Attraction of female teachers into basic schools in the Kumasi metropolis

Abstract

The main purpose of the dissertation was to identify the factors which attract female teachers into the basic schools of the Kumasi Metropolis. Respondents for the data collection comprised 72 teachers, 12 heads of basic schools and 2 officers in charge of po stings and transfers in the Kumasi Metropolitan Education Office. The research questions that guided the study were probes into the factors that enticed female teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis, factors preventing female teachers from accepting posting to rural schools, the characteristics of females in teaching positions in the Kumasi basic schools and factors that encouraged male teachers to accept postings to rural schools. The research instruments used to collect data were a questionnaire and structured interview guide. While the classroom teachers and head teachers selected responded to the written questionnaire, the officers in charge of postings and transfers were interviewed. The major factors that were found to cause the concentration of female teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis included marital issues, availability of social facilities and conducive atmosphere of school. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended, among others, that government should develop the rural areas in terms of social infrastructure to entice female teachers to readily accept po stings and transfer to schools in such areas. The Ghana Education Service (GES) should enforce the policy of each teacher having to teach in a rural school before being transferred to an urban school.