The extent to which employers enhance teachers’ retention in rural private secondary schools in Ulanga district, Morogoro - Tanzania

This study examined the extent to which employers enhance teachers’ retention in Ulanga district, Morogoro. The study was guided by four research objectives: examining the influence of teachers’ age, gender, level of education and social statuses on their retention in RPSSs in Ulanga; exploring the factors influencing teachers to remain with their employers in RPSSs; investigating the strategies employed by employers to retain teachers in RPSSs in Ulanga; exploring challenges faced by employers in retaining teachers in RPSSs and the ways use to handle them. The study was conducted in Ulanga district, Morogoro Region. The study employed a mixed research approach and a multiple case study design. The sample for the study involved 62 respondents. Five employers, 56 teachers (45 males and 11 females) were between 25 and above 66 years (M=42, SD=11.708) and 1 DEO. Interview, questionnaire and documentary review were used for data collection. The findings revealed that veteran, male, graduate, married teachers and teachers with children stayed longer with their employers than novice, female, diploma, unmarried teachers and teachers without children. In addition, the findings revealed that the living together of couples (being all teachers or one of them) influenced them to stay longer in RPSSs in Ulanga than the separate living of couples. It was further noted that teachers remained in RPSSs in Ulanga due to the following factors as rated by respondents: salary packages (92.8%), working conditions (84%), cooperation from employers (76.8%), fringe benefits (73.2%), professional development (69.7%), recognition (58.9%), supportive administration and leadership (55.4%), and harmony in the work place (55.4%). There were a number of strategies used by employers to encourage teachers remain in RPSSs. These were: provision of gratuities, soft loans, annual increase of salaries and timely pay, provision of farms for agriculture activities and incentives. However, the findings indicated that teachers’ retention was associated with a number of challenges. These challenges included shortage of funds, inadequate land for agriculture and shortage of decent houses for teachers. Nevertheless, different measures were employed to handle these challenges. These were raising school fees to students, and induction and mentoring services. Moreover, employers had plans to ensure that teachers were motivated to teach and remain in RPSSs in Ulanga. Among these plans were periodic reviews of teachers’ salaries, increasing teachers’ job security, giving priority to construction of decent houses for teachers and raising teachers’ responsibility allowances. The study recommends that employers should employ viable strategies to ensure that the teaching environment encourages both female and male novice teachers to remain in rural areas. In addition, a discussion between employers and teachers is needed to identify other factors which encourage teachers to remain with their employers in rural secondary schools.