Factors Influencing the Attrition of Agriculture Teachers in Secondary Schools in Botswana.

A descriptive type of research was conducted to determine factors influencing the attrition of agriculture teachers in Secondary Schools in Botswana. The target population of the study was all the 106 heads of agriculture departments in Secondary Schools. A mailed questionnaire was used to gather data. The validity and reliability of the instrument were established. Results of the study revealed that remuneration, advancement and working conditions were the domains mostly responsible for the attrition of agriculture teachers in Botswana Secondary Schools.

Attrition can be defined as the gradual reduction of the work force by means of natural events such as retirements, deaths, and resignations; as opposed to reductions planned by management such as discharge, layoffs, retrenchments or early retirements.

Teacher attrition can have either positive or negative consequences on the local programmes. In a positive sense, attrition may be one way of naturally getting rid of incompetent teachers thus giving way to hiring new teachers who may be competent and who may introduce new programme contents and new policies and procedures to existing programme.

Negative consequences might arise when the leavers are the best teachers or when the school programmes are undergoing rapid growth and development. In this sense, teacher attrition lowers the overall effectiveness of the school and ultimately the quality of learning.

Furthermore, replacing high performing teachers might be very difficult thus decreasing the overall performance of the affected school. Attrition could result in expenses associated with the recruitement and selection and also loss of productivity until probably a new teacher has mastered the job. Attrition may also have a demoralising effect on the remaining teachers and negative effect on prospective teachers. Also individuals who remain might develop dissatisfaction simply by watching other teachers leave for other job opportunities.

Tilburg (1987) stated that when a staff member quits, both the students and the remaining teachers suffer. There is disruption of service to the clientele, the extra time and money spent on recruitment and training for replacement, as well as the additional stress of more work to the remaining staff members are the possible consequences suffered by the school organisation as a result of attrition.

Webb (1983) reported that in the National Education Association Survey of 1982, teachers indicated that factors and forces that have had a negative effect on their job are, little opportunity for advancement in the chosen profession; salaries not keeping up with inflation; status damaged by decline in public confidence in education; negative student attitudes toward learning. He further stated that, teachers are becoming increasingly estranged from their work.

Many feel they have given up an essential part of themselves to pursue a task that provides little professional recognition, profession that is not fulfilling their needs or tapping their potential and that Teaching profession is not providing individuals with the financial and psychological support required to sustain them in their work. As a result many teachers are leaving the field.

Lukhele (1989) in his study on the turnover of secondary school teachers in Swaziland found that, inadequate career ladders; inadequate salary; attractive terms and conditions of service in the private sector and allowances were major reasons for turnover of secondary school teachers in Swaziland.

In a recent study by Phenethi (1995) on the turnover of agriculture teachers in secondary and high schools of Lesotho found that, lack of involvement of teachers in decision making; lack of support for teachers; poor working relationships between agriculture teachers and headteachers, limited mobility in teaching service; discriminatory practices against the promotion, high demand to attend class activities after normal working hours, headteachers failure to recognize outstanding performance of teachers, lack of inservice training for agriculture supplies and equipment by school administration, attractive conditions of service in other sectors of the economy were major factors associated with turnover of agriculture teachers in secondary and high schools in Lesotho.

Gary and Straquadine (1987) said that, "It is difficult for many to understand that a teacher's life is not bound by the time and space of the school. Vocational agriculture teachers must coordinate many roles (teacher, youth advisor, spouse, community participant). For the teacher to coordinate all these roles, vocational agriculture teachers must cope with many demands of their multiple roles, especially the demand placed upon them by marriage. Marital relationships have been identified as a factor causing vocational agriculture teachers to leave the profession".

Burgess (1981) in the study on teacher shortage found out that attrition of agriculture teachers was due to low morale toward teaching; teacher-load which included matters such as record keeping, clerical work; community demands; extra curricular load; and keeping up to date professionally.

Roussan and Henderson (1995) in the study of agent turnover in Ohio State University Extension found out that, country agents were most likely to leave Ohio State University Extension because of other priorities in their lives, such as job offer; insufficient pay for the amount of work performed; family obligations, too many late night meetings; too many responsibilities; attracted to more money elsewhere; no time for personal relationship; too many requirements for advancement; conflict of values, and lack of recognition for a job well done.

