i ASSESSMENT OF TURNOVER INTENTIONS AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AMONG TEACHERS OF THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE IN THE BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY CHARLES AGOMAH AFEBIA JUNE, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ASSESSMENT OF TURNOVER INTENTIONS AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AMONG TEACHERS OF THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE IN THE BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY BY CHARLES AGOMAH AFEBIA (10107066) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL ORGANIZATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEGREE JUNE, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the outcome of research that I have conducted towards the award of a Master of Philosophy Degree in Human Resource Management, and that to the best of my knowledge, this thesis has not previously, in its entirety or in part been submitted in any University for the award of a degree except where due acknowledgement is made and referenced in the text. Charles Agomah Afebia Student (10107066) Signature……………………………………Date………………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii CERTIFICATION This work was submitted in accordance with the guidelines of supervision of thesis laid down by the School of Graduate Studies, University of Ghana, for examination with approval from my supervisor. Dr. Olivia Anku-Tsede Supervisor Signature……………………………….Date……………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Miss Eunice Sadia Abaah and my lovely daughter, Frances Maria Adolyine Afebigya. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very grateful to the Almighty God for the grace to finish the programme. It is not by my intelligence that I have gotten to this level. I also wish to thank my supervisor Dr. Olivia Anku- Tsede for the endurance and patience shown me. You read my thesis several times and made valuable suggestions that has culminated in the final outcome of this thesis. You offered useful guidance during my thesis write up. Additionally, I am extremely grateful to Believe Quarcoo for the time you devoted in reading and scrutinizing my work. I further wish to extend my profound gratitude to Kingsley Saa-Touh Mort for the support during my MPhil programme. You stood by me and offered the needed help. I wish to also register my profound gratitude to Madam Beatrice Abiire, the former Headmistress of Zuarungu Senior High School, who is currently on retirement for her wonderful support during my academic pursuit. And to my elder brother, Edward Afebia, I would like to thank you for your wonderful encouragement and the direction you provided in my life. Similarly, I am greatly indebted to my wife, Abaah Sadia Eunice and my daughter, Afebigya Adolyine Frances Maria who gave me the needed support. I finally, wish to thank my entire family and friends for the love and prayers extended to me. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................... ii CERTIFICATION................................................................................................................ iii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... x ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the Study .................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Study Context ................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 6 1.3 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 8 1.3.1 Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Significance of the Research ............................................................................................ 9 1.7 Scope of the Study.......................................................................................................... 10 1.8 Structure of Thesis ......................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................. 12 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 12 2.1 The Concept of Turnover ............................................................................................... 12 2.2 Concept of Turnover Behaviour ..................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Withdrawal Behaviour ................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Turnover Intention.......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.3 Commitment ................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Theoretical Literature ..................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Sequential Turnover Model (Mobley, 1977).................................................................. 15 2.3.2 The Three Component Model of Commitment .............................................................. 18 2.4 Empirical Literature ....................................................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Determinants of Turnover Intentions ............................................................................. 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 2.4.2 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Organizations ........................................................... 27 2.4.3 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among Teachers .............................................. 34 2.5 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................. 38 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 39 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 39 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 39 3.2 Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 39 3.3 Target Population ........................................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 SHS District Profile - 2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality .............. 40 3.4 Sample size determination and Justification .................................................................. 42 3.5 Sampling Techniques ..................................................................................................... 43 3.6 Sources of Data Collection ............................................................................................. 43 3.7 Data Collection Instrument and Procedure for Data Collection .................................... 44 3.8 Validity and reliability of instrument ............................................................................. 44 3.9 Data Handling and Analysis ........................................................................................... 46 3.10 Ethical issues .................................................................................................................. 47 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................... 48 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................ 48 4.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents .................................................................. 48 4.1.1 Age of respondents by gender.............................................................................................. 48 4.1.2 Marital Status by Gender................................................................................................ 49 4.1.3 Education Level of teachers by Gender ......................................................................... 50 4.1.4 Religious affiliation of respondents by gender .............................................................. 51 4.1.5 Educational Level teachers teach by gender .................................................................. 52 4.1.6 Duration in the teaching field ......................................................................................... 53 4.1.7 Gender of Respondents .................................................................................................. 54 4.2 Determinants of Turnover Intentions ............................................................................. 54 4.2.1 Teaching as a stepping stone for future careers ............................................................. 54 4.2.2: Ban on extra classes by GES .............................................................................................. 56 4.2.3 Non-payment of salary arrears ....................................................................................... 57 4.2.5 Medical allowances ........................................................................................................ 59 4.2.6 Special Allowances for Mathematics and Science Teachers ......................................... 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 4.2.7 Introduction of retention allowance for teachers............................................................ 61 4.2.9 Other factors that influence turnover intensions among teachers .................................. 63 4.3 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Employee Commitment .......................................... 67 4.3.1 Performance of other jobs outside normal employment as Teachers ............................. 67 4.3.2 Distribution of teachers who prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching by levels in public schools ................................................................................................................. 68 4.3.3 Coverage of syllabus in a term ....................................................................................... 69 4.3.4 Occupational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions .................................... 70 4.3.5 Organizational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions ........................................ 72 4.4.1 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers ............................................... 75 4.4.2 Actions to be taken by institutions to overcome turnover intensions ............................ 79 CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................. 82 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 82 5.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 82 5.1.1 Determinants of turnover intensions .............................................................................. 82 5.1.2 Effects of turnover intentions on commitment ............................................................... 82 5.1.2.1 Teachers commitment to the Profession (Occupation) .................................................. 82 5.1.2.2 Teachers Commitment to the Organization (GES) ........................................................ 83 5.1.2.3 Other Effects .................................................................................................................. 83 5.1.3 Measures needed to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality .................................................................................................................................. 83 5.1.4 Institutions that should take action to reduce turnover intentions .................................. 84 5.2 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 84 5.2.1 Policy and Practice Implications of the Study ............................................................... 86 5.2.1.1 Implications for Human Resources Management .......................................................... 86 5.2.1.2 Implications for the Ministry of Education. ................................................................... 86 5.3 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 87 5.4 Direction of Future Studies ............................................................................................ 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 91 QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................................... 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.2: SHS Municipal Profile -2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality 41 Table 4.1: Age of respondents by gender 49 Table 4.2: Marital status of respondents by gender 50 Table 4.3: Education level of respondents by gender 51 Table 4.4: Religious affiliation by gender 52 Table 4.5: Level respondent teaches by gender 52 Table 4.6: Duration of service of respondents by gender 53 Table 4.7: Distribution showing teachers who see the teaching profession as a stepping stone to their future career by gender 55 Table 4.8: Distribution showing ban on extra classes by GES as determinant for turnover intentions by gender 57 Table 9: Distribution showing the non-payment of arears constituting a determinant for leaving the profession by gender 58 Table 10: Distribution showing responsibility allowance by gender 59 Table 11: Distribution showing medical allowance for teachers as a determinant for your intension gender 60 Table 4.12: Distribution showing the introduction of special allowances for by gender of respondents 61 Table 13: Distribution showing teacher’s retention allowance by gender 62 Table 4.14: Distribution showing accommodation allowance as a determinant for turnover intension to leave the Service by gender 63 Table 4.15: Mean and standard deviation analysis on the set of factors that determine turnover intentions of Municipality 67 Table 4.16: Distribution showing performing other jobs outside your normal employment as a teacher 68 Table: 4.17: Distribution showing preparation of lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching 69 Table 4.18: Distribution showing whether teachers covered all the syllabus with the students before they move to the next class 70 Table 4.21: Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers 75 Table 4.22: Distribution showing institutions that need to take action to overcome turnover intentions among teachers 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Sequential Turnover Model 17 Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework 38 Figure 4.1: Gender distribution of respondents 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi ACRONYMS BECE Basic Education Certificate Examination EMIS Management Information Systems GES Ghana Education Service GNAT Ghana National Association of Teachers HND Higher National Diploma JHS Junior High School NAGRAT National Association of Graduate Teachers NCTAF National Commission on Teachings and Americas Future OCB-O Organisational Citizenship Behaviour directed towards the Organisation POS Perceived Organisational Support PTA Parent Teachers Association SHS Senior High School SMC School Management Committee WASSCE West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii ABSTRACT Teacher turnover is a phenomenon that has assumed a global dimension, requiring more attention from all stakeholders in Ghana. This study examined the factors that influence turnover intentions, the effects of turnover intentions on teachers’ commitment to Ghana Education Service (GES) and the teaching profession and how to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a survey research design. A total sample of two hundred and fifty four respondents were recruited from public basic and senior high schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the data. A comparative analysis was conducted between male and female teachers in respect of their turnover intentions while similar analysis was conducted between senior and basic schools to assess the effects of turnover intentions on teachers. Data was analyzed using version 20 of the Predictive Analytics Software (PASW), formerly SPSS. The findings indicate that more male teachers than female teachers view teaching as a stepping stone to other professions. Thus, while male teachers are more likely to quit teaching, female teachers in the Municipality are less likely to quit. Low salaries, delay in promotions, and the lack of incentives were ranked as factors most likely to influence turnover intentions. Affective commitment was found to be higher than normative and continuance commitment with respect to occupational commitment to the profession. This means teachers in the Municipality showed obligation, loyalty to the teaching profession and shared in the norms of the profession thus, making teachers in the Municipality to record low turnover intentions. With regard to organizational commitment, normative and continuance commitment correlated high with teacher’s commitment to GES as an organization. The findings indicate that teachers demonstrated attachment to the GES because of obligation and loyalty and expressed reluctance to leave for pragmatic reasons including; lack of alternative jobs, study leave and retirement benefits associated with GES. The findings suggest that in order to reduce turnover intentions University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiii among teachers; increased salaries, payment of full salary arrears, accommodation allowances, and medical allowances would have to be paid to teachers. The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Controller and Accountant general department have been identified as key stakeholders to work to reduce turnover intentions. It is recommended that the Municipal Directorate should court Non- Governmental Organisations in Education and private individuals as well as philanthropist to consider establishing incentive packages to reward hardworking teachers in the Municipality. It is further recommended that government must proactively address the concerns of teachers especially those that relate to compensation. Also, government must not seek to justify its inability to address the concerns of teachers based on their numbers. If this trend is not checked by successive governments, more trained teachers would consider quitting the teaching profession. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The chapter commences with a background to the study, sharing insights on issues of turnover intentions on employee commitment among teachers. The context of the study is stated and the statement of the problem defined. The objectives of the study have been outlined and the research questions stated. The significance of the study, scope of the study are all stated. The chapter concludes with the structure of thesis. 1.1 Background to the Study Teacher turnover is a phenomenon that has assumed a global dimension thus, requiring critical attention from all stakeholders of education. It is a problem not only in developing countries such as Ghana but in advanced countries like United States of America and Britain as well (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014). The British Broadcasting Corporation described education attrition and turnover as having become a national crisis (BBC News Online, 2001; as reported in Xaba, 2003). Additionally, the National Commission on Teachings and Americas Future (NCTAF) in 2011, revealed that almost a third of all new teachers leave the classroom after three years and close to fifty percent leave after five years. Kain (2011) reports of the teacher dropout rate in the United States to be regrettably getting out of control. He notes that teacher turnover has increased to 50 percent over the past fifteen years, and the national teacher turnover rate has risen to 16.8 percent. Kain (2011) further observes that in urban schools, it is more than 20 percent, and in some schools and districts, the teacher dropout rate is higher than the student dropout rate. Additionally, the Bureau of Labour Statistics (2012) in the United States highlights that employee turnover is a major challenge for both employees and organizations. The Bureau (2012) notes that for organizations, employee turnover increases the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 costs both directly (through recruitment, selection, training) and indirectly (in the form of lost knowledge and reduced productivity). The Bureau in 2011 estimated the average monthly turnover rate in the United States to be 3 percent, of which some 49 percent was voluntary (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2012). The Bureau further makes the point that before an employee formally quits a job, turnover intentions are likely to affect that employee’s performance and, by extension the organization. In Africa, particularly Nigeria, it has been argued that reducing turnover intention will minimize turnover and of course, work withdrawal. A survey on turnover intentions among employees in Nigeria’s oil industry indicates that turnover intentions among employees diminished and employees preferred to stay and be committed to their organization when they perceived rewards to be fairly distributed and policies and procedures made clear and consistently applied, as well as interaction between superior and subordinates being cordial, fair and just (Oluwafemi, 2010). Similarly, Mampane (2012) reports that about 20,000 teachers leave the classroom every year in South Africa. He for instance, cites an instance where the Minister of Basic Education appearing before the Parliament of South Africa, mentioned that 24,750 teachers left the teaching profession between 2005 and 2008. And that even though South Africa needs 20 000 graduate teachers every year, they are only able to produce 8000 teachers annually. Mampane (2012) chronicles a number of factors responsible for teachers leaving the classroom in droves. First, he argues that workload on the hands of educators is one critical challenge facing the teaching profession in South Africa. He cites the example of teachers being required to serve on committees. These committees, he intimates range from Learners-Teacher Support Material, Sports, Fundraising, to Exam. His contention is that these committees take away valuable time of teachers. Another salient reason advanced by Mampane (2012) which he argues is a contributory factor to turnover intentions University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 among teachers in South Africa is that a greater proportion of educators suffer from work related stress. He cites that a significant number of teachers absent themselves from work due to psychological factors, fatigue, physical illness which is often necessitated by work overload. Again, lost prestige is one other reason leading to the mass exodus from the teaching profession. His observation is that the teaching profession no longer enjoys the prestige that existed before 1990. He particularly makes the point that issues about teachers are casually glanced over and not given the necessary attention. In addition, Bennell and Akyeampong (2007) also reported that in Eritrea, 66% of middle school teachers in government schools hold basic qualification, while in Malawi, about nearly two-thirds (61.5%) of teachers in secondary schools are qualified to teach at the primary school level. They posit that these flows result in significant attrition of primary teachers. They also report that in the Gambia, the entry into the course which allows primary teachers to upgrade to secondary level is almost half the annual output of newly trained primary teachers ( Bennell & Akyaempong, 2007). Likewise, Sam, Effah, and Osei-Owusu (2014) state that teacher retention is one critical area that requires attention in Ghana as the country is also grappling with high teacher turnover rate. A survey commissioned by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) on teacher attrition in 2009, revealed a very high teacher attrition rate in the country. The findings showed that the Ghana Education Service (GES) estimated that about 10,000 teachers leave the classroom every year for other professions (GNAT & TEWU, 2010). While some leave with permission to study with or without pay, others go on secondment, retire or just leave to take up non-teaching jobs. According to the report, about 3,000 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 teachers leave the classroom annually to pursue further studies. About 9,000 teachers come out from the Colleges of Education every year to join the Service (GNAT & TEWU, 2010). According to the director of Labour Research and Policy Institute of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana, 50 percent of the teachers that were interviewed expressed the intention to quit teaching before they retire. Among the sampled respondents, about 24.8 percent of those who expressed the intention to quit said so for reasons of higher pay. Another, 59.8 per cent expressed the intention to quit in order to seek improved conditions of service while, 6.5 per cent) of teachers expressed the intent of changing their profession. Above all, nearly another tenth (8.9 per cent) of teachers just wished to quit the profession for other reasons. The high rate of teacher turnover impacts negatively on overall school performance, whereas high-performing schools are distinguished by stability and continuity of teaching. (Lawrence, 1999) as cited in Effah and Osei- Owusu (2014) made the argument that teaching has traditionally been characterized as an occupation with a very high turnover rate. This finding confirms the situation in Ghana where the Colleges of Education, produce so many teachers every year yet, there is still shortage of teachers because they are not retained in the profession (MOE, 2010, GES, 2009, 2011, 2012). Sam et al. (2014) have argued that the high rate of teacher attrition affects school improvement efforts and eventually distorts the stability and continuity of teaching. 