CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Teachers are influenced by certain activities around their working environment. In a common parlance, working environment is identified as the place that one works. According to business dictionary, working environment refers to all existing circumstance affecting labor in the work place, including job hours, physical aspects, legal rights and responsibility, temperature, available space, organizational climate and workload. It is the social and professional environment in which teachers interact with students, principals and other stakeholders in the same environment. A decent working environment is a condition where individuals can do their jobs in an ideal, secure, healthy, and comfort way. Therefore, many studies classify the work environment into toxic and conducive environments (Akinyele, 2010). Unhealthy and unsafe work environment in terms of poor ventilation, immoderate noise, inadequate lighting etc. affect employees’ productivity and health. Working environment is created by the interaction of employees with their organizational climate, and includes psychological as well as physical working conditions (Gerber 1998). Hay Group (2007) contends that work environment includes a friendly, well-designed, safe physical space, good equipment and effective communication which will improve productivity. Well-designed and organized offices and work areas make significant differences to how people feel about their work. Working environment gives messages about how much the organization value teachers and the standards it expects from the teachers for the realization of the expected productivity (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007).
For Humphries (2005) some of the factors that influence the workplace include: cleanliness, water, lighting, colouring, security and music. Many work environment studies have shown that workers are satisfied with reference to specific work environment features (Chandrasekar (2011). Those features include: ventilation rates, lighting, and access to natural light and acoustic environment. These features preferred by users significantly contribute to their workspace satisfaction and productivity. For Rolloos (1997) productivity is a ratio to measure how well an organization (individual, industry or country) converts input resources (labor, materials, machines etc.) into goods and services. In addition, productivity refers to effort to produce with the least effort by combination of labor, material and machines. The working conditions are very important to the organization. If the employees have negative perception of their working conditions, they are likely to be absent, have stress related illness, and their productivity and commitment tend to be low. In the same vein,Mali (1978) sees productivity as the measure of how resources are brought together in organizations and utilized for accomplishing a set of results. This implies that it reflects on reaching the highest level of performance with least expenditure of resources.
Basic Primary Education in Nigeria has been regarded by some parents as an optional commodity that is not essential for the child. This situation has arisen because of religious, cultural and economic factors. The main objective of the primary school education is to train individuals to read, write and be numerically literate. In recent times, it is a note that many primary school levers can neither read nor write accurately. Judging from the products of the Nigerian primary school, there is a big question mark on level of performance and the productivity of their teachers.
It is also observed that many Nigerians avoid sending their wards to public primary school because the products of public primary schools are the greater victims of the inability to read and write. From interactions with the primary school teacher in the public or government owed school there are stories of woes as regards their poor work environment. Primary school teacher complain bitterly about the irregularities in the payments of their salaries and allowance. They are dissatisfied with the infrastructural facilities in school, equipment and general environment. Their offices are ill-equipped. Most of the times the commonest teaching aid as the chalk chalkboard are not available for level of motivation is terribly low, such that a typical primary school teacher complains all the time about lack of job satisfaction and loss of interest on their part. They agree that they have not put their best and that the educational standards are falling.
They spend most of the school year at home and in their petty business places because most of the time, they are on industrial actions protesting against the lack of concern of government over their welfare. Sometimes in a typical school year or academic session, the period they teach is far less than the period the away from school. Public of public primary school learn very little, they are found most of the time loitering the streets, hawking and having no meaningful learning.
The lack of interest, concentration and continuity in the teacher work reduces their performance and productivity especially when coupled with the absence of on-the job training programmes, seminars and conference to update their knowledge and skills. They therefore become ill-motivated frustrated unproductive. The attrition rates among teacher are high compared to other profession. It is however pleasing to observe that the present government at the state levels are embarking on massive renovation of primary school in their states. It is hoped that this improved infrastructural facilities will be complements with other necessary facilities in order to improve the work environment of the teachers for greater productivity.