Darling (1984) stated that new recruits into teaching were less academically qualified than those who were leaving, and shortages of qualified teachers in mathematics and sciences were expected to grow into a more generalized teacher shortage. He further stated that teachers salaries fell far below those of other professions; lack of input into professional decision making; overly restrictive bureaucratic controls, and inadequate administrative support for teaching contributed to teacher dissatisfaction and attrition, particularly among most highly qualified members of the teaching force.

Kossen (1983) stated that high rates of turnover often indicated ineffective leadership. He further stated that paychecks can be a source of poor morale, especially when compared to the paychecks of other employees doing a similar work or those workers in other organisations in the same industry. Employees become disgruntled when they feel that their paychecks are not keeping up with current industry rates or are not keeping up with rising prices. Significant signs of poor morale are high turnover, lack of pride in work, absenteeism and tardiness.

According to Bundy (1968) many teachers were found to leave their vocational agriculture positions because they found themselves attempting to do an impossible job. He stated that satisfaction in employment was associated with accomplishment, appreciation of value of programme to others and rewards (financial and otherwise). He further stated that instructors who work under a load that cannot permit them to be prepared, cannot possibly take satisfaction in their accomplishment. Continued employment under these condition can only result in dissatisfaction and emotional instability.

Rollefson (1990) in the study on teacher turnover patterns of entry to and exit from teaching found out that attrition of teachers increases with increase in school size; and that 40% public school leavers and 43.8% private school leavers were reported in non-teaching activities.

Although Botswana has taken great strides in building the image of agricultural education, and training of teachers, the country is continuously faced with the shortage of agriculture teachers in secondary schools. This is not because there are few teachers graduating from institutions but because there is a significant proportion of teachers leaving from their teaching positions in a given year to join other job opportunities. This statement is supported by the Botswana National Development Plan (1991 - 1997) which stated that the wastage percentage of trained Batswana teachers per year is 8% of which 3.2% are agriculture teachers. Also the Teaching Service Management Board (TSM June, 1996) indicated that the attrition rate of agriculture teachers, excluding expatriate end-of-contact, stands at 4% per annum.

The question that arise therefore is: what are the factors associated with the attrition of agriculture teachers in secondary schools in Botswana?

Purpose and Objective of the Study

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the factors influencing the attrition of agriculture teachers in secondary schools in Botswana. The study attempted to study the following specific objectives.

1. To describe the demographic characteristics of the agriculture teachers in Botswana (such as sex, level of education, age, marital status, salary, teaching experience).

2. To identify the factors influencing attrition of agriculture teachers in Botswana secondary schools.

Methodology

A descriptive type of study using the mail questionnaire technique was employed in the study. The target population was the heads of agriculture department from 106 schools in the Southern part of Botswana. The population was selected because it consisted of both urban and rural schools and therefore would be in a better position to provide useful data to achieve the objectives of the study. Out of the target population of 106 Agriculture teachers who were interviewed, a total of 91 (86%) useable questionnaires were received and processed.

The items used in the domains were obtained from literature. The instrument used for data collection consisted of closed ended questions of a one to six point likert scale developed around the seven major domains which literature asserted could be responsible for attrition from certain professions. The domains were remuneration, interpersonal relationship, advancement, professional factors, working conditions, administration factors and autonomy.

The content validity of the instrument was established by a panel of experts from the University of Swaziland, Department of Agricultural Education and Extension.

The reliability of instrument was established by 64 agriculture teachers from the schools in the central parts of Botswana. The Kuder-Richardson formula - 21 (KR21) was used to calculate the reliability coefficient which was 99. The alpha level was set at 0.05 level of significant.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) secondary department provided an up-to-date list of the secondary schools teachers who were used for the study. This procedure helped to control the frame error. Sampling error was not a threat because all the agriculture teachers were targeted. The list of participants in the study was checked to avoid duplications of respondents. This helped to control selection error.

A series of follow-up procedures to the initial questionnaire mailing were conducted in accordance with suggestions provided by Dillman (1978). Early respondents were compared with late respondents and results showed no significant difference between them. This allowed for generalization of results to the target population.

The respondents were asked to indicate their responses on each of the statements under the 7 domains along the likert scale of 6= strongly agree (SA).5 = Agree (A), 4 = slighty agree (SA) 3 = slighty disagree (SD) 2 = disagree (D) and 1 = strongly disagree (SDA).

Data collected were analysed using the SPSS to input the data. Percentage were used to describe the agriculture teachers selected demographic characteristics while mean, standard deviation and ranks were used to describe the factors associated with the attrition of agriculture teachers. In order to identify the position of each of the 48 statements in the domains, means were generated and ranked.