1.1.1 Study Context The study was conducted in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The Bolgatanga Municipal Education Directorate (2014) performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination has persistently declined over the years. For example, the pass rate for 2009 was 52.2 percent but declined to 34.3 percent in 2010, then increased slightly to 34.6 percent in 2011. It again rose marginally to 39.6 percent in 2012. Some of the challenges highlighted to be University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 confronting education in the Municipality include: inadequate funds for supervision, lack of trained teachers, large class sizes, lack of funds for in-service-training for teachers, absenteeism of pupils and teachers especially on market days and during farming season, inadequate furniture for pupils and teachers, and the general lack of community participation in school activities. For the purpose of this study, the Bolgatanga Municipality was selected because the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 6, 2014) suggests that Greater Accra has the highest figure of 79.6 percent literacy rate, other urban areas also recorded 65.1 percent literacy rates, while areas in rural savannah recorded the lowest literacy rates (30.0%) in the country. From the foregoing, it is obvious that Bolgatanga Municipality falls within rural savannah with the lowest literacy rates (GLSS6, 2014). The then Upper East Regional Minister Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, bemoaned the falling standards of education in the region. He stated that education was a right and, therefore, required stakeholders to put in place prudent and workable measures to improve on the sector. Therefore on Wednesday, June 11 2014, he inaugurated a seven-member committee charged with the responsibility to identify strategies that could improve the situation in the region. Also, a study conducted by Yuornuo (2013) on teacher supervision practices in basic schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality, found that 39.2 percent circuit supervisors identified lateness as a major challenge associated with teacher supervision, 30.8 percent of head teachers mentioned the lack of motivation as a critical challenge associated with teacher supervision while another 73.3 percent of head teachers reported that teachers lacked teaching/learning materials when supervised whereas 68.2% of circuit supervisors made the same claim. Going by the findings of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 this study, an interesting obvious research gap is whether these findings have a negative impact on teacher 6 turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality? Thus, this study sought to find answers to this interesting research gap. Furthermore, the study was conducted in the Bolgatanga Municipality primarily based on the researcher’s personal observation of teachers leaving the profession. As a teacher in the region, the researcher observed that over the past decade I have been working in Bolgatanga Municipality, a considerable number of teachers have left the profession. I therefore wanted to find out how widespread teacher turnover intentions are in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Besides, this study was also situated within the context of being a follow-up on the findings of previous research studies (Yuornuo, 2013; Agebure, 2013; GSS, 2010) that critically appraised the education sector in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This study would therefore be useful to policy makers in the design of teacher retention strategies on the need to improve teaching and learning in the Bolgatanga Municipality. After reviewing literature on turnover intentions it has come to light that there is no comprehensive research on turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This study therefore examined turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study population targeted all public Senior High and Basic Schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Teachers constitute an indispensable segment of the population in the development agenda of Ghana. Teachers remain one of the most crucial components of an educational system. It is the teachers’ duty to design and deliver instruction to students who constitute the future. Findings of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 several studies (Belogolovsky and Somech, 2010; Burns and Carpenter, 2008; Duyar, Normore & 2012; Oplatka, 2012) indicate that extra-role performance (ERP) of teachers is essential for the effectiveness and improvement of schools. Adu (2005) as cited in Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) have posited that teachers are the bedrock for all human learning, and represent the hub around which individual citizens are made to realize their full potential to serve their nations. Caillods (1989), as cited in Ariko and Simatwa (2011) maintains that the art of teaching is a developmental process, and it involves a complex set of skills, many of which can only be well polished on uninterrupted job experience, hence the issue of teacher turnover impacts negatively on teaching and learning. In the era of globalisation, turnover intention is a persistent problem in organizations and is common in every type and size of organization and at every organizational level (Blau, 2000). The Ghana Education Service is obviously not an exception. Ghana’s education sector has recorded a high rate of teacher turnover. Quansah (2003) as cited in Cobbold (2007) reports a shortage of 40,000 trained teachers in basic schools, with 24,000 of these vacancies filled by untrained personnel. Taking a critical look at the careers of some prominent Ghanaians such as Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. K. A. Busia, as teachers, it can be argued that the teaching profession had in the past attracted some brilliant intellectuals in the country (Sam, Effah & Osei- Owusu, 2014). In those days, the classroom became the ultimate place for some brilliant students to exhibit their academic prowess in the teaching profession. The economic benefits and the social prestige enjoyed by teachers in times past served as motivating factors in attracting many people into the teaching profession and retaining them. However, the current situation is totally different as the teaching profession appears to have individuals who show some dissatisfaction. Students who enter the teaching profession nowadays do not take it as a lifelong career (Sam et al, 2014). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Koomson (2005) as cited in Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) points out that some teachers find themselves in the teaching profession due to lack of other job opportunities while others also consider teaching as a “stepping stone or a spring board” to enter other professions. He further posits that such teachers leave the teaching profession upon the least chance of opportunity they get elsewhere thus, continuously creating the cycle of teacher shortages in our schools. The issue of teacher shortage is therefore a terrible educational challenge in Ghana. This is because the process of training and recruiting teachers is quite a long, expensive and uncertain process. It is therefore crucial to safeguard the exit of the few existing teachers by school management. The problem of teachers leaving the classroom continues to increase every year (GNAT, 2009; Bame, 1991). What is crucial is that notwithstanding the so much money being spent by government on training and recruiting teachers, little or no attention is paid on their retention. For example, the Ghana Education Service, of the Upper East Region (2014) contend that when teachers are given study leave mostly with pay, they succeed to study courses that have no bearing on the curricular of schools. They therefore end up shifting to other sectors, thereby leaving the educational sector to wallow in its problems. Given the above context, the compelling questions to ask are: what is the driving force of teachers leaving the GES? Is there a relationship between turnover intentions and teacher commitment?” This study therefore sought to determine how issues on turnover intentions affect teachers’ commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.3 Objectives of the Study The objective of the study is to empirically examine turnover intentions and employee commitment among teachers of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Bolgatanga Municipality. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 1.3.1 Specific Objectives Specifically, the study sought to: i. Identify the factors that influence teachers’ turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. ii. Examine the effect of turnover intentions on employee commitment to organisation (Ghana Education Service). iii. Examine the effect of turnover intentions on employee commitment to occupation (teaching profession). iv. Identify measures to reduce teacher turnover intentions in Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.4 Research Questions The research questions of the study include the following: i. What factors influence turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality? ii. How do turnover intentions of teachers affect their commitment to the organisation (GES)? iii. How do turnover intentions of teachers affect their commitment to occupation (the teaching profession)? iv. What measures could be implemented to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Bolgatanga Municipality? 1.6 Significance of the Research It is intended that findings from this study will provide some significant value to GES labour retention policies. In terms of policy relevance, the findings will go beyond the corridors of academic publications and knowledge contribution and contribute to policy formulation in education. It is the intention that findings would have far reaching implications for GES in the Bolgatanga Municipality. So far, there is no comprehensive study on turnover intentions and its University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 impact on teacher commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. It would be interesting to find out whether there is any relationship between turnover intentions and teacher commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a quantitative research design which gives opportunity for quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. The results of this study will therefore help to make a generalisation based on the target population. In Ghana, research (GLSS, 2014; UNDP, 2007) reveals that northern Ghana lags behind in many national indicators and education is no exception. 1.7 Scope of the Study The study focused on issues of turnover intentions and employee commitment among teachers of the Ghana Education Service in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Public schools were considered suitable for the research because of poor academic performance of students as compared to the private schools. It can be argued that high turnover of teachers can negatively affect school performance. 1.8 Structure of Thesis The study report is organized into five main chapters. Chapter One includes the background to the study, providing national and international trends on the subject matter of turnover intentions in organizations with particular emphasis on education. In addition, the statement of the problem, the objectives and research questions of the study are presented. Chapter Two presents empirical and theoretical literature on turnover intentions and employee commitment. Chapter Three focuses on research methodology including the research design, sample description. The sample selection for the study, as well as the various data collection procedures employed for the study are outlined. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 Chapter Four deals with analysis and discussion of findings while Chapter Five looks at the summary of key findings, conclusion, recommendations, and suggestions for future research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review is a critical component of the research process and begins by reviewing relevant literature to guide the scope of the inquiry on the influence of turnover intentions on employee commitment. For this study, existing literature related to concepts of the study are examined and used to build on the conceptual framework. The section starts with the identified concepts which includes the concept of turnover and employee commitment. The literature looks at the relationship between turnover intentions and employee commitment. Models are also explained. In this study, Mobley’s (1977) decision model and the three-component commitment model are utilised to explain and provide understanding to the various research questions. Furthermore, the conceptual framework of the study is provided. 2.1 The Concept of Turnover The concept turnover has been defined differently by different scholars. Price (2001), Thwala, Ajagbe, Long, Bilau, and Enegbuma (2012) defined turnover as movement of individuals across the boundaries of an organization. Petriglieri (2011) on the other hand recognizes it as the result of a coping strategy used by employees to escape the current situation. Morrell, Loan‐Clarke and Wilkinson (2001) defined voluntary turnover as “voluntary cessation of membership of an organization by an employee of that organization.” The contrary is conceptualized as “involuntary turnover and it is defined as “movement across the membership boundary of an organization, which is not initiated by the employee” (Price, 1977:p. 9 cited by Perez, 2008). The study investigates voluntary turnover which is initiated by the employee by terminating the employer- employee relation in the form of resignation. Furthermore, Kirpal (2004) argues that turnover is permanent, when employees leave the employment institution, or it can be characterized by horizontal mobility when employees seek and accept transfers to other departments. Joo (2010) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 contends that turnover is caused when employees are dissatisfied with the organization-wide policies; when they have low level of organizational commitment; and organizational learning culture and Leader Member Exchange (LMX) quality. It becomes a conduit for an organization to keep its dynamic staff by ushering in new employees with diverse knowledge, personalities, skills, and attitudes. It creates avenues for organizations to reduce cost through salary savings, and at the same time introduce more productive workers to replace marginal workers 2.2 Concept of Turnover Behaviour 2.2.1 Withdrawal Behaviour Withdrawal behavior refers to certain aspects of behavior that have been initiated by employees when they become physically or psychologically disengaged from the organization. Psychological behaviours refers to actions such as passive compliance, presentism and burnout. On the other hand, physical behaviours lead to tardiness, absenteeism and turnover (Carraher & Buckley, 2008 cited from Pinder, 2008). Turnover behaviour is identified as the result of shared cognition by organizational members that influence their decisions regarding job movement. Abelson (1993) established that turnover culture creates the condition for which individual’s hop from one job to the other is seen as an acceptable behaviour. He argues that social influences create a fertile ground for the employee to terminate his extended association with the organization. 2.2.2 Turnover Intention Turnover intention as put forward by Sager, Griffeth and Hom (1998) refers to attitudinal; thinking of quitting, decisional; intention to leave, and behavioral; searching for a new job proceeding deliberate turnover. Lee (2008) also describes turnover intentions as the subjective perception of an organizational member to quit the current job for other opportunities while Lee, and Jimenez University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 (2011) later defined the concept as the relative strength of an individual’s intent to leave the organization. Actual turnover normally precedes turnover intention which refers to an individual's intention to leave, which can refer to the intention to leave the organization one is working for or to quit one's profession and move to a different career pathway (Tett & Meyer, 1993). On the contrary, Kim, Lee, and Carlson (2010) view “turnover intent as an individual’s intention to voluntarily leave the organization” (p. 592). Similarly, Garrison, Wakefield, Harvey, and Kim (2010) see turnover intent as “the cognitive processes resulting in one’s desire/motivation to leave an organization” (p. 110). Also Cho, Johanson and Guchait (2009) refer to turnover intent as “a conscious and deliberate desire to leave an organization within the near future” (p. 374). Turnover intention has therefore been seen as a conscious will to look for a job outside the current organization (Tett & Meyer, 1993) and this conscious will to look for a job elsewhere is believed to have a detrimental effect on the organization (Chen, Ployhart, Thomas, Anderson, & Bliese, 2011). In this study, turnover intention is operationally defined as an employee’s intention to quit his/her current organization (GES) and intention to quit teaching (profession). 2.2.3 Commitment Le, Schmidt, Harter, and Lauver (2010) and Harrison, Newman and Roth (2006) argue that commitment construct is redundant while Cappelli (2000) and Baruch (1998) consider it irrelevant. However, Meyer (2009) sees the commitment construct differently and indeed considers it important because commitment is more relevant today because organizations need a committed workforce than ever. Commitment thus, take many forms; commitment to goals, teams, projects, career, or values may be more important to the organization and/or the employee Management Review on work commitment (Morrow, 2001). Commitment is considered as an organizational behavior topic, but, also central to human resource. Martin (2007:19) defines management University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 organisational commitment as the “relative strength of an individual’s identification with an involvement in a particular organization.” Martin (2007) further suggests that organization commitment has the following characteristics: identifying with an organization and its goals and values (identification); a strong desire to maintain investment with the organization (loyalty); and willingness to work extra hard on behalf of the organization (involvement). Additionally, organizational commitment refers to a multidimensional psychological attachment of the employees toward their organization (Davenport, 2010). Labatmediene, Endriulaitiene and Gustainiene (2007) and Kwon and Banks (2004) have revealed that understanding organizational commitment can support an understanding of how “intention to leave” is related to commitment. For this reason, Allen and Meyer (1990) suggest that individuals who are committed to their organizations show less intention to exit the organization because they want to stay. In lieu, organizational commitment has been defined as the bond between a person and the employing organization (Allen & Meyer, 1990). The bond is to the overall organization and not to the job, work group, or profession. The operational definition for commitment in the study is an employee’s commitment to the organization (GES) and commitment to occupation (profession). 2.3 Theoretical Literature In this study, some models have been utilised to explain and provide understanding to the various research questions. 