Factors affecting utilization of instructional time in Mfantsipim school

Abstract

This study set out to investigate the utilization of teachers in Mfantsipim School in the Cape Coast Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana; considering such indicators as instructional time management and teaching load and its relation to the performance of the students at the end of the senior secondary school programme. A descriptive survey method was adopted for this research. All teachers in the school were used as the sample for the study. Copies of the Questionnaire were served to all the 80 teachers in Mfantsipim. In all 70 respondents (87.5%) returned their completed questionnaire. The study concluded that teachers in Mfantsipim were optimally utilised in terms of student-teacher ratios and work load. With regard to teaching load, the study revealed that majority of teachers in Mfantsipim School were optimally utilised in terms of Ghana Education Service norms. It revealed that announcements at morning assembly (85.7%) and teachers taking part of other teacher's time (75.7%) respectively took a chunk of the teachers teaching time. It also revealed that teachers spent between 15 and 75 minutes a week on teaching related activities. The study therefore recommended that the authorities of Mfantsipim School need to put in a lot of measures to maximize the contact time between teachers and students.