To describe the level of agreement between the 7 domains of Remuneration, Interpersonal relations, Advancement, Professional factors, working conditions, Administrative factors and Autonomy, overall means were generated for each of the domain. An average mean of the liken scale figures used to collect the data was taken. Overall mean of 3.5 or above was taken to denote agreement with all the statements in each domain and a mean below 3.5 was considered to denote disagreement.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 contains the demographic information about the respondents. The demographic information included sex, level of education, teaching experience in agriculture, marital status, age, type of school and salary. The total number of respondents as shown in Table 13 was 91. Out of the 91 respondents 71 (78.1%) were males and 20 (21.9%) were females. Regarding their level of Education, 24 (26.4%) had first degree, 3 (3.33%) had certificate in agriculture, and 7 (7.7%) had O'level and equivalent. About 59% of the respondents had a diploma degree in Agricultural education while only 3.3.% had a Master's degree in Agriculture or Agriculture Education. Pertaining to their period of service, most 46 (50.5%) served for I to 5 years; 17 (18.7%) had served for a period of 6 - 10 years; 17 (18.7%) had served for 11 - 15 years; 8 (8.7%) has served for a period of 16 - 20 years, and only 3 (3.3%) had served for a period of 21 and above years. Furthermore, large proportion of the respondents 42 (47.2%) were between 20 and 30 years of age; 36 (40.4%) were between 40 years of age 6 (6.6%) were between 41 and 50 years old, and 5 (5.6%) were 51 and above age. Most of the respondents 73 (80.2%) taught in Community owned schools; 2 (2.2%) taught in government-aided Mission schools, and 15 (17.6%) taught in government-owned schools. Most of the respondents 43 (48.3%) were paid a salary between P16 000 and 25 000 per annum; 33 (35.9%) were paid between P26 000 and P35 000; 10 (11.2%) were paid between P5000 and P15 000, and only 3 (3.3%) were paid between P36 000 and above per annum.

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Demographic Characteristics     Frequency   Percentage

1. Sex
   Male                            71          78.1
   Female                          20          22.9

2. Level of Education
   O'level/Equivalent               7           7.7
   Certificate in Agric             3           3.3
   Diploma Agric. Ed.              54          59.3
   Bsc. Agric. and Agric. Ed.      24          26.3
   Msc. Agric. or Ed.               3           3.3

3. Teaching Experience
   1-5 years                       46          50.5
   6-10 years                      17          18.7
   11-15 years                     17          18.7
   16-20 years                      8           8.7
   21 years and above               3           3.3

4. Marital Status
   Single                          52          57.1
   Married                         38          41.8

5. Age
   20-30 years                     42          47.2
   31-40 years                     36          40.4
   41-50 years                      6           6.7
   51 years and above               5           5.6

6. Type of School
   Government - Owned              15          17.6
   Government - aided Mission       2           2.2
   Community - Owned               73          80.2

7. Salary (Pula) per Annum
   P5 000 - P15 000                10          11.2
   P16 000 - P25 000               43          48.3
   P26 000 - P35 000               33          35.9
   P36 000 - and above              3           3.3

In Table 2, the mean ranking of all the 48 statement in the seven domains indicated that lack of allowance paid to agricultural teachers for working after hours topped the list of the statements. This was closely followed by the lack of benefits to the teachers, both in the domain of Remuneration. Attractive conditions was ranked third while large class sizes for practical agriculture came fourth, both under the domain of working conditions.

Table 2 Means and Standard Deviations of the Factors Influencing the Attrition of Agriculture Teachers in Secondary Schools in Botswana

A. Remuneration Factors Associated
with Attrition                         X      SD    Rank

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

 1. Salary is low                     4.75   1.44     5
 2. Pay criteria used by teaching     4.25   1.16     8
    service in not appropriate
 3. Pay in relation to others         3.99   1.72    14
    in similar jobs is low
 4. Pay compared to other in          3.48   1.60    19
    neighbouring countries is low
 5. Lack of benefits                  4.95   1.41     2
 6. No allowance paid to              5.09   1.46     1
    agriculture teachers for
    working after hours

Overall Mean                          4.41   1.47

B. Interpersonal Relation factors
associated with attrition              X      SD    Rank

Agriculture teachers leave
teaching because:

 7. Poor interpersonal relations      2.28   1.31    42
    among colleagues
 8. Poor interpersonal relations      2.71   1.53    33
    with headteachers
 9. Poor interpersonal relations      2.70   1.47    34
    with Senior Education Officers
10. Agriculture teachers are          2.11   1.49    43
    undermined by students
11. Agriculture teachers are          2.29   1.44    41
    undermined by other teachers
12. Agriculture teachers are          1.93   1.25    44
    undermined by the community
13. Community pressures are high      2.45   1.45    37
    for agriculture teachers

Overall Mean                          2.35   1.42

C. Advancement factors associated      X      SD    Rank
with attrition

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

14. Lack of promotion                 4.01   1.67    12
15. Lack of inservice training        3.72   1.73    16
    for agriculture teachers
16. There are limited opportunities   4.03   1.79    11
    of further studies
17. There is high demand of           4.24   1.45     9
    agriculture teachers in
    other sectors
18. Lack of study leave               3.21   1.71    23

Overall Mean                          3.84   1.67

D. Professional factors associated     X      SD    Rank
   with attrition

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

19. Lack of challenge in              2.81   1.72    31
    agriculture
20. Agriculture teachers lack         1.45   0.87    48
    confidence in subject matter
21. Agriculture teachers spend more   1.71   0.91    47
    time on students problems
    than in teaching
22. Students lack interest in         3.44   1.66    20
    agriculture
23. No formal recognition of good     4.18   1.57    10
    performance for agriculture
    teachers
24. Frustration due to poor results   2.87   1.46    29
25. Lack of logistical support        3.51   1.62    18

Overall Mean                          2.85   1.40

E. Working conditions associated
with attrition                         X      SD    Rank

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

26. Heavy teaching loads              4.51   1.52     6
27. Insufficient resources for        4.25   1.52     7
    teaching agriculture
28. Inadequate preparation time for   3.17   1.37    24
    agriculture teachers
29. Agriculture teachers attend       3.99   1.66    13
    class activities after normal
    working hours
30. There is drudgery in              3.14   1.55    24
    agriculture
31. There are attractive conditions   4.89   1.06     3
    of service in other sectors
    of economy
32. Class sizes are not ideal for     4.79   1.46     4
    practical agriculture
33. Too much paperwork in teaching    3.57   1.61    17
    agriculture
34. Lack of morale in agriculture     3.14   1.64    25
    teachers
35. Agriculture teachers do not       3.93   1.84    15
    enjoy benefits enjoyed by
    other public officers
36. School holidays are short         2.82   1.68    30
    compared to other similar jobs

Overall Mean                          3.79   1.53

F. Administrative factors              X      SD
   associated with attrition

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

37. There is a lack of awareness      2.43   1.27    38
    regarding school policies
    and rules
38. Agriculture teachers are not      2.90   1.54    28
    involved in design of the
    curriculum
39. Agriculture teachers are not      2.64   1.43    35
    involved in school decision
    making
40. There is unfair periodic          3.25   1.68    22
    transfer of agriculture
    teachers
41. There is political interference   2.58   1.54    36
    in education
42. Students' subject combinations    3.37   1.85    21
    render them no future in
    agriculture

Overall Mean                          2.86   1.55

G. Autonomy factors associated         X      SD    Rank
   with attrition

Agriculture teachers leave teaching
because:

43. They are not given freedom to     2.41   1.41    34
    express their beliefs
    concerning agriculture
    operation
44. They are not given freedom to     2.68   1.44    39
    take part in solving
    department problems
45. They are not given the freedom    1.87   1.06    46
    to discipline students during
    practicals
46. They are not given the freedom    1.91   1.11    45
    to discipline students during
    class hours
47. They are not given the freedom    2.94   1.55    27
    to use their descretion
    to dispose agriculture produce
48. Students are not given freedom    2.33   1.35    40
    to use their knowledge
    in agriculture at school

Overall Mean                          2.86   1.55

Low staff salary was ranked fifth under the domain of remuneration, while heavy teaching loads and in sufficient resources for teaching agriculture both under the domain of working conditions came 6th and 7th respectively. In appropriate pay conditions used by the teaching service was 8th while high demands for agriculture teachers in other sectors was ranked 9th under advancement domain. Lack of formal recognition of good performance for agriculture teachers under the domain of professional factors was ranked 10th.

Among the least in the ranking order were the statements under the professional factors that agriculture teachers lack confidence in subject matter (48) and Agriculture teachers spend more time on student problems than teaching (47). Under the Autonomy domain, the statements Agriculture teachers are not given the freedom to discipline students during practicals and are also not given the freedom to discipline students class hours were ranked 46th and 45th respectively.