2.3.1 Sequential Turnover Model (Mobley, 1977) Mobley (1977) initiated the first psychological approach in the turnover decision model that has often been cited. He proposed a model of employee turnover which was based on several hypotheses that establish a relationship between job satisfaction and quitting as presented in Figure 2.1. The model is referred to as a sequence of cognitive actions which the employee begins by University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 evaluating his or her current job. This model will be used to explain the sequence of cognitive actions that occur to teachers as they perform their duties. This stems from the fact that most individuals and in the specific case of teachers, perceive their job as one that is poorly paid as often said in Ghana, ‘the reward of the teacher is in heaven’, a situation that often makes teachers to compare their job to other jobs. According to the model, any negative thoughts leads to job dissatisfaction and subsequent thoughts of quitting the job as in the specific case of the teaching profession. Thus, in Ghana, when teachers tag their profession as being poorly paid, as lacking prestige in modern times, these situations often lead to job dissatisfaction. This job dissatisfaction according to Mobley (1982) often triggers a search for alternative jobs but the individual will first have to do an evaluation of the cost of quitting the job. Some of the issues that will engage the mind of the individual and in the case of teachers include: Are there stable jobs, how much time, energy and resources will the individual spend looking for the job, can the individual find a more rewarding job than his or her current job (teaching as in the case of teachers? These ideas in turn, will then inform the individual’s search intention, followed by an actual search and a comparison of the current job (teaching profession as in the case of teachers) vis-a-vis the found job alternatives. In effect, the individual comes to a firm conclusion of an intention to quit or stay which will lead to either actual turnover or retention. Mobley (1982) further posits that if people find out that the cost for quitting is high, then they will do less thinking about quitting and therefore show a more passive behaviour. But, Mobley, on the other hand argues that if the cost of quitting is not high, and there are jobs available, this situation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 will trigger a turnover intention and turnover. Mobley (1977) therefore shows a major step of linking job dissatisfaction to turnover. Figure 2.1: Sequential Turnover Model ~ Source: Sequential turnover model; Mobley (1977) Evaluation of the Existing job Job satisfaction/dissatisfaction Search for alternatives Intentions of search for alternatives Expected utility of search and cost of quitting Comparison of alternatives vs present job Comparison of alternatives vs present job Evaluation of alternatives Intention to quit/stay Quit/stay Comparison of alternatives vs present job University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 2.3.2 The Three Component Model of Commitment The three-component model comprises affective, continuance, and normative commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1991 & 1997) has been extensively examined in the organizational setting. These three forms, labeled affective, continuance, and normative commitment, respectively, are referred to as components of organizational commitment. The affective component is defined as employees’ emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. The continuance component is defined as the perception of costs associated with leaving the organization. Finally, the normative component refers to employees’ feelings of obligation to remain with the organization. As such, the Three Component Model (TCM) ties together three separate streams of earlier commitment research (Becker, 1960; Buchanan, 1974; Kanter, 1968; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982; Salancik, 1977; Wiener, 1982; Wiener & Vardi, 1980). Common to these three streams is the notion of a “psychological state that links an individual to an organization (i.e., makes turnover less likely)” (Allen & Meyer, 1990, p. 14). To date, the three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment can be regarded as the dominant model in organizational commitment research (e.g., Bentein, Vandenberg, Vandenberghe; Stinglhamber, 2005; Cohen, 2003). Although research has concentrated on employees' commitment to their organizations, research also established that employees' commitments in the workplace might involve multiple additional foci (Meyer et al., 1993). Among these various additional foci of commitment, employees' occupations are by far the most clearly established, and occupational commitment has been found to follow a similar three-component structure (Meyer et al., 1993). For this reason, Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993) included a second dimension, affective, continuance and normative commitment to the occupation, career or profession as a whole making the model a 3×2 model of commitment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 They argued that organizational and occupational commitments are distinct constructs, with each contributing to the understanding of, and ability to predict work behavior. Interestingly, this model was found to be generalizable to Asian countries (Snape, Lo, & Redman, 2008). Meyer and Allen's (1991) tripartite model of commitment (McInerney, Ganotice Jr, King, Marsh & Morin (2015) was used to predict teachers’ turnover intentions in the Hong Kong. Teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality may be committed to the teaching profession and GES for a number of reasons. For some they are committed because they believe that when they leave the service it will be difficult to find a job or they might lose their retirement benefit. Others share the same values with the organization and identify with them. There will be final group that can be attached to the profession and GES because of feelings of obligation, loyalty and duty. It will be interesting to establish the reasons for teachers’ commitment to their profession and GES in the Municipality. It was found to be valid and reliable and can be utilized to predict teacher turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 2.4 Empirical Literature 2.4.1 Determinants of Turnover Intentions There are a number of studies on turnover intentions. Sam, Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) studied teacher retention and attrition in Ghana. The study identified the factors that make teachers to develop the intentions to leave to include: low salaries of teachers, poor conditions of service for teachers, low status (prestige) for the teaching profession and the lack of incentives associated with the job. This study solely made use of a qualitative descriptive approach. The question to ask is whether the study can adequately generalize the findings because the sample size was small. Is the use of a qualitative approach comprehensive enough to address the of turnover intentions on employees commitment among teachers in Bolgatanga? Dysvik and Kuvaas (2010) used a cross- Thinking of quitting University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 sectional survey for employees representing more than 400 organizations from industrial sectors, found intrinsic motivation as the strongest predictor of turnover intention. Likewise, an exploratory study of predictors and impact on turnover intentions by Lai and Kapstad (2009) found that turnover intention is best predicted by intrinsic motivation followed by career system satisfaction. Relatedly, Rehamn (2012) make the point that organization turnover can trigger job dissatisfaction, lack of trust and the lack of intrinsic motivation. This motivation influences turnover when the organization cannot satisfy their workers with intrinsic rewards and consequently the workers leave the unrewarding job (Sinha, 2012). Kim (2015) indicated that both intrinsic motivation and self-sacrifice significantly influenced the turnover intention of local revenue officers. On the other hand, other variables such as extrinsic motivation, social support, and other public service motivation were not significantly related to turnover intention directly. On the contrary, Yurchisin, Park and O’Brien (2010) found that employee intention to leave was triggered by both intrinsic job satisfaction and commitment. Intrinsic job satisfaction was both directly related to intention to leave and indirectly related to intention to leave through employee– store commitment. Employees who are satisfied with and committed to their current job tend to be less likely to voluntarily resign from their current position which in turn, tends to reduce employee turnover in the storeIn connection, Olusegun (2012) examined the influence of motivation on turnover among Library Personnel in South West Nigeria and found some relationship exist between turnover intentions and job motivation. He further revealed that opportunities for better pay was a critical factor in turnover intentions. Ngala (2010) considered retention measures of graduate teachers in the Ghana Education Service and concluded that 58 percent disagreed with University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 the statement that teaching is rewarding and 24 percent extremely disagreed that the profession is rewarding. Also, the lack of appreciation by GES to recognize and treat teachers based on their level of education was highlighted as influencing 70 percent turnover of teachers. Additionally, 54 percent of the respondents see lack of housing facilities as very much influencing graduate teachers’ termination of appointment with GES and only a few 2.4 percent held a contrasting view that it does not influence. Furthermore, graduate teachers cited the non-existence of medical care to affect their turnover by 47.2 percent while 42.8 percent were of the view that lack of free medical care extremely influence graduate teachers departure from the GES. Above all, 57.6 percent of the respondents said that prestige very much influences their intention to leave the service and 42.4 percent said that it may influence. Also, Cobbold (2015) reported that 50 percent of the 890 respondents intended leaving teaching before they retired. The reasons they advanced for leaving included to seek improved conditions of service 59 percent, higher pay 24.8, change of profession 6.5 percent and other reasons 8.9 percent. Nouri and Parker (2013) investigated career growth opportunities and employee turnover intentions in public accounting firms. The results revealed that when the employee believes that the firm is able to provide career growth opportunities, the employee reciprocates with increased commitment to the firm which eventually leads to lower turnover. Results from a survey of junior auditors in several accounting firms support the proposed model. Results of the current study has recommended that one way for accounting firms to increase commitment and reduce turnover of junior employees is to focus on their career development.Job satisfaction has been abundantly discussed in the literature to be a determinant of turnover intentions. For instance, Mbah and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 Ikemefuna (2012) on job satisfaction and employees’ turnover intentions in Nigeria found higher satisfaction with pay to be associated with lower employee turnover intention. Other findings of the study included the fact that the higher the satisfaction with nature of work the lower the employees expressed the intention to leave. What this means is that satisfaction with nature of work was negatively related to turnover intention and the higher the satisfaction with supervision the lower the employee turnover intention. Similarly, Jadoo, Aljunid, Dastan, Tawfeeq, Mustafa, Ganasegeran and Aldubai (2015) have reported that job satisfaction has the highest impact on turnover intention. Indeed, a comparative study of conditions for turnover intentions from China, Jordan, Turkey, and the United States that examined the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions Ford Jr, Chen, Kalyanaram and Bhagat (2012) found that job satisfaction and turnover intentions were partially mediated by organizational commitment. But slightly arguing to the contrary, Ohana, and Meyer (2010) insist that beyond job satisfaction, occupational commitment, management supervision, work design and relationship with others instead of salary or pay are stronger predictors of individual turnover intensions. According to Mathieu, Fabi, Lacoursière, Raymond (2016) job satisfaction have not got a direct significant predictive effect on turnover intentions. Rather, job satisfaction is able to predict organizational commitment which, in turn, negatively predicts turnover intentions. Also, commitment mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Consistent with findings of previous studies, Miller (2010) posits that the behaviours of school leaders’ and its relationship to employees play a major role in the issue of turnover intentions. In a study by Fuentes (2011) in Davao, found that school commitment, years of service and burnout positively predicted turnover intentions among secondary teachers in private institutions, while of Chavez (2012) reported that teachers who have experienced greater support from the institution have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 higher job satisfaction and commitment, and therefore show lesser degree of burnout. Similarly, Blomme, Rheede and Tromp (2010) in the hospitality industry found moderate to strong correlations between job content, development opportunities, work atmosphere, autonomy and promotion opportunities. To buttress job satisfaction and the intension to leave, a study among information technology (IT) professionals’ intention to quit their jobs in Turkey, revealed that intention to quit one’s job was greatly influenced by job satisfaction and organizational commitment; role ambiguity and job stress as these factors exert negative indirect effects on such intentions (Calisir, Gumussoy & Iskin, 2011). Moreover, Joo (2010) indicated that organizational commitment accounted for 40 per cent of the variance in turnover intention of employees. In addition, Scott, Brown, Susomrith and Sitlington (2014) found both organizational factors (rosters, supervisors, managers, and company culture) and personal factors (career goals and family circumstances) as factors influencing turnover intentions. But, it has been agreed by Weng and McElroy (2012) that employees with a high turnover intention are more likely to consider their current organization as an obstacle to their career development and success due to various reasons, for instance promotion, bottlenecks, and unfair salary payments. Demographic factors have been identified by the literature as determinants of turnover intentions. For example, in a study on job satisfaction and turnover intentions among Iraqi doctors, Jadoo, Aljunid, et al. (2015) found significant associations between turnover intention, and demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, and work-related variables like positional tenure, working hours, internal displacement, unsafe practice, and managerial efficiency. In a similar vein, Perez and Mylene (2008) examined ‘Turnover Intent’ and found that age had a negative relationship with turnover intent. What this means is that older employees showed a less University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 intent to leave. Thus, the longer an individual was employed, the less likely the employee harbored an intention to leave. On the other hand, Yui-tim Wong, Yui-Woon Wong and Chi-sum Wong (2015) examined an integrative model of turnover intentions which sampled 247 employees. They found turnover intention and most of its antecedents were significantly correlated. Perceived organizational support (POS) was negatively related to turnover intention; affective commitment was negatively related to turnover intention; and turnover intention was negatively related to job performance. Other findings were POS and affective commitment are negatively associated with their level of turnover intention. Both POS and affective commitment were significantly and negatively related to turnover intention. Paille, Bourdeau and Galois (2010) agree that when employees feel supported, they accept to remain with the organization (low intention to leave) and cooperate in the form of OCB-O. Also, the findings has supported the notion that trust contributes to understanding how POS is linked to outcomes through satisfaction. Cho, Johanson and Guchait (2009) found that perceived organizational support and organizational commitment decreased intent to leave while only perceived organizational support had a positive impact on intention to stay. Nour and Parker (2013) have concluded that when the employee believes that the firm is ready to provide career growth opportunities, the employee reciprocates with increased commitment to the firm which leads to lower turnover. The researchers further suggested that one way for the accounting firms to increase commitment and reduce turnover of junior employees is to place emphasis on their career development. Perryer, Jordan, Firns and Travaglione (2010) observed that there was some interaction between perceived organisational support (POS) and organizational commitment which is a significant predictor of turnover intention. Employees with low levels of commitment, but high levels of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 support from the organization, are less likely to leave the organization. Bagraim (2010) found affective commitment to the organisation was a significant predictor of the organizationally salient outcomes of turnover intentions and boosting behaviours. Gender has been noted to be a useful predictor of turnover. Steenbergen and Ellemers (2009) found that both affective and continuance organizational commitment predicted turnover intentions but only continuance organizational commitment was much stronger to predict actual turnover in that turnover intentions are relatively strongly influenced by feelings toward the organization, whereas for actual turnover decisions the costs associated with leaving the organization and an experienced lack of alternatives outside the organization come to play a more important role. Hundera (2014) explained the factors affecting academic staff turnover intentions and the moderating effect on gender in the University of Haramaya and found the effect of overall satisfaction on intention to leave was much stronger among female academic staff than the male counterparts. But, on the contrary, Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) examined the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of banks in Ghana and found no significant gender influential factor on turnover intentions. It will be interesting for this study to explore the gender factor as an influential factor further. Another salient determinant of turnover intention in the literature is the issue of job performance. Bajwa Yousaf and Rizwan (2014) in examining employee turnover intention in the services sector of Pakistan reports that job performance was found to be the most important factor on employee turnover. Workplace environment and employee job satisfaction had significant influence on employee turnover intentions. A somewhat similar study by Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) on the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of a purposively University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 selected fifteen banks in Ghana. They found banks with lower employee turnover to be performing better and more competitive compared with banks with high employee turnover. The crux of the findings were that highly motivated employees had lower turnover intentions than those less motivated. Further employees in higher ranking jobs had lower turnover intentions than employees in low ranking jobs. In trying to establish the effect of turnover intentions on employee performance, findings have concluded that employees with less concern about current work are more likely to have less productive work performance (Goodwin et al., 2011, Yi, Nataraajan & Gong, 2011). This may give rise to management attention as well. Also, when employees perceive that their contributions have been shown some appreciation by the organization, they feel an obligation and want to reciprocate it by showing high willingness to work in the future (Al-Sakarnah & Alhawary, 2009; Chen & Eldridge, 2011; Perryer, Jordan & Firns, 2010; Riggle, et al., 2009). Poor performers have the tendency to quit even after controlling for job satisfaction and turnover intentions, indicating that they are more susceptible to engage in unplanned quitting. On the other hand, good performers were slightly more likely to intent to quit after controlling for job satisfaction (Zimmerman & Darnold, 2009). Chan, Mai and Hup (2015) revealed that career adaptability was negatively linked to turnover intentions. Career adaptability on the other hand, was positively correlated to career satisfaction and career satisfaction was negatively correlated with turnover intentions (TI). Above all, career satisfaction mediates the linkage between career adaptability and turnover intentions. Brown, Hyatt and Benson (2010) examined consequences of the performance appraisal experience and found that employees with low quality performance appraisal experiences (relative to those with mixed and high quality performance appraisal experiences) were more likely to be dissatisfied University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 with their job, be less committed to the organisation and more likely to be contemplating leaving the organisation. Having a critical analysis of the determinants of turnover intentions, one can conclude that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been mostly highlighted as factors that promote turnover intentions. Job satisfaction, job motivation, low salaries, poor conditions of service have featured prominently as factors. Also, largely, the studies on turnover intentions have concentrated on profit-making services but teaching is a social service. How were the sample size determined so that they can pass the test of generalizability? Despite substantial research, why employees decide to leave their organization is still an intriguing question to ask and seek answers in this study. 2.4.2 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Organizations A study commissioned by Vale´au, Mignonac and Turnau (2013) to investigate the relationships between Volunteers’ Commitments to Organizations and Beneficiaries and Turnover Intentions, concluded that affective, normative and continuance commitment, were all negatively associated with turnover intentions. They also reported that organisational affective commitment (AC) moderated the relationships of the commitment to beneficiaries’ components with turnover intentions. While, an exploratory study on turnover intention among private sector employees by Yin-Fah, Foon, Chee-Leong and Osman (2010) employed a survey of 120 respondents, reported a significant negative relationship between organizational commitments and turnover intention in the study, positive relationship between job stress and turnover intention and a negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention in the study. They further revealed that demographic background of respondent mediated the relationship between organizational commitments, job stress, job satisfaction and turnover intention. This was basically an exploratory study seeking to understand the issues. The study is limited in focus and cannot have an in-depth University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 understanding of the issues under investigations. Earlier studies have come to the conclusion that organizational commitment is negatively correlated to turnover intentions (Addae & Parboteeah, 2008). Vandenberghe, Bentein and Stinglhamber (2004) found that organizational commitment had an indirect effect on turnover through intent to quit. Another study by Weng and McElroy (2012) which examined organizational career growth, affective occupational commitment and turnover intentions, concluded that turnover intentions are negatively related to affective occupational commitment. Age was negatively correlated with turnover intentions. Dwivedula and Bredillet (2010) found that one’s continuance commitment towards the organization and profession are moderately related. There was also a moderate negative correlation between affective professional commitment and continuance professional commitment. Individuals who are affectively committed to their profession seek to be more involved with the profession by keeping up with the information on the profession, and would perceive it as the main focus in their lives. Kaur Sahi and Mahajan (2014) confirmed that affective, continuance and normative commitments have a significant impact on employees’ occupational commitment (OC). Also, commitment influences attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, thereby affecting the behavioural intentions (BI) of the employees. Furthermore, studies by (Fiorito et al., 2007; Wright and Bonett, 2002; Allen & Meyer, 1996) have concluded that employees’ commitment predicts significant variables such as performance and intention to quit. Research has concluded that lack of organizational commitment has often resulted in increase in turnover rate and turnover intentions; poorer performance thus affecting organizational efficiency and effectiveness negatively (Becker, Billings, Eveleth & Gilbert, 1996; Kuean et al, 2010). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 Other studies have made the argument that turnover can negatively affect the organization’s productivity and create many problems for the organization such as having to hire new employees which attracts advertisement cost, cost of temporary employee and cost of selection which affects organization’s productivity (Rehman, Kari, Rafiq & Mansoor, 2012). Staufenbiel and Ko¨nig (2010) looked at a model for the effects of job insecurity on performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism. They revealed that job insecurity resulted in reduced work attitudes and this eventually led to a reduction in performance and an increase in absenteeism and turnover intentions. On the contrary, the data showed some evidence for opposing effects as all direct paths from job insecurity to performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism were in the opposite direction than the indirect effects. Dixit and Bhati (2012) found that the employees Commitment (Affective, Normative, continuous) are significantly related to sustained productivity in Auto component industry. Findings also revealed that there exists positive relationship between the three commitments- affective, and sustained productivity of the organization. A survey conducted by the Harvard Business School (2010) found that more than 30 % of high performers do not feel emotionally linked to their organization. It went further to indicate that there is a decrease in US high performers’ organizational commitment over the years. Keeping high performers committed is therefore a complex challenge that has not yet been fully met (Martin & Schmidt, 2010). In addition, Sahi and Mahajan (2014) research on employees’ organizational commitment and its impact on their actual turnover behavior through behavioural intentions found that affective, continuance and normative commitments had stronger influence employees’ organizational commitment (OC). Also, commitment influences attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, which affects the behavioural intentions (BI) of the employees. A comparative study in Hong Kong involving teachers commitment and turnover intentions by University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 McInerney, Ganotice Jr, King, Marsh and Morin (2015) used a total of 1060 Hong Kong teachers from 15 primary and 15 secondary schools. They found that Meyer and Allen's (1991) tripartite model of commitment is valid and reliable and can be utilized to predict teacher turnover intentions in the Hong Kong context affective commitment to the occupation (employee's positive emotional attachment to the occupation) was the most highly endorsed commitment. Other findings were strong positive affective commitment is related to reduce turnover intentions among workers. The findings show that high level of continuance commitment (CC) to organization is related to higher levels of turnover intention, while the high level of CC to occupation is related to lower turnover intention among the sampled teachers. Finally, both commitment to the organization and commitment to the occupation negatively predicted turnover intentions even when controlling for demographic variables. The researchers concluded that the three-component model of commitment can be applied to the African context. Yousaf, Sanders and Abbas (2015) reported that affective organizational commitment and affective occupational commitment were positively related to each other. But, affective organizational commitment was negatively related to organizational turnover intention and this relationship was moderated by affective occupational commitment. Also, affective occupational commitment was negatively related both to occupational and organizational turnover intention. Also, Adenguga, Adenuga and Ayodele (2013) indicate that there is a significant relationship between each dimensions of organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Likewise, Satyawadi, Joshi and Shadman (2013) study on who stays with you? Factors predicting employees’ intention to stay found that Affective Commitment, Normative Commitment and Goal Clarity were the best predictors of employees’ intention to stay or leave the organization. There was consensus among the authors on the three commitment dimensions. They however, differed on the issue of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 goal clarity. A similar work on turnover intentions and organizational citizenship behaviours by Kim and Chang (2014) established that occupational and organizational commitment of employees were found to have stronger influence on turnover intentions. Also, occupational commitment, however, was found to have a positive relationship with turnover intentions Yet, Newman, Thanacoody and Hui (2011) studied the effects of perceived organizational support (POS) and intra-organizational network resources on turnover intentions among 437 Chinese employees of five multinational services sector. Their findings were that perceived organizational support was positively related to affective organizational commitment, which in turn was negatively related to turnover intentions. Other studies argued that employees with high scores in affective commitment to the organization are strongly motivated to contribute to the goals of the organization because they deem them as their own goals (Tatlah et al., 2011; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Shore & Tetric, 1991). Al-hussami et al. (2011) investigated the relationship of faculty members’ commitment to their sense of job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, job autonomy, work load and pay in the Faculty of Nursing at University of Jordan and found three factors: job satisfaction, perceived support and age, which significantly related to faculty members’ commitment. Alniacik, Cigerim, Akcin and Bayram (2011) research results established that perceived organizational reputation has a positive correlation with organizational commitment and job satisfaction whereas it has a significant negative correlation with turnover intentions. On the contrary, when they are jointly included in a multiple regression analysis, perceived corporate reputation surprisingly exerted a positive effect on turnover intentions. On the other hand, Ishihara, Ishibashi, Takahashi and Nakashima (2014) found significant correlation related to Newly Graduated Nurses’ (NGN) intention to leave the workplace and nursing. In addition, nurses were less likely to leave their University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 workplaces if the leadership style of the nurse managers or immediate supervisors included rewards to the staff like “praise and recognition for a job well done” as well encouragement for strong teamwork. Again, Ahmad, Bashir et al. (2012) revealed that job satisfaction is significantly and negatively correlated with turnover intention. Also job stress has significant negative relationship to turnover intention. Findings indicated that, employees who experience more job stress has more intention to quit. Then again, Yin-Fah, Foon, Chee-Leong and Osman (2010) exploratory study on turnover Intention among private sector employees, sampled total of 120 respondents. Their findings indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between organizational commitments and turnover intention. Also there was a positive relationship between job stress and turnover intention and a negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. Rajendran, Muthuveloo, and Raduan Che Rose (2005) revealed that organizational commitment leads to positive organizational outcomes. Additionally, Komal Khalid Bhatti, Samina Nawab (2011) posited that job satisfaction has a significant impact on high employees’ commitment and productivity. Tarigan and Ariani (2015) studied Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention, sampled of 206 employees and found that job satisfaction was positively related to organizational commitment, organizational commitment is negatively related to turnover intention. But, organisational commitment was an important variable than job satisfaction in determining turnover intention. Urbonas, Kubilienė, Kubilius and Urbonienė (2015) assessed the effects of pharmacists’ perceived organizational support, organizational commitment and turnover intention on provision of medication information at community pharmacies in Lithuania and concluded that commitment to organizations directly and negatively affected job turnover intention. Also, Respondents who had feelings of higher levels of support from their organizations University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 expressed a higher commitment to their organizations by providing more consistent medication information to patients. Other studies have found a relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention (Calisir, Gumussoy, & Iskin, 2011; J.B. Deconinck & Johnson, 2009; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002; Ng & Sorensen, 2008; Rutherford, Park, & Han, 2011; Smith, 2005). However, Griffeth, Robinson, Allen and Lee (2012) examined dual commitment and their relationships with turnover intentions. They established that analysis of variance provides support that individuals who are dually committed have significantly higher intentions to stay within the organization than those who are uncommitted or unilaterally committed. In addition, Faloye (2014) investigated organisational commitment and turnover intentions among Nigerian paramilitary organization and concluded that almost all the selected respondents have affective commitment to their organisation. The rates expressed for continuance commitment were above average but low when compared with the rates expressed for affective commitment. The selected officers believed that emotionally, socially, and economically they have invested a lot in their organization. Similarly, Yousaf, Sanders and Abbas (2015) reported that affective organizational commitment and affective occupational commitment were positively related to each other. Affective organizational commitment was negatively related to organizational turnover intention. Also, affective occupational commitment was negatively related both to occupational and organizational turnover intention. The hypothesis, however, could not gain support as affective organizational commitment did not moderate the affective occupational commitment-occupational turnover intention relationship. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Perryer, Jordan, Firns and Travaglion (2010) studied turnover intentions of employees from Australian public sector organization and found interaction between POS and organizational commitment to be significant predictors of turnover intentions. Finally, employees with low levels of commitment but high levels of support from the organization are less likely to leave the organization. On the other hand (Babakus et al., 2008) revealed that there is a negative correlation between intrinsic motivation and organizational turnover in that when employees are not internally satisfied their focus will be to change their job. Aladwan, Jordan, Bhanugopan and Fish (2013) found that the three factors within the organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative commitment) were highly correlated. But, Shah (2011) found that independent variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job promotion have positive and significant relationships to dependent variables. Furthermore, career adaptability was positively correlated to career satisfaction and finally that career satisfaction was negatively correlated with turnover intentions. Education was said to be positively correlated with career goal progress, professional ability development, and affective occupational commitment negatively correlated with turnover intentions (Beukes & Botha, 2013; Bosman et al., 2005; Simons & Buitendach, 2013). 2.4.3 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among Teachers It is common knowledge that identifying and dealing with the antecedents of turnover intentions is an effective way of reducing actual turnover. One of the antecedent factors of turnover and turnover intentions is identified as organizational commitment (Tumwesigye, 2010). Ghosh, Satyawadi, Joshi and Shadman (2013) revealed that turnover intentions will reduce when there is provision of opportunities for employee development, freedom for employees to do their best, employee loyalty all serve to determine the degree of employee engagement (EE), which has a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 significant impact on employees’ intention to stay. Additionally, the compensation and reward system must meet the expectations of employees and should also be directly linked to performance. Fair salaries must be equal to the market rate so that it will help in reducing turnover intentions. The organization must design its orientation programmes that will allow new entrants to quickly adapt to its culture and understand what is expected of them. There should be a transparent communication flow, opportunities for self-expression and freedom to innovate must all enhance occupational commitment. Ensuring goal clarity, autonomy, competitive compensation, and affective and normative commitment can go a long way in checking employee turnover and making the organization an employer of choice. Moreover, Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) research on the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of banks in Ghana, advanced measures to reduce turnover intentions. These include conditions of service should be improved to prevent resignations in banks, management attitude should be directed at improving wages and reward systems which look more appealing to bank workers, management should consider motivation to retain employees as it boosts their morale towards work. Promotion for employees which could be based on long-service or educational background and finally channels of communication should be flexible enough so that employees feel at ease with management. Furthermore, Laureani and Antony (2010) investigated measures to reduce employees' turnover in transactional services and found that recruiting people that best fit the organisation will eventually reduce the high first-year turnover. It is argued that an existing employees were more likely to be familiar with the company’s structure, culture and expectations as the employee would have talked about them. Provision of incentives, a bonus scheme must be put in place. Finally, a comprehensive University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 review of the training and orientation for new entrants to the organization. Also, Cobbold (2015) identified measures to reduce turnover intentions: teacher retention policies and strategies must be an integrated and interrelated processes of selecting and training prospective teachers, posting them to schools after training, going through a socialisation process to usher them into the profession and ensuring their continuing professional development in multiple ways because teachers wish to develop their knowledge and skills throughout their career. In addition, teacher retention strategies must aim at making teaching intrinsically more attractive by recognizing and integrating the altruistic values beginning teachers bring into training. Most of the recommendations to reduce turnover intentions are essentially unrelated to teaching, thus can these recommendations actually reduce turnover intentions among teachers in Bolgatanga? But, a study by Masemola (2011) studied organisational commitment and job satisfaction and recommended that improving employees’ organizational commitment, remunerate employees according to the market rate, improvement of supervision, employment of qualified staff for the job were critical to retain employees. Others include improving employees’ intention to stay, motivate employees through performance rewards (i.e. reward performance, praise good workers), Pay employees market-related salaries and improvement of working conditions. Rizwan, Arshad, Munir, Iqbal and Hussain (2014) investigated determinants of employees’ intention to leave, a study from Pakistan. They found that the existence of organizational commitment and job satisfaction will lead to a reduction in the intention to leave the organization. Also, when the level of commitment to organization by employees is high, turnover intension is low. Job satisfaction has been identified in many studies to reduce turnover intention (Bertelli, 2006; Bright, 2008; Cotton & Tuttle, 1986; Kim, 2005; Lee & Jimenez, 2011; Moynihan & Landuyt, 2008; Cho & Lewis, 2012; Lee & Whitford, 2008; Pitts et al., 2011). Galletta, Portoghese and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 Battistelli (2011) argued that when an employee is given the opportunity of responsibility and freedom to develop own work activities can induce the sense of identification and attachment to work environment that will in effect reduce turnover intention. The research highlighted the importance of intrinsic motivation to promote affective commitment. Furthermore, the affective commitment completely mediates the relationship between intrinsic motivation and turnover intention. It is suggestive that employees that are intrinsically motivated towards their own work, develop a sense of identification and attachment to their organization that in turn is negatively related to turnover intention. A study by McInerney, Ganotice, King, Marsh and Morin (2015) recommended that to reduce turnover intentions, school administrators should provide teachers with a working environment that enhances the development and maintenance of teachers, to maintain and enhance teachers' affective commitment, it is essential to nurture the formation of teachers' belief that the organization values their contribution and it cares about their well-being. School leaders need to demonstrate a strong commitment to teachers' overall personal and career development and create an emotionally safe environment where teachers feel affirmed and valued. Even though, the study essentially looked at turnover intentions of teachers, unfortunately the recommendations might not be applicable in other geographical settings where cultural issues can have an impact on findings. It is suggestive from the literature that measures to reduce turnover intentions are multi-faceted and cannot be reduced to one single factor. The measures must be tailored to industry specific to be able to address the problem. It must also be argued that the measures should be comprehensive and well-coordinated. Nevertheless, large volumes of the studies have adopted the quantitative approach and it was carried out in different cultural settings. Will the findings confirm what University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 pertains in previous studies? To this end, there is a call for the quantitative research approach to investigate the issue. 2.5 Conceptual Framework Based on the literature that has been reviewed, a conceptual framework has been created for the study. The conceptual framework shows a direct relationship between turnover intentions and employee commitment. It has been developed consistent with the research questions. The model indicates turnover intentions as the independent variable and employee commitment as the dependent variable. Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework Source: Author’s Construct (2016) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter is concerned with the procedures that were adopted to undertake the research. The research methodology include; research design, research population, sampling techniques and sample size, data collection instruments and method and analysis and ethical considerations. 3.1 Research Design The study sought to assess turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a survey research design which allows for a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. This design involved a cross-sectional survey through the use of structured questionnaires for data collection. The intention of this design was to allow generalization of findings to the study as suggested by Babbie (1990). The survey design was found to be effective as it enabled information to be collected from a large sample of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 3.2 Study Area The Bolgatanga Municipality is located in the Upper East Region and is bordered to the north by the Bongo District, to the south by Talensi District, east by Nabdam District and to the west by the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and Kassena Nankani West District. The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly occupies a land area of 729sq km. The climate of the area is tropical with two distinct seasons, specifically wet season (May to October) and a dry season (November-April). The Municipality is divided into three (3) administrative zones known as Zonal Councils. They are Bolgatanga, Zuarungu and Sumbrungu-Sherigu Zonal Councils. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 The population of the Municipality was recorded as 131,550 with 52.3% being female while the male population was 47.7% (2010 Population and Housing Census). The economy of the Bolgatanga Municipality has been categorized into three major sectors such as primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary sector of the municipality is predominantly agricultural in nature. The secondary sector comprises Small-Scale Industrial Enterprise activities while the tertiary sector engages in the provision of services. There are some deposits of gold in some parts of the Municipality. The area produces many crops like groundnuts, shea nuts, dawadawa, soya beans, handicrafts, basket weaving, and leather work. All these contribute to employment in the Municipality. The Municipality has a lot of tourist attractions like Tanzui Shrine, the Craft Village, the smock market and some festivals like Adakoya and Naba Yeska (The Municipal Assembly’s Composite Budget, 2013). 3.3 Target Population The target population for this study comprises all teachers in the public schools, all head teachers in the public schools and the Municipal Directorate of Education. There are 10 circuits for the basic schools and four senior high schools. The total number of teachers in the Municipality is 1,791. 3.3.1 SHS District Profile - 2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality Table 3.1 presents the performance of students in the WASSCE examinations covering 2014/2015. The outcome of these results is a cause for concern for the Municipality in respect of access and provision of quality education. This is because total percentage pass for the core subjects is regrettably low with Mathematics recording (43%), English (42%), Int. science (34%) and Social studies (76%). The more disturbing aspect of the WASSCE results is the low percentages obtained by the female students for the core subjects with Mathematics (33%), English (33%), Integrated Science (21%), and Social studies (68%). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 Table 3.1: WASSCE core subjects pass rate Mathematics Total Pass % Pass Total 1699 729 43% Boys 1090 530 49% Girls 609 199 33% English Total Pass % Pass Total 1700 719 42% Boys 1090 520 48% Girls 610 199 33% Int. science Total Pass % Pass Total 1700 584 34% Boys 1090 458 42% Girls 610 126 21% Social studies Total Pass % Pass Total 1700 1292 76% Boys 1090 878 81% Girls 610 414 68% Source: Ghana Education Service-Education management information system (EMIS) Data for 2014/2015 Academic Year Table 3.2, below presents the number of trained teachers for basic and SHS levels. The data reveals that not all teachers are professionally trained teachers. It can be argued that a higher percentage of untrained teachers can affect students’ performance. For instance, the percentage of SHS teachers shows that (83.6%) and (38%) are untrained, Crèche/nursery (50%) are trained, KG (59.0%) are trained, JHS (84.7%) are trained teachers. Table 3.2: SHS Municipal Profile -2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality Public school teachers Male Female Total % Female Total 173 59 232 25.4% Trained 137 57 194 29.4% Untrained 36 2 38 5.3% % trained 79.2% 96.6% 83.6% Crèche/nursery Total Male Female % Female Total 2 0 2 100% Trained 1 0 1 100.