Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Onuoha and Uzodinma (2000), state that once an organization has employed those it considered qualified, suitable and competent to perform those jobs for which they were hired, it must embark on an effective training and development programme that is necessary to enhance the productive capabilities of the newly hired employees, while it also embarks on training and retratining the old workers or employees in order to maximize their productivity. Gardner (1993), defines training as an organized procedure by which people learn knowledge and or skills for a definite purpose. It is a process for equipping employees, particularly the non-managerial employees. Training would enable employees to improve on their performances and when they improve on their performances, it will bring about high and increased productivity in an organisation or an institution. According to Uzorue (1994), the objective of training and retraining teachers in the school sector is majorly to enable them to perform their work well in the school and bring about high work performance of the teachers and high academic achievement of the students.
Uzorue opines that the teacher’s job is a tedious one, which requires skills and proficiency to carry out effectively. Therefore, training of teachers is a sine qua non in the teaching profession. Ayodele (2001) lent credence to the opinion of Uzorue (1994), by stating that there is a great difference between the work performance of teachers who are well trained and those who are not. He further claimed that there is a difference in the work performance of teachers who are experienced as a result of training and long service and non-experienced ones who may not have probably underwent training as professional teachers. As Uzomah and Amaonye (1991) put it, because of the fact that ours is a world that is currently undergoing rapid changes, particularly in the area of skill acquisition and technological capability, training is therefore, not exclusively reserved for newly employed staff, but also for the old ones as well.
It is therefore, important for the purpose of enhancing individual performance that training and developing should be made a continuous process that should last through an employee’s working life. This is because low and middle level teachers need to adapt to new skills and technologies while managers of the school (principal’s) and other top management personnels in the school need deeper knowledge and understanding of their jobs, the jobs of others, and a good understanding of where and how their jobs fit into the wider school pattern an understanding of government activities and societal constraints and a sensitive social awareness of the environment within which the school as an organization operates.
According to Gerald (1998), training of staff is important in the following ways: to remove performance deficiency; to match the employees’ abilities with the job requirements and organizational needs; to enhance organizational viability and the transformation process, to cope with the new technological advancement; to improve quality and quantity of work; to improve productivity and efficiency; to help staff cope with increased organizational complexity resulting from increased mechanization automation. Training, sometimes, may be undertaken to enhance employees’ self-esteem; to boost staff morale and thereby improve organisational climate, especially, in the school.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Training is very essential in the creation of high productivity of staff, especially teachers in the school system. When teachers are not trained, it brings about emptiness in teaching and learning process. According to Adekunle (1995), non-trained teachers in the school are not only cheats, they are not helping the school system to grow and develop. People who teach in the school without having the required qualities and passing through the rigorous of training, are the causes of low standard of education and low students’ academic performance.
The school system in Nigeria, has the problem of untrained teachers who have greatly infiltrated into the teaching profession, because they think that teaching is all-comers’ job. They think that everyone knows how to teach, but they forget that not everyone is trained to teach. Untrained and inexperience teachers lack the mastery of content (what to teach), the methodology (how to teach). Any teachers who do not possess the mastery of both what to teach and how to teach cannot be said to be a teacher in the first place. Untrained and teachers therefore, lack the skills and the capabilities to achieve the goods in teaching and learning process.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to examine the teachers’ training and work performance in selected secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Other objectives of the study include:
- To find out whether training affects teachers’ productivity in the school.
- To evaluate the training needs of teachers in the school.
- To investigate whether there is difference between the productivity of trained teachers and untrained ones.
- To differentiate the productivity of male and female teachers in the school.
- To find out whether there is a relationship between training of teachers and academic performance of students in the school.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions will be raised in this study:
- Will training affects teachers’ productivity in the school sector?
- How can we evaluate the training needs of teachers in the school?
- Is there any difference between the productivity of teachers who are trained and those who are not?
- How can the productivity of male and female teachers be differentiated?
- Is there any relationship between training of teachers and students’ academic achievement in the school?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
The following hypotheses will be formulated and tested in this study: There will be no significant effect of training on teachers’ productivity in the school sector. There will be no significant difference between the productivity of teachers who are trained and those who are not.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study will be beneficial to the following individuals in many ways:
Principals:
This study will help managers of the school system, benefit from the findings and recommendations made by the researcher. This is because, the principals would be able to understand the essence of maintaining a conducive atmosphere in the school. It is important that principals maintain good relationship with their teachers and students so that they will be able to have good school climate running in the school for the overall maximization of high productivity.
Teachers:
They will benefit from this study because it will enable them to be able to know more about the essence of having good principal − teacher relationships in the school, and how bad principal − teacher relationship can affect the school atmosphere badly. This is because nothing works in an organization or school where there is rancour and bad blood amongst principals, teachers and school community or even students and parents. For the school to achieve its goals and objectives, it must operate on good climate or cordial culture which promote high productivity.
Parents:
Parents being one of the important stakeholders in the school system, ought to be in good relationship with the principals, the teachers and all that are in the school. Therefore, assisting parents to be able to be well informed on the importance of having their children in schools where there is good relationship among the school personnel and schools where is provision of infrastructures and other amenities in the school.
Society:
The society will be able to appreciate this study because, it will enable them to have the insight on the essence of school climate which promotes high productivity of both teachers and the students. Not only the society, the young researchers and others in the society will find this study a good reference material in their studies.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study covered the examination of the staff training and teachers’ productivity in selected secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
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