The statements in the domain of interpersonal relations attracted very low ranking as could be seen on table 2. This is because the statements:- Agriculture teachers are undermined by the community, agriculture teachers are undermined by the students, poor interpersonal relations among colleagues and agriculture teachers are undermined by other teachers were ranked 44, 43, 42 and 41 respectively. The statements: students are not given freedom to use their knowledge in agriculture at school and are also not given the freedom to express their beliefs concerning agriculture operations both under the domain of Autonomy were ranked in the position of 40 and 39 respectively.

To identify in order to importance the domain that took the lead with regards to attrition of agriculture teachers in Botswana Secondary Schools mean and standard deviations were general and the mean was used to rank the seven domains.

Table 3 shows that Remuneration which has a mean of 4.41 was the most important factor affecting the attrition of secondary school teachers in Botswana. This was closely followed by lack of advancement with a mean of 3.84 working conditions had a mean of 3.79 with the third position while administrative factors and professional factors which had a mean of 2.86 and 2.85 were ranked 4th and 5th respectively. Interpersonal relations and autonomy had equal ranking (6th) with both having a mean of 2.35 respectively.

Table 3 Mean and Standard Deviations of the Factors Influencing the Attrition of Agriculture Teachers in Botswana Secondary Schools when pulled together

Factors                           x      SD    Mean Ranking

Renumeration                     4.41   1.47        1
Interpersonal Relation Factors   2.35   1.42        6
Advancement                      3.84   1.67        2
Professional Factors             2.85   1.40        5
Working Conditions               3.79   1.53        3
Administrative Factors           2.86   1.55        4
Automony                         2.35   1.32        9

Overall means for each domain using the off point of 3.5 revealed that the respondents agreed with Remuneration ([bar] x 4.41) Advancement ([bar] x 3.81) and work conditions ([bar] x 3.79) as major factors associated with attrition of agriculture teachers in secondary schools in Botswana.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Based on the study, there were more male teachers than female teachers in the teaching service of Botswana. There is therefore a need to conscientize females to attract them to the teaching profession. Most agriculture teachers were found to possess diploma qualifications in agriculture. There is a need also to upgrade the agriculture teachers to a degree level to enlace the mastery of the subject matter. The study clearly reveeled that remuneration, advancement and working conditions were the domains mostly responsible for the attrition of agriculture teachers in Botswana secondary schools. Policy makers and administrators should give attention to these areas. Also the statements within all the domains that were found to be high in order of ranking deserve to be attended to by the policy makers and administrators.

References

Bundy, C.E. (1968). Why Qualified Vocational Agriculture Teachers Don't Teach. Agriculture Education Magazine, 9(1-2), 6-7.

Burgess, T.P. (1981). Teacher Shortage: Missing The Boat in Virginia? Agriculture Education Magazine, 53(9), 14-15.

Gary, S. & Straquadine, J.E. (1987). Your Marriage and the Profession. Agriculture Education Magazine, 59(7), 18-19.

Kossen, S. (1983). The Human Side of Organization (3rd Edition). Harper and Row Publishers: New York. 251-257.

Lukhele, S.B. (1989). Turnover of secondary school teachers in Swaziland. Unublished Bachelor of Science Dissertation. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Swaziland.

National Development Plan 7 (1991 -1997). Secondary Education: Teacher Supply and Demand. Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Government Printer. Gaborone.

Phenethi, P.T. (1995). Turnover of Agriculture Teachers in Secondary and High Schools in Lesotho. Unpublished Bachelor of Science dissertation. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Swaziland.

Roffelson, M. (1990). Teacher Turnover: Patterns of Entry To and Exit From Teaching. Journal of Agricultural Education, 36(2).

Roussan, L.M. (1995). Agent Turnover in Ohio State University Extension. Journal of Agricultural Education, 37(2).

Tilburg, E. (1987). Turnover Intentions of Ohio Cooperative Extension Country Agents. Journal of American Association of Teacher Educators in Agriculture, 28(3), 7-11.

Webb, R.B. (1983). Teacher Status Panic: Moving Up the Down Escalator. In Bali, Goodson (eds.) Teachers'lives and careers, 1985. Falmer Press, 78-87.

S. K. Subair, Department of Agriculture Education and Extension, Botswana College of Agriculture. B.B. Mojaphoko, Moshupa Secondary School, Moshupa, Botswana.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to S. K. Subair, Department of Agriculture Education and Extension, Botswana College of Agriculture, Private Bag 0027, Selbele, Gaborone, Botswana.