% % trained 50.0% 0.0% 50.0% KG Total Male Female % Female Total 310 40 270 87.1% Trained 183 20 163 89.1% % trained 59.0% 50.0% 60.4% University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 SHS Municipal Profile -2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality Primary Total Male Female % Female Total 657 333 324 49.3% Trained 485 208 277 57.1% % trained 73.8% 62.5% 85.5% JHS Total Male Female % Female Total 590 394 196 33.2% Trained 500 322 178 35.6% % trained 84.7% 81.7% 90.8% SHS Total Male Female % Female Total 232 173 59 25.4% Trained 194 137 57 29.4% Untrained 38 36 2 5.3% % trained 83.6 79.2 96.6 Source: Ghana Education Service EMIS Data for 2014/2015 Academic Year 3.4 Sample size determination and Justification Respondents for the study were sampled from public SHS, JHS and primary schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The justification for the sample size was largely based on the need to have a sufficient sample size to enable generalization of the findings. The legitimate question to ask was what sample size would be sufficient for a quantitative analysis? In order to draw the sample size of teachers working in basic and secondary schools, the Slovin (1960) formula for sample size determination was used. According to the Ghana Education Service (2014/2015), the Bolgatanga Municipality had a teacher population of 1,791 and this applied to only public schools. Relying on this population, the Slovin (1960) sample size formula was drawn. The formula is given as: n= N 1+Ne2 Where n= desired sample size/samples N= total population e= error tolerance, which is equal to 0.05 N=1, 791 Substituting ‘N’ and ‘e’ into the formula n=1, 791 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 1+1, 791*(0.05)2 n=326 A sample size of 326 respondents was drawn for the study in line with the Slovin formula. But, two hundred and fifty four questionnaires were returned achieving a response rate of 80 percent. 3.5 Sampling Techniques The study utilised a simple two-stage cluster sampling technique. With this technique the researcher listed all the ten circuits in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Subsequently, two schools comprising Primary and Junior High Schools were randomly selected from each of the ten circuits. A total of ten Primary, ten Junior High Schools and all the four Senior High Schools were selected. Teachers in these selected schools were randomly sampled. Teachers’ attendance register constituted a sampling frame and therefore the researcher relied on it to select the respondents. Teachers at the kindergarten and nurseries were excluded in the study because they had fewer number of teachers which created delays for the researcher having to cover a wider area to collect data. In some instances some teachers filled their questionnaires and others sent them home to answer. Arrangements were made to retrieve the questionnaires from teachers. Teachers were asked to drop completed questionnaires with the secretaries in the SHS or a contact person appointed by the researcher. 3.6 Sources of Data Collection The researcher adopted both primary and secondary data sources to collect information from the respondents. The primary source of data is the information that was collected by the researcher through the use of questionnaires (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005). Structured questionnaires were used for the teachers. Secondary data was used to support this data. This data was retrieved from the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 website of the Ministry of Education. This data covered the Education Management Information Systems (EMIS, 2014/2015) and the 2010 Population and Housing Census data. 3.7 Data Collection Instrument and Procedure for Data Collection The data collection instrument employed for the study was a questionnaire. The questionnaire made use of open and close ended questions. Some aspects of the questionnaire were developed by the researcher while some were adopted scales. This was because scales on turnover intentions did not relate well to the issues on the ground. It was considered that it would not adequately measure issues of teachers in the Municipality. The researcher adapted the affective, continuance and normative organizational and occupational commitment scales (Tett & Meyer, 1993). The original scales had six items each but this had been reduced to three to suit the researcher’s study. Also, in order to make the instrument suitable for teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality, slight changes were made to the scales by adding the words teaching profession and organization (GES) and a reduction of the Likert scale from seven to five items on the scale. The questionnaire had four sections. Section A comprised the background characteristics of respondents, Section B captured information on determinants of turnover intentions and Section C covered information on the effect of turnover intentions on teacher commitment to the oganisation and profession. Finally, Section D dealt with measures to reduce turnover intentions in Bolgatanga Municipality. The questionnaire was developed based on the research objectives and literature review. Apart from the socio-demographic characteristics, questions bordering the relationship between turnover intentions and teacher’s commitment were asked. 3.8 Validity and reliability of instrument This section covers discussion on how validity and reliability issues in the research were handled. Abu-Bader (2011) content validity is normally applied to ensure the validity of the study. First, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 content validity addresses the question of whether the study measures what it set out to measure. The question of how to ask questions that reflects the measurement of the objectives as well as answer the research questions were posed. Additionally, to ensure content validity supervisor studied the instrument and suggested some changes be made to the instrument. A pilot-study was conducted involving six teachers to ensure the reliability of the instrument at the Bolgatanga Senior High School in the Talensi district. The Cronbach alpha values are as follow: Affective commitment to the occupation (0.812), continuance commitment to occupation (0.671), normative commitment to occupation (0.647), affective commitment to organisation (0.606), continuance commitment to organisation ( 0.651), normative commitment to organisation( 0.747) and f factors that influence turnover intentions (0.796) demonstrating that there is consistency and reliability in the items on the questionnaire. According to Nunnally and Berrnstein (1994), a value of 0.60 is considered as the lower limit of acceptability for the Cronbach alpha but values higher than 0.80 are preferable. Furthermore, social desirability bias is one of the most common sources of bias affecting the validity of survey research findings. Social desirability bias has been described as the wish for individuals to answer survey questions not on their true feelings, but on the desire to present themselves in the most favourable manner possible, based upon what they believe to be the social norms and mores of their region (Middleton & Jones, 2000). This study recognises that teachers become very nervous to speak when they suspect that the information might incriminate them and be used by their employers as a tool to sanction them. To cure this concern, all the necessary steps were taken to ensure that they were not put at risk. This approach was taken as a measure of ensuring that any potential harm in the data collection was University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 eliminated and that the data were collected in a manner that respected the dignity and worth of the participants Another, social desirability bias, creating a situation whereby respondents over or under reported issues regarding their profession. Again, social desirability bias could make respondents produce artificial results by either inflating or moderating their views on the issue. Consequently, the researcher did not capture the topic of the research and also upon the advice of the supervisor some of the items on the instrument were mixed up. 3.9 Data Handling and Analysis The survey data were collected using questionnaires, which were coded and entered into the Predictive Analytics Software tool, specifically version 20, formerly the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data was cleaned and cross-checked for consistency and completeness of responses. Open-ended questions were re-categorised under common themes, coded and entered into the software for analysis. Table 3.3 below, is the list of schools data was collected from. Table 3.3: List of schools covering data collection in the Bolgatanga Municipality Senior High Schools Junior High Schools Primary Schools Bolgatanga Girls SHS Adakura JHS Zuarungu Primary Zamse Secondary Technical School Kombosco JHS Kombosco Primary Bolgatanga Technical Institute Katanga JSH Dulugu Primary Zuarungu Senior High School Dulugu JHS Ayeltige Primary Afeghera No. 1 JHS Animoah Primary Afeghera No. 2 JHS Morris Brown Primary Morris Brown JHS St. Clement Primary St. Clement JHS Sacred Heart Primary Sacred Heart JHS St. Joseph Primary St. Joseph JHS Akantomi Primary St. John’s JHS Kantia Primary Aningazanga JHS Grace International Primary Akantomi JHS Methodist Primary Grace Int. JHS Methodist JHS University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 3.10 Ethical issues Again, ethical issues were addressed considering various precautionary measures. Teachers concerned received communication about their willingness to be selected to participate in the study. The questionnaire covered brief introduction, explaining the nature of the study and confirmation that the respondents are in control over the decision to complete questionnaire or not. The purpose and objectives of the study was clearly explained to the target respondents. With respect to confidentiality, only the researcher had the right of access to data. Also, the confidentiality of respondents’ responses was explained to them in order to clear their doubts and fears. With respect to the anonymity, respondent’s privacy was guaranteed by ensuring that the identities of respondents were concealed during data collection in that respondents were not required to provide their names and telephone numbers on the questionnaire. The researcher picked a letter of introduction from the Organisation and Human Resource Management Department which gave him clearance to go for data collection. The Director signed on the letter, copies were made and directed the Assistant Director (AD) supervision to distribute letters to all the ten circuit supervisors so that the researcher can be given the necessary assistance to collect the data. Letters for headmasters/headmistresses in SHSs were sent by the researcher himself. This arrangement facilitated a smooth data collection process and led to greater co-operation among the researcher, head teachers/headmistress, teachers and circuit supervisors. Conclusion The chapter discussed the research design, the study and target population, sampling techniques and sample size, the data collection instrument and methodology, and then data processing and mode of analysis. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 48 CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 4.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents This chapter examines some socio-demographic characteristics of teachers. Issues discussed include the age and sex distribution of teachers, the distribution of teachers by educational level and gender, marital level and gender, levels teachers teach by their gender and the duration of service by gender. Also presented is the gender distribution of the respondents present on a chart. These variables are examined with a view to throwing light on the backgrounds of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality with regard to turnover intensions. 4.1.1 Age of respondents by gender Table 4.1 shows the age and sex distribution of teachers in public schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Results as shown on the table indicate that nearly six out of ten (58.5%) respondents were aged between 31 and 40 years. Males constituted 23.1% while females constituted 32.5%. Teachers who were between the ages of 21 and 30 years represented 26.1%. Within this age bracket, female teachers were a slightly more than one-third (32.5%) as compared to their male colleagues who formed 23.1 percent. Additionally, teachers whose ages ranged between 41-50 years constituted 12.6%. Male teachers accounted for 8.8 percent while female teachers constituted 14.5%. With respect to teachers within the age range of 51-60, they constituted only 2.8%. Females were made up of 5.0% while male teachers constituted 1.7%. This study found the majority of male and female teachers were within the 31 to 40 age group, and were followed by the 21 to 30 age group. The implication of this finding is that teachers are relatively young in the Bolgatanga Municipality and their youthfulness have positive implication on productivity. This finding equally implies that teachers who belong to these age groups have the likelihood of being conversant with modern methods, technology and its applications required of a modern Ghanaian teacher. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 49 Table 4.1: Age of respondents by gender Age Gender of Respondents Total Male (%) Female (%) 21-30 23.1 32.5 26.1 31-40 60.7% 53.8% 58.5% 41-50 14.5% 8.8% 12.6% 51-60 1.7% 5.0% 2.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.1.2 Marital Status by Gender Table 4.2 below shows the marital status of teachers by gender. The results indicate that a significant proportion (74.4%) of respondents were married. Male 74.6% and female 74.1% teachers alike constituted 22.8% were single with male teachers representing 22.5% and female teachers 23.5%. About 2.0 percent of teachers were separated. More males 2.3% than female 1.2% teachers were separated while 0.8 percent of teachers were cohabitating. More female (1.2%) than male 0.6% teachers are in cohabiting relationships. This study found the majority of teachers 74.4% in Bolgatanga Municipality to be married. This finding has implication for accommodation arrangement for teachers in the communities that they teach. This is against the backdrop that posting of teachers is not based on the community a teacher hails. Therefore teachers coming from different parts of the country to the Municipality would need accommodation to house themselves and their family. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 50 Table 4.2: Marital status of respondents by gender Marital Status Gender of Respondents Total% Male% Female% Married 74.6 74.1 74.4 Single 22.5% 23.5 22.8 Separated 2.3 1.2% 2.0 co-habitation 0.6% 1 1.2%) 0.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.1.3 Education Level of teachers by Gender Level of education refers to the highest level of formal school that a teacher ever attended or was attending. About two thirds (65.2%) of respondents are first degree holders. Male teachers comprised two-thirds (66.9%) with first degree level of qualification while female teachers constituted 61.7 percent.18. From the results .182% of teachers had Diploma in Education/HND qualification. More female teachers 22.2% than male teachers 16.3% had the highest level of qualification. Teachers with master’s degree constituted a little above a tenth (12.6%). More male teachers 13.4% than female 11.1% were holders of master’s degrees and finally, the least proportion (4.0%) were holders of Certificate A. More females 4.9% than males 3.5% had this level of qualification. The findings indicate a large proportion of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality are first degree holders, followed by teachers holding Diploma in Education. This finding is consistent with the 2007 educational reforms which targeted teachers at the basic and secondary level to be degree University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 51 holders. This is particularly refreshing for the Municipality as both male and female teachers appear to be at parity in terms of first degree qualification. Table 4.3: Education level of respondents by gender Education level Gender of Respondents Total% Male% Female% Master’s degree 13.4 11.1 12.6 First degree 66.9 61.7 65.2 Diploma in Education/HND 16.3 22.2 18.2 Certificate A 3.5 4.9 4.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.1.4 Religious affiliation of respondents by gender Table 4.4 shows the religious affiliation of teachers by gender. An overwhelming majority (83.1%) of respondents reported practising the Christian faith but certainly of varied Christian denominations. There were more female teachers 89.9% who are Christians compared to male teachers 80.3%. About 15.6% of teachers were Muslims with nearly one-fifth (18.5%) being males while female teachers who profess the Islamic religion constituted 9.9%. African traditional religion accounted for the least proportion (1.2%) of teachers in the Municipality with both male 1.2% and female 1.2% teachers being at parity. From the study, it can be established that there is religious diversity among teachers in the Municipality but teachers who practice the Christian faith are in the majority. The implication of this finding is that with the diverse religious backgrounds of teachers it would help them mould the character and influence training of students and pupils. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 52 Table 4.4: Religious affiliation by gender Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Islam 18.5 9.9 15.6 Christianity 80.3 88.9 83.1 Traditional religion 1.2 1.2 1.2 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.1.5 Educational Level teachers teach by gender Respondents were asked of the level they teach, and four out of ten (42.5%) teachers were more likely to be teaching at the SHS level. There are more male teachers 48.8% at the secondary level than females 28.8%. The results demonstrates that 36.1% of teachers in the Municipality, teach at the JHS level, with female teachers 37.5% being in the majority than their male counterparts 35.5%. Again, 21.4% teachers work at the Primary level with females 33.8% in the majority while males constituted 15.9%. From the results it is observed that the majority of male teachers are at the secondary level while more female teachers are at the basic level (Junior and Primary school). Table 4.5: Level respondent teaches by gender Level respondent teaches Gender of Respondents Total Male Female SHS 48.8 28.8 42.5 JHS 35.5 37.5 36.1 Primary 15.9 33.8 21.4 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 53 4.1.6 Duration in the teaching field Table 4.6 shows the length of service of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The results indicate that more than half of respondents (53.5%) have been teaching for five to ten years. More males 53.5% than females 53.1% have been teaching for five to ten years. Teachers who have been teaching for less than five years constituted 26.4% with males making up 26.0% while females constituted 27.2%. For teachers who have been teaching, between 11 and 15 years constituted 18.1%. There were more male teachers 19.7% than female teachers 14.8% spanning this duration. Furthermore, more female teachers 2.5% than male teachers 0.6% reported teaching for 16 to 20 years. Finally, more female teachers 2.5% have been teaching for 21 to 25 years. It was found that more than half (53.5%) of the respondents have been working for the past five to ten years. Cumulatively, almost all the teachers have been working in the Municipality for the past fifteen years. This finding makes it somewhat dicey with the possibility of teachers intending to leave the service and the profession all together. This is against the backdrop that only few teachers reported teaching for the past 16 to 25 years. This is obviously not an encouraging sign of continuations but certainly leaves room for hope. Table 4.6: Duration of service of respondents by gender Length of Service Gender of Respondents Total% Male% Female% Less than 5 years 26.0 27.2 26.4 5-10 years 53.5 53.1 53.5 11-15 years 19.7 14.8 18.1 16-20 years 0.6 2.5 1.2 21-25 years 0.0 2.5 0.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 54 4.1.7 Gender of Respondents Figure 4.1: Gender distribution of respondents Source: Field survey, 2016 Figure 4.1 shows the gender distribution of teachers canvassed for this study in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The results indicate that two-thirds (68.1%) of the respondents were male while female teachers constituted 31.9% of the respondents. What this means is that more male teachers in the study were surveyed than female teachers. 4.2 Determinants of Turnover Intentions The study explores a number of factors to determine whether these factors influenced teacher’s intentions to leave the teaching field in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 4.2.1 Teaching as a stepping stone for future careers Table 4.7 examines variables on the determinants of turnover intensions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study sought to find out if teachers in the Municipality consider teaching as a ‘stepping stone’ for their future career. The results show that about one-third (31.2%) 68.1 31.9 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Male Female Frequency Percent University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 55 of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality agreed that teaching is a stepping stone to their future career and 18.8% of them strongly agreed. But on the on the contrary, a little less than a quarter (22.1%) with another 18.6 percent strongly disagreed. Teachers who neither agreed nor disagreed constituted about ten percent (9.9%). From the results it is found that cumulatively more than half of male teachers (52.3%) agree that teaching is a stepping stone for their future career compared to 48.2% of female teachers. The findings indicate that female teachers in the Municipality are less likely to quit teaching than their male colleagues. The reason why female teachers are less likely to leave is because of starting a family and caring for the child. Female teachers expressed that other jobs are time consuming and not flexible to adequately accommodate a nursing mother. The findings demonstrated that teachers consider teaching as a springboard to other opportunities. These findings are consistent with Koomson (2005) who said that people consider teaching as a “stepping stone or a spring board” to enter other professions. Also, Cobbold (2015) reported that 50 percent of respondents intended leaving teaching before they retired. The study further found that more female teachers are less likely to quit teaching than their male colleagues. This is very crucial for GES to design policies that would encourage more female teachers to go into the teaching profession. Table 4.7: Distribution of gender differences in teachers who see the teaching profession as a stepping stone to their future career Gender of respondents Total Male% Female% Strongly disagree 15.7 24.7 18.6 Disagree 21.5 23.5 22.1 Neither agree nor disagree 10.5 8.6 9.9 Agree 33.1 27.2 31.2 Strongly agree 19.2 16.0 18.2 Total 100.0 100.0% 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 56 4.2.2: Ban on extra classes by GES Table 4.8 examines the extent to which the ban on extra classes by GES constitutes a determinant for teacher’s intention to leave the profession. From the result, nearly seven out of ten teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality (74.7%) cumulatively disagreed that GES ban on extra classes could form basis for their intention to leave the teaching profession. Again, a cumulative comparison between female teachers 75.3% and male teachers 74.4% indicate no significant gender differences about a ban on extra classes by GES. On the other hand, cumulatively 15.1% agreed that the ban on extra classes could be a factor that would trigger their intention to quit the profession. The study found the majority of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality disagreeing that the ban on extra classes could form basis for quitting the profession. The reason for this finding is that many students and pupils in the Municipality are unable to afford payment for extra classes, because of the level of poverty. So many teachers do not find the classes as a way of generating extra income. Conducting extra classes is sacrifice made on the part of teachers in order to cover their syllabuses. The study again found that a majority (40.7%) of female teachers strongly disagreed that the ban on extra classes could influence