ABSTRACT

Job satisfaction among pre-school teachers plays a key role on how they perform their functions in child development and initiation of early education. Studies have shown that most Early Childhood Development centres in Kenya lack basic infrastructural and enabling environments that would promote job satisfaction among pre-school teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore the job environments and to determine the levels of job satisfaction among different groups of pre-school teachers working in Kisii County, Kenya. A descriptive survey design was used to carry out the study. A sample size of 72 respondents was randomly selected, representing 20% of all pre- primary teachers working in the study area. Raw data were collected using a structured questionnaire and an observation checklist. The data were then organized for analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results were summarized and presented using tables. The study found that 87.05% of respondents were women and that 61.1% of them worked in rural locations. A large proportion of respondents were not satisfied with their basic salary (61.1%), allowances (77.8%), benefits other than money (55.6%), promotion criteria (51.5%) and gender balance (52.8%). On gender differences in job satisfaction among pre-school teachers, only two of the twenty study variables were found to be statistically significant, namely; the teaching profession (Phi and Cramer‟s values = 0.227, p-value = 0.05) and employer‟s support to pre-school teachers‟ welfare (Phi and Cramer‟s values = 0.284, p- value = 0.055). Regarding the differences in job satisfaction among pre-school teachers working in rural and urban ECD centres, again, only two variables were found to be statistically significant, namely; employers welfare support (Phi and Cramer‟s values = 0.292, p-value = 0.026) and salary (Phi and Cramer‟s values = 0.359, p-value = 0.010). None of the twenty study variables was found to be statistically significant in the difference in job satisfaction among pre-school teachers working in public and private ECD centres. To improve pre-school teachers‟ job satisfaction, it was recommended that the sponsors of ECD centres should address the existing gender gap among pre- school teachers, put up standard classrooms, avail recommended teaching- learning materials, adopt appropriate information technology, and address remuneration, terms of service and motivation. As a county and national government policy, the study proposed affirmative action to encourage and motivate men to take up pre-school teaching and also set minimum standards to be used in regulating infrastructural and material development, remuneration, terms of service and motivation. For further research, a study on the factors influencing dominance of women among pre-school teachers using in-depth methods was suggested.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

            Background to the Study

Job satisfaction among pre-school teachers plays a key role on how they perform their functions in child development and initiation of early education. Studies have shown that most Early Childhood Development centres lack basic infrastructural and enabling environments that would promote job satisfaction among pre-school teachers. At the World Conference on Education for All that took place in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, it was declared that learning starts at birth. By 2005, a number of African countries had initiated early childhood development and education programmes where Kenya‟s performance was ranked fourth in Africa. Only Mauritius, Namibia and Ghana had a higher proportion of children receiving early childhood development and education services (GoK, 2006).   The county‟s entire early childhood development and education programme is placed under the auspices of the education sector. According to the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Review document (UNESCO, 2005), Kenya achieved more in Early Childhood Development (ECD) provision than most Sub- African countries with similar levels of economic development, even before the adoption of an expanded vision of ECD in 2005 which laid emphasis on a holistic development of a child. In this case, holistic child development approach factors include the elements of cognitive, social, emotional and physical aspects of the child right from birth.

Kenya had no clear government policy framework to govern the expansion of early childhood education until 1980 when the National Centre for Early Childhood Education (NACECE) was set up to give guidance as well as coordinate Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) activities in Kenya. Later, the District Centres for Early Childhood Education (DICECEs) and the City Centre for Early Childhood Education (CICECE) covering a number of districts were created. Under the World Bank supported project of 1997-2004, there was an opportunity for the Kenya government to expand the ECD vision, focusing on teacher training and community capacity building for service delivery (UNESCO, 2005). The project stressed the importance of meeting the child‟s health, nutritional and learning needs. It also emphasized the principle of the child‟s holistic development as opposed to pre-school education. The other aspect of this project was the linkage and extension of the ECD age group from five or less up to eight years. It should be noted that under the Presidential Circular number one of 1980, the Government of Kenya transferred the pre-school education programme from the then Ministry of Culture and Social Services to the Ministry of Education (GoK, 2006). This shift in government policy placed the management of the ECD centres under the mainstream primary education in the Ministry of Education; it has been recognized as such since then. In 2005, the National Early Childhood Development Policy Framework (GoK, 2006) was developed to act as the basic reference document for key sectors involved in the provision of services for children in Kenya. It formed a springboard from which other sector policies would be strengthened, developed or reviewed, particularly in areas of health, education, environment and social services.

Over the years, the Ministry of Education, through the Community Support Grants (CSG) has been supplementing community efforts in financing ECD activities like teachers‟ salary top-up, infrastructure improvement, sanitation and provision of teaching/learning materials at ECD Centres. In 2011, under the Permanent Secretary Circular number MOE/GEN/G176/4 (Ministry of Education, 2011), it was decided that CSG allocation be used as salary top-up for just 10 pre-school teachers in each of the 210 constituencies of Kenya. In 2012, the allocation was used to purchase instructional materials and salary top-up for the selected centres and teachers. Through the CSG,  the government of Kenya has probably improved the work environment and job satisfaction among pre-school teachers to a certain level. However, whether the improvement is significant across the board is a matter of investigation. Like the UNESCO (2005) evaluation revealed, it is possible that employers, public or private, still peg salary payment on the amount collected from fees, not on the teacher‟s training background, experience or capability. In the same vein, it is worth noting that CSG did not address the influence of gender factors and also the implications on the ECD centres that did not benefit from the grant.

Of great concern was the failure of government to address the critical aspects of job satisfaction more than five years after the launch of the ECD Policy Framework, for instance, by posting pre-school teachers to every public primary school as proposed in the policy (GoK, 2006). Job satisfaction is so critical to any employee that it would motivate him or her to stay and productively work for the employer until retirement or not. Disregarding it

could confront the employer with the cost of high teaching staff turnover. It was, therefore, important to study the job environment and job satisfaction among pre-school teachers in view of the fact that most studies in  Kisii County have not dwelt on this area.

            Statement of the Problem

Despite the government‟s efforts to improve the quality of early childhood development and education, most pre-school teachers in Kenya continue to work under “hygienic job environment” such as sub-standard infrastructure and heavy workload. Besides, studies have shown that a significant proportion of Early Childhood Development centres in the country lack the ideal teaching and learning materials that would promote job satisfaction among pre-school teachers (Ndani & Kimani, 2010). For instance, reports on Early Childhood Education in Kisii County indicated that classroom walls in many Early Childhood Development centres were built using non-permanent materials such as clay or corrugated iron sheets (Ministry of Education, 2011). Such hygienic or extrinsic factors within the job environment are likely to influence job satisfaction among teachers, leading to frequent changes of work stations and engagement in some other economic activities besides teaching. The differences in job satisfaction among pre-school teachers working in rural or urban locations and among those working in public or private Early Childhood Development centres is a matter of research. No study has particularly dwelt on the differences in job satisfaction among various groups of pre-school teachers in Kisii County. Not even after ten years since the Early Childhood Development Policy Framework provided for such studies (UNESCO, 2005).

                  Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to explore the job environment and to determine the differences in job satisfaction among selected groups of pre-school teachers working in Kisii County, Kenya.