INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS WELFARE ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ISHIELU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EBONYI STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Education has been recognized as the fundamental basis on which any nation could function effectively. Its socio-political and economic depends solely on the qualitative education given to her citizen. Any nation that wants to be recognized as a developed country must build its human resource firmly. Hence, a country is said to be developed if the majority of her populace is highly educated  Therefore, those that impact the needed knowledge or those that build or mould the character should be attainted and motivated adequately, knowing that their welfare is the key to performance and improvement. Hence, it is believed that a motivated teacher always complete the tasks set for him, even when such task is difficult or seen uninteresting.

Teachers are a central actor in the learning process that takes place in schools, and teachers are the power tools for improving quality education through effective classroom practices in secondary schools (Davison, 2011). Attitudes and effectiveness can vary depending on the incentives they face. Pay structure is potentially an incentive-tool in the hands of the education policy maker, and merit pay proposals have important recently been discussed in several countries and applied in some. However, the issue of whether linking teachers pay to student performance is an effective means of improving that performance has been contentious in educational debates. According to Geeta and Francis (2010) that causality is established as running from higher wage to improved student achievement, the relationship is open to alternative interpretations.

One is that a positive impact from wages onto achievement reflects the fact that higher wages likely attract better quality people into the pool for applicants for teaching jobs. A second interpretation is that higher pay raises achievement by raising the effort of existing teachers. In terms of the efficiency wage theory, better paid teachers are likely to work harder in order to increase the chance of retaining their more valuable jobs. The paper will test these alternative explanations of the wage effect on student achievement. According to Patrick and Jane (2013), Teacher incentive is the idea that has been received with divergent views. The proponents of teacher incentive programmes believe that teacher incentives are meant to boost teacher motivation and effectiveness resulting in high productivity and increased pupil performance. On the other hand, opponents of the idea argue that monetary incentives, especially of small amounts, tend to crowed out intrinsic motivation and lead to inferior outcomes (Jacob, 2011).

INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS WELFARE ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ISHIELU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EBONYI STATE