them to leave the profession. Extra classes are meant to augment students cover the syllabus. These classes are organised outside the normal instructional periods. It has been argued that extra classes have become a platform for teachers to neglect their responsibilities and rather give priority to these classes. It is for these concerns that GES put in place a policy directive to ban the classes. The results of this study found that majority of teachers strongly disagreed that the ban on extra classes by GES would form the basis for them to quit the profession. The teachers have indicated that they do not see the extra classes as a tool to make money but it helps them to cover their syllabuses. It should also be noted University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 57 that not all schools are well equipped with facilities and adequate teachers to complete their syllabuses and for that matter the policies must address all the concerns. The Ministry of Education should consider formalising extra classes as a policy to create space for teachers to cover syllabuses. This is because most parents organise paid extra tuition for their wards at home and or convenient locations. Table 4.8: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to the ban on extra classes by GES as determinant for turnover intentions for teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 37.2 40.7 38.3 Disagree 37.2 34.6 36.4 Neither agree or disagree 10.5 11.1 10.7 Agree 9.9 8.6 9.5 Strongly agree 5.2 4.9 5.1 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.3 Non-payment of salary arrears The study again examined whether the non-payment of salary arrears by government constituted grounds for teachers decision to quit the teaching profession. Results as shown on Table 4.9 indicate that 48.2% of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality cumulatively disagreed while 41.8% agreed that the non-payment of arrears in full would make them think of leaving the profession. Interestingly, similar observations were made of both male teachers 47.6% and female teachers’ 47.5.0% cumulatively on the level of disagreement. On the other hand, cumulatively on the level of agreement male teachers had 42.1% whereas female obtained 41.3%. The finding therefore indicate that non-payment of full arrears to teachers affects all teachers irrespective of their gender in the Municipality. The implication is that issues to do with arrears of teachers has to be taken more seriously than usual business in the Municipality. As explained by the teachers, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 58 even though they might not be urged to quit but their performance in the classroom would be greatly affected. The basis of this view is that teachers do not have opportunities for making extra income compared other professions and therefore any attempt to delay payment of the full arrears will spell doom for education in the Municipality. Government should consider abolishing the policy to promote a harmonious environment among teachers. Table 4.9: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to the non-payment of arears as a determinant of turnover intention of teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 17.0 20.0 17.9 Disagree 31.6 27.5 30.3 Neither agree or disagree 9.4 11.3 10.0 Agree 19.9 26.3 21.9 Strongly agree 22.2 15.0 19.9 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.4 Responsibility allowances Table 4.10 investigated whether reintroduction of responsibility allowance could form a basis for teachers to leave the service. The results show that 40.4% teachers in the Municipality disagreed that the non-payment of responsibility allowance could influence them to leave the profession. Another 18.0% strongly disagreed. On the other hand, about 21.2% of teachers agreed that it could influence them to leave the profession. About 11.6% teachers were undecided. It is clear that though teachers are not happy with the arrangement they would not leave the service. These findings are inconsistent with studies by (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014). It appears many teachers are not so comfortable with the policy because after promotion the allowance stops for teachers to go through a laborious process of re-application in order to enjoy it again. Teachers University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 59 have expressed dissatisfaction regarding the policy but they have no authority to reverse it. The Ministry of Education should consider abolishing that policy because it is a disincentive to work. Table 4.10: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to responsibility allowance as a determinant of turnover intention of teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 16.4 21.5 18.0 Disagree 38.0 45.6 40.4 Neither agree nor disagree 13.5 7.6 11.6 Agree 21.1 21.5 21.2 Strongly agree 11.1 3.8 8.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.5 Medical allowances Table 4.11 sought to find out whether the lack of medical allowance could influence teachers in the Municipality to leave the profession. The results show that one- third (34.6%) disagreed while 8.3% strongly disagreed. However, 28.0% agreed and 20.9% of the respondents strongly agreed. From the results, 42.0% of female teachers disagreed while 31.2% male teachers disagreed. But 24.3% of male teachers strongly agreed while 13.6% of female teachers strongly agreed. The study found that more male teachers 24.3% strongly agreed that lack of medical allowance is a determinant of turnover intentions in the Municipality. Also, 42.0% female teachers disagreed that lack of medical allowance would influence them to leave teaching. There was a split decision regarding the lack of medical allowance having the effect of influencing teachers to leave the profession. This goes to support the fact that issues of health affects everybody and therefore GES must pay the medical allowance of teachers to motivate them University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60 to work hard. The finding reveals that the payment of medical allowance is non-existent in the various schools. Table 4.11: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to medical allowances being issue of turnover intention of teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 8.1 8.6 8.3 Disagree 31.2 42.0 34.6 Neither agree or disagree 8.1 8.6 8.3 Agree 28.3 27.2 28.0 Strongly agree 24.3 13.6 20.9 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.6 Special Allowances for Mathematics and Science Teachers Table 4.12 looks at the proposed special allowance for teachers handling mathematics and science would trigger teachers’ turnover intentions in the Municipality. From the results, 40.7% of teachers disagreed while 31.6% strongly disagreed. On the contrary, 8.3% agreed while 5.9% teachers strongly agreed with the statement. Furthermore, 13.4% of teachers were undecided. It can be inferred that of the highest (40.7%) proportion of teachers, identified science and mathematics as very relevant needing special attention from policy makers. Again, it is possible that teachers believe that with such subjects requiring more attention, action needs to be taken by teachers to make students understand, thus, they spend more time with the students. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 61 Table 4.12: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to the introduction of special allowances for teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 33.7 27.2 31.6 Disagree 40.1 42.0 40.7 Neither agree or disagree 12.8 14.8 13.4 Agree 6.4 12.3 8.3 Strongly agree 7.0 3.7 5.9 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.7 Introduction of retention allowance for teachers Table 4.13 sought to find out whether teachers retention allowance is adequate to keep them in the service. With regard to the results, the largest proportion (31.1%) strongly disagreed with the statement whereas 26.8% disagreed. On the other hand, 21.7% of the respondents agreed while 12.6% of respondents strongly agreed. The present study revealed that more teachers in the Municipality disagreed that the retention allowance is adequate to keep teachers in the profession. This finding is supported by previous studies by (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014) which reported that lack of incentives associated with the job could make teachers quit the profession. The Ministry needs to design policies that would enhance the welfare of teachers. The teacher unions must always be consulted and fully be involved in major policies to achieve the desired results. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 Table 4.13: Distribution of gender differences of teachers with regard to teacher retention allowances in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 31.2 30.9 31.1 Disagree 24.9 30.9 26.8 Neither agree or disagree 6.9 9.9 7.9 Agree 22.0 21.0 21.7 Strongly agree 15.0 7.4 12.6 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.8. Accommodation allowance as a factor for turnover intensions among teachers Table 4.14 examined the lack of accommodation allowance as a factor that could influence teachers’ turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. From the results, 29.9% of teachers agreed while 25.2% of them strongly agreed. However, 20.5% of teachers in the Municipality disagreed whereas 13.8% of respondents strongly disagreed. The study found that of the highest proportion (29.9%) of teachers interviewed, agreed that the lack of accommodation could influence their intentions to leave the teaching field. Previous studies by Ngala (2010) revealed that the lack of housing facilities influenced graduate teachers’ termination of their appointments. The findings of this study demonstrates that the majority of teachers in the Municipality viewed the lack of accommodation as possible influence for their turnover intentions. What this means is that accommodation plays a crucial role in teachers’ decision to quit the profession and or leave the school they have been posted all together. Interviews conducted revealed that non-native teachers were most likely to refuse posting for lack of accommodation. This obviously has implications on teaching and learning. Government must consider as a matter of policy priority introducing affordable housing scheme for teachers in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 various Municipalities especially the Bolgatanga Municipality. Government on the other hand should consider paying accommodation allowance for all teachers (Basic and Secondary) in consonance with the conditions of service. Table 4.14: Distribution of gender differences in accommodation allowance as a determinant for turnover intention of teachers in public schools Gender of respondents Total% Male% Female% Strongly disagree 13.9 13.6 13.8 Disagree 20.2 21.0 20.5 Neither agree nor disagree 11.0 9.9 10.6 Agree 27.7 34.6 29.9 Strongly agree 27.2 21.0 25.2 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.2.9 Other factors that influence turnover intensions among teachers From Table 4.15. The study sought to identify the other factors that influence turnover intentions among teachers in the Municipality. Results shows that low salaries was rated as the most influential factor. It obtained a mean score of 4.1 and a standard deviation value of 1.17. What this means is that respondents agreed that low salaries was the influential factor and this is reflected in the standard deviation value which reveals the commonalities of views expressed by respondents on the measured variable. Lack of incentives was rated the second influential factor with regard to turnover intentions. It obtained a mean score of 4.01 which on the scale translates to agreement while the standard deviation score of 1.25 demonstrates the fact that respondents shared similar views. The third factor influencing turnover intentions among teachers in Bolgatanga Municipality was identified as delays in promotions. Rating on the scale shows that it obtained a mean score of 3.9 which also translates to agreement. The standard deviation score of 1.25 also shows minimal divergence of views expressed on the rating of the variable. Additionally, better pay was identified University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 64 as a factor influencing the turnover intentions of teachers in the Municipality. It obtained a mean score of 3.51 which shows that teachers shared similar views that better pay was a critical factor influencing turnover intentions while the standard deviation score of 1.52 demonstrates that respondents had similar views on the measured variable. Furthermore, work atmosphere/ environment was considered as a factor influencing turnover intentions of teachers. It recorded a mean score of 3.51 and a standard deviation of score of 1.27. The mean score depicts the level of agreement on the variable while the standard deviation score shows minimal divergence of views shared by respondents on the measured variable. On the other hand, results from the table reveals that some teachers were undecided on the following factors likely to influence turnover intentions in the Municipality. Low appreciation of the teaching profession by people outside the profession obtained a mean value of 3.34 while the standard deviation score is 1.48. The rating on the scale correspond to 3 which depicts the undecided respondents. Also, the standard deviation connotes some minimal level of divergence on the factor. In the same vein, based on the rating of the scale, respondents were undecided on the factors that could trigger turnover intentions. The mean scores and standard deviations values are as follows: higher ranking jobs obtained a (mean score of 3.32 and standard deviation score of 1.42), career satisfaction (mean score of 3.24 and standard deviation of 1.39), personal factors (career goals, family circumstances, mean score of 3.1388 and standard deviation of 1.42) and above all, perceived organisational support (mean score of 3.12 and standard deviation of 1.28). The study found that the most influencing factors that could trigger turnover intentions in the Municipality are low salaries with a mean score (4.12), lack of incentives (4.01), delays in promotion (3.95), better pay (3.51), and work atmosphere/environment (3.51). This study is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 65 supported by earlier findings of (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014; Weng & McElroy, 2012). Salaries of teachers have become a thorny issue among teacher unions which often result in strikes. There have been agitations over their salary arrears which have not been paid for close to two years. This might explain the reason for low salaries being ranked high as the most influencing factor of turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Another factor influencing turnover intentions in the Municipality is lack of incentives. The incentives include accommodation facilities, allowances, study leave facilities that will enhance the welfare of teachers in the Municipality. The findings of the present study are consistent with studies by (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014) which established that lack of incentives for teachers could actually lead to high attrition rate of teachers. It appears that policy makers have not paid much attention to the issues bordering teachers in the country, hence these recurring issues in the educational sector. It can also be argued that as a nation we have not gotten our priorities right to deal with matters of education. The benefits to be enjoyed by teachers include their pay, recognition, study leave with pay, allowances and promotion. In return the contribution of teachers to GES would include their acquisition of education, experience, skills and ability that would provide teaching and learning students. Furthermore teachers in the Municipality identified delays in promotion as a factor that could influence turnover intentions. The issue of delays in promotions has been supported by previous researchers (Blomme, Rheede & Tromp, 2010; Weng & McElroy, 2012). The Ghana Education Service have not been proactive in dealing with promotions in the service. Some teachers spend about six years before they are allowed to apply for promotion which is not a normal practice. This practice raises serious concerns about the institution’s ability and willingness to address the problems of teachers. If this practice continues, teachers will not show commitment to the organization GES) and occupation (teaching). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 66 The issue of pay has featured prominently in the findings. Teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality consider their pay as a critical factor that affecting their turnover intentions. The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of Cobbold (2015). He found that pay is very important tin sustaining families in respect of meeting responsibilities but complains from teachers over unpaid salary arrears which has lingered for close to three years is affecting family stability. This does not promote a harmonious climate for teaching because the welfare of teachers is directly correlated with their output in the classroom. The consequence is that when these matters are not concretely dealt with, turnover intentions increase among teachers. Lastly, work atmosphere/environment formed the basis of teachers’ turnover intentions in the Municipality. Consistent with the findings, (Blomme, Rheede and Tromp (2010) have reported that the work environment could form the basis for an employee’s turnover intentions. The environment one works indirectly affects the person’s productivity, therefore poor environments poses a challenge to productivity. Therefore, the availability of accommodation facilities would help in reducing lateness and absenteeism. Government should seriously consider a housing scheme for teachers in many communities. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 67 Table 4.15: Mean and standard deviation analysis on the set of factors that determine turnover intentions of teachers in public schools Mean score Std. Deviation Personal factors (career goals, family circumstances) 3.1388 1.42185 Low salaries 4.1200 1.16578 Delay in promotions 3.9598 1.25338 Lack of incentives 4.0162 1.24603 Career satisfaction 3.2449 1.39570 Better pay 3.5144 1.52215 Low appreciation of the teaching profession by people outside the profession 3.3401 1.48356 Perceived organization support 3.1265 1.27889 Work atmosphere/environment 3.5122 1.27049 Higher ranking jobs 3.3154 wor1.42014 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.3 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Employee Commitment 4.3.1 Performance of other jobs outside normal employment as Teachers Results as presented on Table 4.16 indicates that about 42.6% at the secondary level are more likely to perform other jobs outside their normal employment as compared to 57.4% teachers at the basic level. The table further indicates that 50.8% of the teachers at the SHS level affirm they performed other jobs outside their normal employment while 49.2% of teachers at the basic level also agreed. The results once more demonstrates that of all teachers sampled in the Municipality, 53.0% are more likely to perform other duties outside their normal employment. The findings indicate that 57.4% teachers at the basic reported performing other jobs outside their normal employment. Again, 50.8% the teachers in the Municipality affirmed performing other jobs outside their normal jobs. A significant proportion of teachers in the Municipality who engage in other jobs apart from their normal work would have an impact on their level of commitment to their profession and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 68 organisation. It is very common to find teachers engage in other income generating activities and giving less attention to their job. Will such teachers have time to prepare for the next day’s lessons? This would have grave consequences on the education sector in terms poor delivery of lessons and consequently mass failures of students. Apart from that some teachers run full time businesses which takes much of their time. Table 4.16: Distribution of teachers performing other jobs outside their normal employment by levels they teach in public schools Do you perform other jobs outside your normal employment as a teacher Level Total Secondary Basic Yes 67 50.8% 26.9% 65 49.2% 26.1% 132 100.0% 53.0% No 39 33.3% 15.7% 78 66.7% 31.3% 117 100.0% 47.0% Total 106 42.6% 143 57.4% 249 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.3.2 Distribution of teachers who prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching by levels in public schools Table 4.17 sought to find out whether teachers in the Municipality prepare lesson note/scheme of work before teaching. The results show that 76.9% of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality prepare lesson notes/ scheme of work before teaching whereas 23.1% did not. The results further points out that 67.4% of teachers at the basic level prepared lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching as compared to 32.6% at the SHS level. Of all teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality, teachers at the secondary level who affirmed that they prepare lesson notes constituted about 25.1% while out of the entire teachers in the Municipality basic level teachers who prepare lesson notes constituted 51.8%. The study found that majority (67.4%) of teachers who prepare lesson notes/scheme of work are teachers at the basic level. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 69 The study found that more teachers at the basic level prepare lesson notes and scheme of work before teaching as compared to teachers at the secondary level. Again in the Municipality, many teachers prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching. This means that teachers understand what they teach for a given day. But this ought to reflect in the performance of students in the Municipality. Unfortunately that is not the picture we have in terms of WASSCE results as depicted in tables 3.1. Probably there must be other factors accounting for the low performance of students. Table: 4.17: Distribution of teachers who prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching by levels in public schools Level Total% Secondary% Basic% Yes 63 32.6% 25.1% 130 67.4% 51.8% 193 100.0 76.9 No 43 74.1% 17.1% 15 25.9% 6.0% 58 100.0% 23.1% Total 42.2 57.8 100.0 Source: Field survey, 2016 4.3.3 Coverage of syllabus in a term Table 4.18 examined whether teachers are able to cover all syllabus before students graduate to the next class. Results from the study reveals that about 42.2% of teachers at the SHS cover syllabus before students graduate to the next class while 57.8% of teachers at the basic level achieve this target. Regarding teachers who covered their syllabus, 32.8% are secondary school teachers while 67.2% are teachers at the basic level. Of teachers at the secondary school who could not cover their syllabus, they constituted 53.5 % while those at the basic level were made up of 46.5%. The study found that 54.6% of teachers in the Municipality are able to cover their syllabus. