Recruitment and retention of teachers in senior high schools in the Sunyani Metropolis

Abstract

The main reason for undertaking this study was to examine the main recruitment and retention problems affecting teachers in the Sunyani Metropolis and alternatively find out how transparent the recruitment process was. To investigate these concerns therefore, a sample size of 110 respondents from three senior high schools in the Sunyani Metropolis were selected. The simple random sampling method was used in selecting the respondents from the various schools. Questionnaire was the main data collection instrument. In each of the schools, respondents were clustered into male and female in order to give a fair representation of both sex groups. The research revealed that job recruitment entails postings from colleges while retention entails the love for the job, the desire to share knowledge with others motivated them to teach and job security. It also revealed that the main factors that influence labour turnover within the Ghana Education Service include opportunity to further education with study leave with pay job security, free, affordable and decent accommodation, and better/appropriate remuneration. It is recommended that the selection and recruitment of teachers into the senior high schools should follow laid down criteria in order to ensure that those who qualify are actually recruited. The heads of the respective institutions should be part of the selection and recruitment process.