Teacher turnover in secondary school: A case studh of Dar es Salaam region in Tanzania

The purpose of this study was to explore and find out the reasons for secondary school teachers' mobility from public to private secondary schools and vice versa as part of an attempt to understand why teachers quit their jobs in Tanzania Unlike previous studies which concentrated on teacher turnover in public secondary schools and higher learning institutions, this study examines and compares the rate of teacher turnover in both public and private secondary schools. In addition, the study investigates desired factors for teacher motivation and retention. The study sample includes 71 secondary school teachers, 15 heads of secondary schools, 4 officials from the Ministry of Education and Culture, and 2 officials from the Teachers' Service Commission. The findings reveal that despite the salaries that were a bit higher in some private secondary schools compared to those in public schools, the average rate of teachers who quit in private schools are higher. The study maintains that, although most private schools provide incentives as a panacea for teacher turnover, the schools fail to retain the teachers long enough. The underlying reason confirmed by this study is that the power of incentives for retaining employees depends on individual perceptions and career goals. The findings further indicate that although most teachers move from public to private secondary schools to get higher salaries, the average salaries indicated little difference with those in public schools. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that both the Ministry of Education and Culture and owners of private secondary schools should consider using alternative forms of motivation and strategies such as building and sustaining good relationships with teachers and instituting recognition and respect to teachers instead of or in addition to monetary and other material incentives. Owners of schools should also ensure that heads of schools are properly trained in management skills from time to time because poor management is one of the major factors for teacher turnover.