As revealed by Purcell, Kinnie, Hutchinson, Rayton and Swart (2003) evidence shows that productivity depended on having the right mix of the skills, abilities, motivation and potentialities in achieving the predetermined goal of the institutions. An enabling environment for collaborative building of teachers’ capacity is therefore very critical. This is because the more skillful the teachers are, the higher their level of productivity. Skilled labor not only can do things beyond the competence of unskilled labor, it is likely also to be able to work faster, with less supervision, fewer errors as well as producing goods and services of a higher substance and quality. This view is accepted by Adelakun (2011) who affirms that teachers with a good learning environment developed more confident and feel less at risk, while at the same time acquiring motivation for entrepreneurial activity. A satisfied, happy and hardworking teacher is the biggest asset of any organization. For instance, the level of salary, promotion, appraisal system, climate management, and relation with co-workers are the very important factors. Creating better and higher performing workplace requires an awareness of how workplace impacts behavior and how behavior itself drives workplace productivity (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007).
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
An attractive economy and supportive work environment can be described as an environment that attracts teachers, encourages workforce capacity as well as performing effectively. The purpose of providing attractive work environments is to create incentives. In addition, supportive work environments provide conditions that enable teachers to perform effectively, making best use of their knowledge, skills and competences and the available resources in order to provide high-quality services. In spite of the government and management of the school board to enhance efficiency among the teachers, there are still the challenges of insufficient of lightening, inability to put measure to ensure favorable temperate devoid of extreme cool or hot as well as overcrowding teaching and learning without enough space for special learning activities hence affecting the capacity of the teachers to perform their task adequately.
A lot will go wrong if the educational sector which serves as the reservoir is not given the desired attention. The absence of good economy and educational environment will obviously deplete human resources that would have filled the depleted manpower stock. The explosion has called for a rethinking of the quality and influence that the economy and school environment has on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools.
This therefore forms the research on the effect of economy and school environment on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado Local Government of Ekiti State.
- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of the research is the influence of economic and school environment on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state. Other specific objectives include:
1. to determine the relationship between economic and school environment and the productivity of teachers in secondary schools in Ado local government of Ekiti state.
2. to examine the influence of economic and school environment on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
3. to identify factors militating against the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
4. to examine the effect of economy on the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
5. to proffer solution to factors that militate against the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
- RESEARCH QUESTION
1. what is the relationship between economic and school environment and the productivity of teachers in secondary schools in Ado local government of Ekiti state?
2. what is the influence of economic and school environment on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state?
3. what are the factors militating against the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state?
4. what is the effect of economy on the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state?
5. what is the solution to factors that militate against the productivity of teachers in secondary school of Ado local government of Ekiti state?
- STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1. H0: economic and school environment has no significant influence on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
2. H1: economic and school environment has a significant influence on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will reveal the fundamental advantages of an adequate school environment for effective teaching and learning. In other words, inconvenient school environment is a source of distress, thus leading to poor job performance. This happens when the teachers are exposed to uncomfortable working environment in which there is a high glare, or dim bulk in the office. The economic and school environment influences concentration, alertness, and task performance.
The study will also discuss the needs for adequate or moderate temperature of the working environment in order to enhance the capacity of the teachers and students. Good room temperature increases productivity and reduces stress in workers as it plays notable role in workplace environment. High temperatures affect employee’s performance, particularly duties required on cognitive, physical, and perceptual duties.
More so, the study will be of benefit to the education scholars, students, teachers, principals and other stakeholders who will likely research into similar topic. The study will also be of help to school management who has the responsibility of providing the related facilities for the comfort of the teachers, students and principals. This is obvious as productivity of the teachers cannot be generated in the situation of distress and inconvenience.
Finally, the study will add to the volume of literatures on working environment and teachers’ productivity in secondary schools in Ado Ekiti State.
- SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of this study will cover the influence of economic and school environment on the productivity of teachers in secondary schools of Ado local government of Ekiti state.
- LIMITATION OF STUDY
1. Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
2. Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Economic: economics is the study of how society uses its limited resources. Economics is a social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
School environment: A school environment is broadly characterized by its facilities, classrooms, school-based health supports, and disciplinary policies and practices. It sets the stage for the external factors that affect students.
Productivity: Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio between the output volume and the volume of inputs. In other words, it measures how efficiently production inputs, such as labour and capital, are being used in an economy to produce a given level of output.
Teachers: A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students. The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. ... Teachers may use a lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which is called the curriculum.