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70 The study has raised serious concerns that must engage the attention of policy makers. It would mean that 45.4% teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality do not cover their syllabuses before graduating to the next class. This anomaly could be the reason for the poor performance of WASSCE and BECE in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This further raises the question of the three or four years SHS system. Table 4.18: Distribution of teachers on the coverage of syllabus with students before they move to the next class in public schools Level Total Secondary Basic Yes 45 32.8% 17.9% 92 67.2% 36.7% 137 100.0% 54.6% No Std, Residual 61 53.5% 24.3% 1.9 53 46.5% 21.1% -1.6 114 100.0% 45.4% Total 106 42.2% 42.2% 145 57.8% 57.8% 251 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.3.4 Occupational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions Table 4.19: Regression results of occupational commitment on predictors of turnover intensions among teachers in public schools Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Standard Error (beta) Constant Affective Commitment (Occu.) Continuance Commitment (Occu.) Normative Commitment (Occu.) 31.623 -.082 -.048 -.060 2.045 .024 .024 .022 -.222 -.128 -.180 15.466 -3.434 -1.952 -2.746 .000 .001 .052 .007 Dependent variable: Occupational commitment R2 .043 Adjusted R .039 F= 9.985 **Significant at p.05 Source: Field survey, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 71 The results of linear regression analysis of commitment to the teaching profession revealed that affective and normative commitment emerged as the highest predictors of occupational commitment (F=9.985). With a beta of -222 and p= .001), occupational affective commitment emerged as the strongest predictor of teachers commitment to the teaching profession accounting for about 22.2 percent of the variance in turnover intentions. Normative commitment was the second highest predictor of occupational commitment among teachers with regard to turnover intentions. With a beta of -.18 and significant (p= .007), it accounted for about 18 percent of the variance in the occupational commitment model of turnover intentions as expressed by teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Continuance commitment was the third highest predictor of occupational commitment among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. With a beta of -.128 and significant at p=.052, it accounted for about 13 percent of the variance in occupational commitment. These results indicate that affective, normative and continuance commitment were all significantly and negatively correlated to turnover intentions. Affective commitment was high, implying lower level of turnover intentions. The implication is that teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality feel enthusiastic about the teaching profession and therefore did not give indications of leaving the teaching field. This finding is further buttressed by the second highest predictor (normative commitment). Normative commitment means teachers attachment to the teaching profession because of feelings, obligation, loyalty, duty and sharing in the norms of the profession thus, making them to record lower turnover intentions. Moreover, continuance commitment in the study refers to the reluctance of teachers to leave the profession because of pragmatic reasons such as retirement benefits, study leave and lack of alternative jobs. These reasons account for the lower level of turnover intentions on teacher’s level of commitment to the Profession in the Municipality. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 72 The findings of this study are consistent with the work of Dwivedula and Bredillet (2010) who found that individuals who are affectively committed to their profession seek to be more involved with the profession by keeping up with the information on the profession, and would perceive it as the main focus in their lives. Also these findings are corroborated by Meyer and Allen's (1991) commitment model which found strong positive affective commitment to be associated with the reduction of turnover intentions among workers. These findings have implications for teacher retention in the Bolgatanga Municipality. It means teachers are committed to their profession and may not easily quit. This might have some positive influence on students’ performance. It is obvious that teachers who love their job will go the extra mile to make students pass their examinations. The findings of this study has policy implications for compensation reward for teachers who are committed to the teaching profession. 4.3.5 Organizational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions Table 4.20: Regression results showing predictors of organizational commitment among teachers in public schools Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients T Sig. B Standard Error (beta) Constant Affective Commitment (Org.) Continuance Commitment (Org.) Normative Commitment (Org.) 26.019 .050 -061 -.061 2.214 .028 .027 .024 .118 -.150 -.168 11.751 1.779 -2.288 -2.550 .000 .077 .023 .011 Dependent variable: organizational commitment R2 .008 Adjusted R .004 F= 1.833 **Significant at p.05 Source: Field survey, 2016 A linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the regression model that best predicts the levels of commitment among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality based on three composite University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 73 factors: affective commitment to GES, continuance commitment to GES and normative commitment to GES. Before conducting the analysis, several descriptive statistics and graphs were generated to examine the test assumptions, including normality of distribution, linear relationship between organization commitment, homoscedasticity and multi-colinearity. Measures of skewness and kurtosis, and histograms show that the shapes of the distributions of organizational commitment approach that of a normal curve. The results show that two factors; continuance and normative commitment were predictors of turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. With a beta of -.168 (p= .011), normative commitment emerged as the strongest predictor of organizational commitment with respect to turnover intensions. It accounts for 17 % of the variance and significant at P= .011. The second strongest factor was continuance commitment (𝛽 = −1.50, p= .023) accounted for about 15 percent of the variance in the organizational commitment model. Affective commitment, the third factor in the model was not significant (𝛽 = 118 𝑝 = .077) but contributed about 12 percent of the variance in the model. The study found normative commitment followed by continuance commitment to be correlated with teacher’s commitment to Ghana Education as an organization. By normative commitment, teachers show attachment or bond to the Ghana Education Service because of feelings of trust, obligation and loyalty while continuance commitment was expressed as the teacher’s reluctance to leave the Ghana Education because of pragmatic reasons including the lack of alternative jobs, study leave and retirement benefits. Generally, what are the motivating factors influencing teachers in the Municipality to have high normative commitment to GES? Is it the case that people possibly cannot easily get other organisations to work with? This is against the back drop that teachers openly complain about GES University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 74 not promoting their interest. This study brings to the fore the need for GES to promote the interest of teachers by addressing issues of promotions, compensation and rewards. Also, continuance commitment to GES was higher than affective commitment. What it means is that teachers’ turnover intentions are high. What are the factors driving teachers in the Municipality to show high continuance commitment to GES than affective commitment? It is possible teachers are finding it difficult to get alternative jobs in other organizations. Teachers are therefore compelled under the present circumstance to be committed to GES. This observation is consistent with Allen’s (1991) findings that established high level of continuance commitment (CC) to organization is related to higher levels of turnover intention. This calls for the Ministry of Education to design policies that would make the teaching profession very attractive. Finally, teachers showed low affective commitment to the GES in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Faloye (2014) found that almost all the selected respondents have affective commitment to their organization. This means that teachers would have high turnover intentions and are more likely to leave GES. It implies that teachers have no intrinsic liking for the organization and this means that they do not share the norms of GES, the body tasked with the implementation of education policies. This has implication on upholding the values of professionalism and moral conduct. This would mean that such teachers are only drawing salaries but there is no attachment to GES which can affect discipline and performance. The findings of the study revealed that the three component commitment model is applicable to teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. These findings are consistent with Meyer and Allen's (1991) tripartite model of commitment that concluded that the three-component model of commitment can be applied to the African context. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 75 4.4.1 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers Table 4.21 presents the measures needed to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. From the results, 42.7% are teachers from the secondary level while 57.3% are from the basic level. An overwhelming majority (73.0%) of basic level teachers agreed that to reduce turnover intentions among teachers, delays in promotion should be avoided by GES while 27.0% of SHS teachers shared similar views. With regard to SHS teachers 9.3% believe that dealing with delays in promotions would reduce turnover intentions while 18.6% of teachers at the basic level agreed. Of the teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality about 14.6% identified the avoidance of delays in promotion as a critical factor in overcoming turnover intentions. These findings are consistent with Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) that demonstrated that promotion for employees should be based on long-service or educational background. Promotions generally are tied to their compensation reward and this is an issue that the GES must address. In the current arrangement, some teachers take about six years before they are due for promotion. These findings would inform GES and the Ministry of Education regarding policy on promotion of teachers. Another measure to reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality is in respect of full payment of arrears. About 30.8% teachers at the SHS level believe that full payment of arrears would reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Municipality whereas nearly seven out of ten (69.2%) of teachers at the basic level agreed The results further revealed that only 7.4% of teachers at the SHS level think that full payment of arrears is a critical factor to reduce turnover intentions while 12.4% of teachers at the basic schools hold similar views. Additionally, teachers mentioned housing scheme or allowance for accommodation could reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality. Results demonstrates that a higher proportion of basic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 76 teachers (52.4%) than secondary teachers (47.6%) expressed. the view that housing scheme or allowance for accommodation would reduce turnover intentions. Results again show that 18.5% of SHS teachers believe that housing scheme or accommodation allowance will reduce turnover intentions whiles the basic teachers obtained 15.2%. Accommodation allowance has been discussed extensively at various levels to combat lateness by teachers who live in remote communities and commute every morning to their work places. Previous studies Ngala (2010) revealed that lack of housing facilities influences graduate teachers’ termination of appointment. The findings of the present study concludes that majority of teachers in the Municipality hold the view that lack of accommodation can influence their turnover intentions which supports the earlier studies. The study found that almost half the population of teachers in the basic and SHS levels believe that addressing the issue of accommodation would reduce their turnover intentions. Many teachers stay in remote places and commute daily work. This has contributed high rate of absenteeism in various schools across the country. The Minister of Education has reported that the teacher absenteeism, was estimated at between 25% and 27%. (Opoku-Agyemang, 2014). This the Minister of Education indicated is worrying and may be linked to the poor performance of BECE results of late What this means is that government must consider a policy of affordable housing scheme for teachers, pay accommodation allowance. The government can partner financial institutions to offer soft loans to teachers to build their houses. The teacher unions must intensify efforts at providing affordable houses for their members through their mutual fund contributions. Another factor to reduce turnover intentions from the table is to increase the salaries of teachers. From the table, teachers at the basic level constituting the majority (54.7%) think that an increase University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 77 in salaries will reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Municipality while a little above four out of ten (43.3%) teachers at the basic level think so. Results further revealed that more than half (54.7%) of basic teachers agree that an increase in salaries will reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality as compared to 45.3% of teachers in the SHS teachers. Assessing teachers who teach at the SHS category 31.5% hold the view that increase in salary will reduce turnover intentions as compared to 28.3% of teachers at the basic level. Above all, of the number of teachers in the Municipality 29.6% believe that increase in salary would reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality. Results further revealed that the majority of teachers at the basic level and SHS level believe that an increase in salaries would reduce turnover intentions. Similarly, Ghosh, Satyawadi, Prasad Joshi and Shadman (2013) found that fair salaries must be equal to the market rate so that it will help in reducing turnover intentions. Also consistent with this study are the findings of Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) whose study among bank workers in Ghana found the improvement of wages and reward systems to be associated with low turnover intentions. Again, Salifu and Agbenyega (2013) make the point that low salaries in Ghana have compelled most teachers to involve in part-time teaching and other engagements like running businesses to earn extra income in order to augment their salaries. Another measure that has been suggested to reduce turnover intention in the Municipality is the payment of category two and three allowances. The highest proportion (58.1%) of teachers at the secondary category hold the view that the payment of the allowances would reduce turnover intentions in Bolgatanga while 41.9% of teachers at the basic sector agreed. The results also showed that 17.0% teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality indicated that the payment of allowances is a key factor in reducing turnover intentions. Out of this teachers at the SHS reported University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 78 23.1% while basic level teachers had 12.4%. The final measure to reduce turnover intentions among teachers at the Municipality is the provision of medical allowance. Majority (63.3%) of teachers working at the basic level stated that turnover intentions could be reduced by providing medical allowance as compared to 36.7% teachers at SHS level. The results demonstrates that 11.9% teachers in the Municipality believe the provision of medical allowance would reduce turnover intentions. Teachers have been comparing medical allowances that employees in other organisations enjoy but they do not benefit. Medical allowance for teachers is non-existent in most of the schools. Salifu and Agbenyega (2013) have reported that an annual medical allowance is just about fifteen Ghana Cedis (about $8.50 in U.S. dollars), which cannot pay for a single consultation with a doctor, is also due a teacher who produces genuine medical reports. Findings from the study revealed teachers were split on the issue of medical allowance as a potential factor that could result in teachers having to leave the profession in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This goes to support the fact that issues of health affects everybody and therefore GES must pay for medical allowance of teachers as contained in the condition of service. On the other hand, Ngala (2010) reported that graduate teachers identified the non-existence of medical care to affect their turnover by 47.2% while 42.8% were of the view that the lack of free medical care extremely influenced graduate teachers departure from the GES. The findings of this study on medical allowances are not supported by earlier studies. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 79 Table 4.21: Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in public schools Level Secondary Basic Total Avoid delayed promotion 10 27.0% 9.3% 27 73.0% 18.6% 37 100.0% 14.6% Full payment of arrears 8 30.8% 7.4% 18 69.2% 12.4% 26 100.0% 10.3% Housing scheme for teachers or allowance for accommodation 20 47.6% 18.5% 22 52.4% 15.2% 42 100.0% 16.6% Increase in salaries 34 45.3% 31.5% 41 54.7% 28.3% 75 100.0% 29.6% Payment of category two and three allowances 25 58.1% 23.1% 18 41.9% 12.4% 43 100.0% 17.0% Provision of medical allowance 11 36.7% 10.2% 19 63.3% 13.1% 30 100.0% 11.9% Total 108 42.7% 100.0% 145 57.3% 100.0% 253 100.0% 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 4.4.2 Actions to be taken by institutions to overcome turnover intensions Table 4.22 sought to identify institutions that should initiate actions to reduce turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study examined the issue in relation to teachers who teach at the secondary and basic level. First of all, the Controller and Accountant General Department has been identified as an institution that can facilitate the process to reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality. Out of the 253 teachers sampled for the study nearly six out of ten (57.3%) were teachers from the basic level while 42.7% of the teachers work at the SHS level. Results from the table indicate that a significant proportion (55.6%) of teachers from the basic level hold the view that Controller and Accountant General Department can take action to reduce turnover intentions as compared to a little above four out of ten (44.4%) teachers at the SHS level hold similar line of thought. Also, from the table with respect to SHS teachers 7.4 percent identified Controller and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 80 Accountant General Department to be very helpful in reducing turnover intentions while 6.9% shared the same view. Finally, 7.1% teachers in the Municipality believe that Controller and Accountant General Department would be instrumental in reducing turnover intentions of the Municipality. Furthermore, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was suggested by respondents to reduce turnover intentions. Nearly six out of ten (59.5%) teachers at the basic level hold the view that the institution can help to reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality as compared to two-fifth (40.5%) teachers at the SHS level who shared similar opinions. At the SHS, 15.7% teachers agreed that the institution can take action to reduce turnover intentions while 17.2% teachers at the basic level also think so. Finally, for the Municipality 16.6% of the teachers identified Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to help in reducing turnover intentions. The Ghana Education Service has been identified by teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality as an institution that can facilitate the process to reduce turnover intentions. Majority (63.6%) of the teachers at the basic level believe that GES can take action to reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality as compared to about one-third (36.4%) teachers at the SHS level. At the SHS, about 7.4% teachers think that GES can help to reduce turnover intentions while 9.7% of basic school teachers shared the views. About 8.7% of teachers in the Municipality agreed that GES can reduce turnover intentions. Again the following were identified as institutions that could reduce turnover intentions. Results as indicated on the table shows that more than half (56.7%) of teachers at the basic level hold the view that their unions can reduce turnover intentions while a little above four out of ten (43.3%) teachers at the SHS shared similar views. A little above four out of ten (41.7%) teachers at the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 81 SHS level believe that the unions can reduce turnover intentions as compared to two-fifth (40.7%) of teachers at the basic category. Again, 41.1% of teachers in the Municipality think that GNAT/NAGRAT can reduce turnover intentions. Another institution that could reduce turnover intentions from the study is the Government (Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance). From the results, more than half (55.2%) of teachers from the basic level agree that government can reduce turnover intentions in the Municipality while a little above two-fifth (44.8%) of teachers at the SHS level shared similar opinions. The results further indicates that 27.8% of teachers at the SHS believe that government can reduce turnover intentions while 25.5% of teachers at the basic level also shared their views. Finally, 26.5% of teachers in the Municipality think that government can come out with measures to reduce turnover intentions. Table 4.22: Distribution of teachers views on institutions that need to take action to overcome turnover intentions among teachers Level Total Secondary Basic Controller and Accountant General 8 44.4% 7.4% 10 55.6% 6.9% 18 100.0% 7.1% Fair Wages and Salaries Commission 17 40.5% 15.7% 25 59.5% 17.2% 42 100.0% 16.6% GES 8 36.4% 7.4% 14 63.6% 9.7% 22 100.0% 8.7% GNAT/NAGRAT 45 43.3% 41.7% 59 56.7% 40.7% 104 100.0% 41.1% Government(MOE and Ministry of Finance) 30 44.8% 27.8% 37 55.2% 25.5% 67 100.0% 26.5% Total 108 42.7% 100.0% 145 57.3% 100.0% 253 100.0% 100.0% Source: Field survey, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 82 CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The chapter is the concluding part of the research. It outlines the key findings of the study, conclusion, implications for policy direction as well as recommendations for research and practice. The key findings are presented in accordance with the objectives of the study. 5.1 Summary 5.1.1 Determinants of turnover intensions The study identified low salaries, lack of incentives delays in promotions and the work environment of the teacher as the most influential factors of turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Other factors that have the potential to determine turnover intentions among teachers in the Municipality include the non-payment of arrears, the conditions of service of teachers as expressed in their medical, accommodation, retention and other agreed upon allowances. The study’s findings indicate that male teachers are more likely to quit than female teachers. 5.1.2 Effects of turnover intentions on commitment 5.1.2.1 Teachers commitment to the Profession (Occupation) Findings show that affective commitment to the teaching profession is the highest predictor, followed by normative and continuance commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality.Also, normative commitment was the second highest predictor of teacher’s occupational commitment to the profession which translated in low levels of turnover intentions.Moreover, continuance commitment to the occupation was the third highest predictor of commitment in terms of turnover intensions to the profession. This showed that teachers were more reluctant to leave based on the cost implications in terms of the ability to secure alternative jobs, utilizing study leave with pay which is permitted in the teaching field, something quite rare in other sectors of the Ghanaian economy. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83 5.1.2.2 Teachers Commitment to the Organization (GES) The study found that normative commitment to Ghana Education Service was the highest predictor of turnover intentions. What this means is that teachers observe the rules and regulations of the Organization, thus, recording low turnover intentions.In addition, continuance commitment was the second highest predictor of teacher’s commitment to GES. It means teachers are reluctant to leave because of the lack of alternative jobs but teachers harbor the intention to quit leave the Organization as soon as better alternatives and opportunities become available. Finally, teachers showed low affective commitment to GES in the Bolgatanga Municipality. What this means is that teachers do not have intrinsic liking for the Organization and will quit as soon as opportunities are available to them in organizations or endeavours they have long dreamed of. 5.1.2.3 Other Effects The majority of teachers at the basic level perform other jobs outside their normal employment. More teachers at the basic level prepare lesson notes and scheme of work before teaching than their colleagues at the SHS level.Many teachers’ in the Municipality reported covering their syllabus before the end of the term. In addition, teachers at the basic level revealed that they are able to cover their syllabus before they graduate to the next class as compared to the SHS level. 5.1.3 Measures needed to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality Teachers at the basic and secondary level think that to reduce turnover intentions, GES must avoid delays in promotions.Again, more teachers at the basic and secondary level think that the payment of full arrears is a measure to reduce turnover intentions. Teachers in the Municipality hold the view that the lack of accommodation have the potential to influence turnover intentions. Teachers in the Municipality hold the view that the retention allowance is not adequate to keep them in the profession.Furthermore teachers at the basic level and secondary believe that an increase in salaries would reduce drastically teacher’s intention to quit the profession. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 84 5.1.4 Institutions that should take action to reduce turnover intentions The majority of teachers hold the view that the Controller and Accountant General Department, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Ghana Education Service need to be proactive in dealing with issues affecting the welfare of teachers. More than half of teachers at the basic level hold the view that teacher Unions could help reduce turnover intentions among teachers by helping to enhance the welfare of teachers. 5.2 Conclusion This study sets out to find answers to the factors that influence turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality, how turnover intentions affect teacher’s commitment to Ghana Education Service as an organization and the teaching profession as an occupation as well as identify measures that could be implemented to overcome turnover intentions among teachers particularly in the Municipality. Overall, the study sampled teachers from public schools at the basic and secondary school level. The majority of these teachers are in their productive ages relatively young and married. A significant proportion of them hold first degrees and Diploma Certificates in Education and also hail from diverse religious backgrounds. The study’s findings indicate that low salaries, the lack of incentives, delays in promotions, pay and work atmosphere/environment were identified as factors that could mostly influence turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. In addition, the majority of male teachers identified the teaching profession as a stepping stone for their future career compared to female teachers. The conditions of service of teachers as expressed in the provision of various allowances including; non-payment of full arrears, teacher retention, special allowances for mathematics and science teachers, medical allowances, accommodation allowances were equally identified as potential factors that could eventually lead to turnover intensions, if not well University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 85 addressed by Ghana Education Service and by extension Government, as they often constitute grounds for industrial strike actions. The findings further indicate that turnover intentions affected teacher’s commitment to the organization and their occupation. Affective commitment had the highest influence on teacher’s commitment to the profession, followed by normative and continuance commitment. By these findings, teachers in the Municipality, especially at the basic level, expressed intrinsic interest and loyalty to the profession, ready to observe the ethics of the profession thus, translating in low turnover intentions in the Municipality. Again, in respect of teacher’s commitment to the organization, normative commitment had the strongest influence, followed by continuance and affective commitment. This means that teachers in the Municipality first and foremost observe the rules and regulations of the Organization (GES), are reluctant to leave because of benefits including study leave with pay and the lack of immediate and alternative jobs in the Municipality, thus, influencing low turnover intensions. But teachers in the Municipality contend that to overcome turnover intentions, delays in the promotions of teachers must be avoided, salaries and remuneration for teachers must be given attention as they have no alternative source of earning income, and an enhanced package of their welfare and conditions of service. It is viewed that the Controller and Accountant General, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Ghana Education Service, GNAT/NAGRAT and Government must at all times take proactive steps towards resolving issues affecting teachers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 86 5.2.1 Policy and Practice Implications of the Study 5.2.1.1 Implications for Human Resources Management This study contributes to the existing literature that organizational and occupational commitment can be integrated in order to better understand the commitment of teachers. Earlier studies largely concentrated on a single focus of commitment. It is the contention of the researcher that a better grasp of commitment would be attained if commitment to occupations is also included in studies. 5.2.1.2 Implications for the Ministry of Education. The findings of the study would inform policy making at the Ministry of Education regarding the formulation, implementation and review of policies that would take care of the challenges based on the findings of this study. The Ministry of Education would have to look at the policies of compensation reward. The findings of the study identified compensation reward as a critical factor that can affect performance when teachers are dissatisfied with their condition of service. Teachers have outstanding arrears with government that have lingering for closed to two years. There are some cases of non- payment of some allowances and these are the factors that influences the turnover intention of teachers in the Municipality. In addition, policies regarding accommodation should be looked at by government and its stakeholders to address the concerns of accommodation. The majority of teachers are married and in some instances some do not hail from the communities they are posted to teach and therefore accommodation becomes crucial to them and their families. Furthermore, the majority of teachers had problems with the payment of three months arrears by the Ministry of Finance. The delay in payment of arrears has led to numerous strikes by teachers and these outstanding issues have the potential to affect academic work. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 87 Another issue that featured prominently was delays in promotions. There are instances that some teachers have stayed for six years before applying for promotion which is not the usual practice. Therefore the ministry of education should consider taking a second look at the policy. Besides these, coverage of syllabus by teachers became an issue needing attention from the Ministry and its implementing body (GES). It was revealed that many teachers do not cover their syllabi and the students are graduated to the next class. This has implications on performance. Above all, the payment of medical allowance should be re-evaluated by the ministry. It became clear that medical allowance is non-existence among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. These factors constituted their turnover intentions. Therefore concrete steps have to be taken to address the concerns. In conclusion, the findings of the study will inform policy decisions for institutions that are mandated to work for the interest of teachers. Controller and Accountant General Department, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, GES and GNAT/NAGRAT have been identified to facilitate the process of addressing the concerns of teachers. 5.3 Recommendations The Ministry must address issues of compensation by paying all outstanding arrears and allowances. The three months arrears policy must stop because it is a conduit for industrial unrest among teachers. This must be done with the involvement of teacher unions. Again, government must start affordable housing scheme for teachers. This could be done through the collaboration of stakeholders of education such as financial institutions, international donor University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 88 agencies like UNICEF. Apart from government, the teacher unions should start the process of acquiring lands for their members. Through the collaboration of government they could be granted soft loans to start housing scheme for members. The Ministry needs to do a proper evaluation of promotion of teachers to ensure that teachers are not disadvantaged. The policy on promotion should be followed strictly by GES to ensure that unnecessary delays are curtailed. On the coverage of syllabuses, there should be a mechanism of verifying whether teachers have completed the syllabuses for the term or not. The mere presence of the teacher in class should not be a yardstick to measure coverage of syllabuses. This should be done with the collaboration of the Head and district education offices. On payment of medical allowance, the Ministry should incorporate it into the salaries of teachers to avoid accountants and bursar unwillingness to release such monies. A specified amount can be allotted for that purpose. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education should consider formalising extra classes as a policy to create space for teachers to cover more syllabuses. This stems from the fact that most parents organise extra tuition for their wards at home. Again, female teachers were less likely to leave the teaching field, therefore GES must design a policy that would encourage more female teachers to go into the teaching profession. This eventually would bridge the gender parity in education. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 89 Also, the Bolgatanga Municipal Directorate should intensify their monitoring and supervision of schools to ensure that teachers substantially cover their syllabi. This could be done with the collaboration of the Heads of institutions, circuit supervisors and officers that may be assigned from the Municipal Directorate. As part of the data collection stage, attempts were made to source information from the Bolgatanga Municipal Directorate on teachers who voluntarily leave the service for other professions but it was quite difficult to obtain information on voluntary turnover. There was no mechanism for tracking voluntary and involuntary turnover of teachers separately on a data base. The Municipal Directorate of Education should build a data base of voluntary turnover separately from involuntary turnover of teachers to be able to know the number that have left the profession because of other reasons. This would help in resource mapping for the training of teachers in the Municipality. School Management Committees (SMC) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) should consider developing a monitoring mechanism that will enable them pay regular visits to the schools in their communities to check on the head teachers and the teachers. This mechanism will serve as a way of encouraging and motivating teachers in the discharge of their duties. The Municipal Directorate should court Non-Governmental Organisations in Education and private individuals and philanthropists to consider establishing an incentive package to reward hardworking teachers in the Municipality. The Municipal Assembly should mobilise funds that would help to put up staff bungalows at designated areas of the Municipality to accommodate teachers so that it would eventually reduce lateness and absenteeism to school. The SMC/PTA should be encouraged to contribute funds that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90 could be used to construct projects for the schools. Besides, the Municipal Directorate and Heads of institutions should consider as a priority, collaborating with the Old Students Associations’ of schools to court them support ear-marked projects that could be financed by such Associations. Finally, institutions mandated to promote the welfare of teachers must not be compromised. They must also be transparent by having regular dialogue with members. 5.4 Direction of Future Studies The findings of this study provide direction for research relating to turnover intentions and employee commitment among teachers of the GES in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 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An evaluation of teacher supervision practices in basic schools in Bolgatanga municipality. Yuan, L., Yu, Y., Li, J., & Ning, L. (2014). Occupational commitment, industrial relations and turnover intention: empirical evidence from China. Chinese Management Studies, 8(1), 66-84. Zimmerman, R. D., & Darnold, T. C. (2009). The impact of job performance on employee turnover intentions and the voluntary turnover process: A meta-analysis and path model. Personnel Review, 38(2), 142-158. Zuber, A. (2001). A career in food service cons: high turnover. Nation’s Restaurant News, 35(21), 147- 148. QUESTIONNAIRE The undertaken exercise is being conducted for the award of a Master of Philosophy in Human Resources Management degree. It is entirely for academic purposes hence any information provided would be treated valuable for the research. It is hoped that you would be candid as University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 112 possible because all the responses would be treated confidential. I would be very grateful if you could assist in completing the following questionnaire for the study. Thank you for your co- operation. Section A: Background characteristics of teachers Please thick appropriately 1. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ] 2. Age: 25-30 [ ] 30-35 [ ] 35-40 [ ] 40-45 [ ] 45-50 [ ] 50-55 [ ] 55-60 [ ] 3. Marital status: Married [ ] Single [ ] Separated [ ] divorced [ ] cohabitation [ ] 4. Highest level of education: Master’s degree [ ] First degree [ ] Diploma in Education/HND [ ] Certificate A [ ] ‘A’ Level/‘O’Level [ ] SSCE/WASSCE [ ] 5. Religion: Islam [ ] Christianity [ ] Traditional religion [ ] other [ ] 6. Which level are you teaching? SHS [ ] JHS [ ] Primary [ ] 7. Length of Service Less than 5yrs [ ] 5-10 yrs [ ] 11-16 years, others, indicate………. 8. Working hours………………………………………………………………………………. Turnover intentions refers to a conscious and deliberate desire to leave an organization within the near future, so that this mind set will lead to a change in behaviour. Section B: Determinants of turn over intentions among teachers The following statements represent possible feelings that teachers might have about their work- lives and their personal-lives. Please indicate the degree of your agreement or disagreement with each statement by checking (√) one of the five alternatives that may or may not determine your intensions to leave the teaching profession, using the scale below: Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly 1 2 3 4 5 9. Does the ban on extra classes by GES, for which teachers formally earned extra income constitute a determinant for your intention to leave the profession? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 10. Does the non-payment of arears in full currently by government constitute a determinant for your intention to leave the profession? 1 2 3 4 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 113 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 11. Does the intention to introduce special allowances for teachers teaching subjects like mathematics and science constitute a determinant for your intension to leave the service? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 12. Does the policy which stops responsibility allowance that a teacher enjoys for performing extra duties prior to receiving a promotion and only to be reintroduced upon a laborious prolonged process constitute a determinant for your intension to leave the Service? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 13. Does the lack of medical allowance for teachers constitute a determinant for your intension to leave the Service? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 14. Do you consider the teacher’s retention allowance adequate to keep you in the Service? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 15. Do you consider the lack of accommodation allowance paid to you as part of your conditions of service a determinant for your intension to leave the Service/ 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 16. Do you consider the teaching profession as a stepping stone for your future career? 1 2 3 4 5 Please explain……………………………………………………………………………… 17. On a scale of 1-5, which of the following factors are most likely to determine your intention to leave GES and the teaching profession. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 114 Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither agree or disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Item Statement 1 2 3 4 5 1 Personal factors (career goals, family circumstances) 2 Low salaries 3 Delay in promotions 4 Lack of incentives beside salary 5 Career satisfaction 6 Better pay 7 Low appreciation of the teaching profession by people outside the profession 8 Perceived organization support 9 Work atmosphere/environment 10 Higher ranking jobs Section C: Effect of turnover intentions on employee commitment Please tick the response that reflects your conviction as a teacher 18. Do you attend school regularly (Monday to Friday?) Yes [ ] No [ ] 19. Do you perform other jobs outside your normal employment as a teacher? Yes [ ] No [ ] 20. Are you punctual to school on a regular basis Yes [ ] No [ ] 21. Do you teach all your lessons within the term? Yes [ ] No [ ] 22. Do you prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching Yes [ ] No [ ] 23. Do you mark the assignments of students? Yes [ ] No [ ] 24. Do you fill continuous assessment reports? Yes [ ] No [ ] 25. Are you able to cover all the syllabus with the students before they move to the next class? Yes [ ] No [ ] 26. Are there instances you have absented yourself from school Yes [ ] No [ ] 27. Does the attitude of the head teacher influence your ability to put in your best as a teacher? Yes [ ] No [ ] 28. Does the attitude of the Education directorate influence your ability to put in your best as a teacher? Yes [ ] No [ ] 29. Does the attitude of natives where the school is located influence your ability to put in your best as a teacher? Yes [ ] No [ ] 30. Does the attitude of traditional authorities where the school is located influence your ability to put in your best as a teacher? Yes [ ] No [ ] 31. Do you consider supervision from your superiors a cause for concern? Yes [ ] No [ ] Affective commitment refers to the sense of identification as a member of Ghana education service or teaching profession and involvement in the Ghana education service activities, such individuals will have the same values with the values of the organization, so that the interaction between the individual and the organization is positive), Continuance commitment refers to an individual's consciousness of the cost to leave the Ghana education service or teaching profession because of retirement benefits, study leave benefits, lack of alternative jobs, skill transferability, self-investment, and relocation, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115 Normative commitment for the study is a teacher’s attachment to Ghana education service or teaching profession because of feelings of obligation of loyalty and duty. Employees with high normative commitment also feel responsible for paying benefits they got from the organization or profession by putting effort at work and still doing work 32. On a scale 1-5, which of the following factors are most likely to influence the level of commitment to GES and the teaching profession. Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Item Statement: Affective commitment to the occupation 1 2 3 4 5 a Being in the teaching profession is important to my self-image b I am proud to be in the teaching profession c I am enthusiastic about the teaching profession Statement: Continuance commitment to the occupation a Changing professions now would be difficult for me to do b Too much of my life will be disrupted if I were to change my profession c Changing professions now would require considerable personal sacrifice Statement: Normative commitment to the occupation a I feel a responsibility to the teaching profession to continue in it. b Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel that it would be right to leave the teaching profession now c I am in the teaching profession because of a sense of loyalty to it Statement: Affective commitment to the organization a I feel like part of the family in GES b I feel emotionally attached to GES c I feel a strong sense of belonging to GES Continuance commitment to the organization A It would be very hard for me to leave GES right now, even if I wanted to B Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided I wanted to leave GES C I feel that I have too few options to consider leaving GES Statement: Normative commitment to the organization A GES deserves my loyalty B I would not leave GES right now because I have a sense of obligation to the people in it C I owe a great deal to GES Section D: Measures to reduce turnover intentions 33. What specific actions do you propose needs to be taken to reduce turnover intensions among teachers? a) ……………………………………………………………………………………… b) ……………………………………………………………………………………… c) ……………………………………………………………………………………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 116 d) ……………………......................................................................................................... e) .......................................................................................................................................... 34. Could you name a person/institution who should take those actions you are proposing? a) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. b) ……….............................................................................................................................. c) .......................................................................................................................................... d) …………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………….... University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh