The role and performance of Teachers' Service Commission in development of teachers' morale: a case study of Lindi region

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role and performance of Teachers' Service Commission in development of teachers' morale in Tanzania. Lindi region was selected for investigation. A sample comprised of 148 respondents who were selected through 5 primary schools, 2 secondary Nachingwea, Lindi urban, Lindi Teacher Training College at methods were employed interviews, questionnaires simple random sampling from schools from Kilwa, Liwale, rural districts and one Nachingwea. Four data collection namely documentary literature and observation. The major findings of the study revealed teachers' problems and socio-economic conditions that cause teachers' morale. Nevertheless some known to the Teachers' Service Commission not. The government's negligence, if not slowness in solving those known problems, creates possibilities for lowering of teachers' morale. Also the findings showed that Teachers ‘Service Commission concentrates only on a few things such as promotions and discipline of teachers rather than arresting the root cause of teachers' problems. It became evident that mass promotion procedures, low salaries, lack of accommodation, lack of teaching materials and heavy work load, were the most problematic issues regarding teachers' performance. Finally the study confirmed that most respondents were dissatisfied with the way teachers' problems were handled. Some teachers had the opinion that Teachers' Service Commission alone could not solve teachers' problems without the Teachers' Trade Union's help, and they, therefore, blamed the delay in establishing the latter. In line with the reseach findings it was recommended that decentralization of primary education be abolished to avoid separation in development of teachers' welfare. Furthermore, it was recommended that the government should anact Occupational Health and Safety Act for teachers because of their being exposed to hazards in their work places. Also, the teachers be categorised according to educational qualifications so that graduate teachers start at Grade 11B, diploma holders at Grade 11C, Grade 111A and 111B remain as it is today. Another important recommendation was that regional TSC committees be authorised to deal with all disciplinary cases as well as promoting teachers up to GS 5 to avoid heavy workload for TSC Central Board. Lastly, but not least, it was recomended that TSC functions and programmes be known to teachers through appropricate news media.