Abstract:
The study sought to assess the effect of motivation on the performance of Ghana Armed Forces schools and selected public schools in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis. Four research questions were posed to guide the study. The descriptive survey design was used. All basic schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis constituted the accessible population. However, only six public schools and six armed forces schools were involved in the study. A total of 177 respondents, comprising 12 head teachers and 165 teachers were randomly and purposively selected.
In order to gather relevant data for the study, two sets of likert-type scale questionnaire were designed for head teachers and teachers. Data gathered were analysed using frequencies, percentages and means. The independent samples t-test was also employed to test the differences between the reactions of respondents to the various motivation variables at a p-value of .05.
Some of the major findings were that the school environment in public schools encouraged performance of staff than what exists in the armed forces schools; the staffs of armed forces schools were more rewarded than their counterparts in the public school. It was recommended that schools must provide a lot of resources for teaching and learning both inside and outside the classroom to create a conducive and an enabling environment for teaching and learning; heads of institutions should be more democratic and also vary leadership style to suit a particular situation this will largely determine the kind of interrelationship that will exist between and among teachers, head, students and non teaching staff.
