According to vaizey(1973), it has been a intractable problem for government in most developing countries due to uncontrolled increase in school age population leading to expansion of education with the attendant upward push in the cost of education.

For decades, teachers have claimed, step by step, up the traditional pay ladder, automatically earning salary increase based on their education level and years of service.

Around the nation, most school districts and teachers recognize that traditional pay schedule is for what it is an imperfect market system. Yet, for many years, in community after community, teacher’s salary talks often ended up focusing on ways to adjust the system. Only in recent years has the salary talk climate been more conductive to discussions of alternative pay structures, structures that often involve compensating teachers not just for how long they have been teaching, but how well.

Each day, teachers and other school staff take on responsibilities that in past years would have been undertaken by parents. However teachers feel they are being asked to do more than just teach, and also should be paid accordingly. Teachers also believe that higher salaries and benefits would reflect a larger measure of public respect for their professions.

Sandra Freidman, president of the American federation of teachers, has been quoted as saying that beginning teachers should earn wages comparable to those afforded beginning doctors and lawyers. A typical government teacher is required to teach between seven to eight periods each day to classes which frequently have more than forty pupils. Teachers are also expected to assist with others school based activities that are sometimes labor intensive, the reward system in terms of pay packet s and promotion does not appear to have job motivation as its goal.

In Nigeria the average teacher salary before increasing it was ₦9,000 per month, without any form of allowance. If they are lucky, they are given a motorcycle or bicycle loan which further reduces the salary to about ₦8,000/month. There is no case where primary or secondary school teachers are sponsored to further his/her education. A teacher who earn #9,000 monthly, who have a family of two children and which his children spent an estimate of ₦5,000 per month; it will be ineffective for him to sponsor the other activities in his family. These can lead to getting a business job that will affect his teaching career, because he will not have time for his students.

In 2010, the federal republic of Nigeria increased the basic salary scheme (B.S.S) for its minimum worker in which teachers is among to ₦18,000. Teachers will be able to perform effectively because they will be motivated through the increase in their salaries.

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1.2 Statement of the problem

Educationalist as well as laymen believes that to avert a breakdown of the educational system, huge sum of money had to be invested in education. Within past decades, Nigeria educational system has witnessed unprecedented growth. This phenomenal growth has entailed the production of indigenous high level manpower with increased wages to match its quality.

Despite the huge amount government said its spending on education, teachers cannot boast of their profession because of the inadequate salaries being given to them, which lead to increase in their salaries.

In this research work, we shall look at how the new salary scheme which is currently upgraded affects teacher’s performance in the school organization.

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1.3 Purpose of the study

The main objective of this study is to investigate the following:

1. The effects of the new salary scheme on teacher’s performance.
2. The impacts of the new salary scheme in school activities
3. How teachers react or feel about the new salary scheme compared to other professions salaries.
4. The needs for government to increase teachers’ salaries, so that more experts will be in the field.

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1.4 Research question

The study would examine the following questions:

1. What are the effects of the new salary scheme on teacher’s performance?
2. How teachers feel about their salaries scheme compared to other professions salaries.
3. Does the new salary scheme really motivate teachers to work effectively or not?
4. What are the reasons for government to increase teachers’ salaries?

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1.5 Research hypotheses

1. Ho: There is no significant relationship between the new salary scheme and teachers performance.
   Hi: There is significant relationship between the new salary scheme and teachers performance.
2. Ho1: There is no significant relationship between teachers’ efficiency, productivity and incentives given.
   Hi1: There is a significant relationship between teachers’ efficiency, productivity and incentives given.
3. Ho2: Teachers will not significantly see the new TSS has adequate and well compensating
   Hi2: Teachers will significantly see the new TSS has adequate and well compensating

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1.6 Significance of the study

The finding of this study will provide useful information to government, researchers, policy makers in education, and entire public.

This research work will help the government to know how effective and how efficient the salaries given to teachers help them to perform well.

It will also help the teachers to perform even more effectively, because when they receives more salaries, they will be able to cater for their families, so that teachers will not be engaging into any other form of business, it will help them focus on their profession.

Furthermore, this research work will help the general public to know how much government is spending on the education sector, so that the public will also pay their tax respectively.

It will also helps policy makers in education sector to know how to take effective and efficient decisions regarding education in the country, also it helps researchers to focus on the study for further knowledge of it.

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1.7 Scope of the study

This research work will cover some selected local government area of ogun-state. Materials will be extracted from local government education authority (L.G.E.A), in ijebu ode local government, also information or data will be extracted from teachers in different schools to see how their salaries affects them in their day to day activities, and how well it does to motivate them to work.

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1.8 Operational definition of terms.

The definition of terms used in this study is necessary because some words mean different things to different people. These terms are defined below:

(1) Salary:

These are wages received on a regular basis, usually weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Sometimes the term is used to include other benefits, including insurance and a retirement plan.

(2) Teachers Performance:

These involve the effectiveness and efficient of teachers in their activities.

(3) New Salary Scheme:

This is the new scheme in which workers will be paid accordingly to their levels or grade. It is as a result of increase in salaries.

(4) Inadequate Salary:

These involve giving of not enough salaries to workers for work done.

(5) Funds:

These are financial resources, which are monetary inputs available for and expended on the education system. They are usually referred to as the cost of and expenditure on education.

(6) Job Satisfaction:

Is defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job. It is an affective reaction to one’s job and an attitude towards one’s job.