Abstract
The paper explores the demographic characteristics (age, gender, experience, and education levels) among teachers in remote public secondary schools in Tanzania and their implications for teacher retention. The data were collected using a survey questionnaire involving 152 teachers from 23 remote schools, located in three districts of Kondoa, Mpwapwa and Chemba in Dodoma region, the central part of Tanzania. The results showed that most of the teachers in remote public secondary schools are males (76.3%), aged between 23–30 years (65.1%); and the majority are below 36 years (89.4%), with bachelor’s degree as their highest education qualification (58.6%), and have stayed in their current schools for between 1–5 years (63.8%). Such a teaching workforce is challenging to retain in remote areas, as it is rarely satisfied with the teaching career, and highly susceptible to frequently changing employers and working contexts. Still, if deliberate retention efforts are made, they could be retained while they are within their early and middle career stages. These stages are linked to both high self-efficacy and possibilities of handling work-related stresses. Arguably, because of employment difficulties in Tanzania, such a teaching workforce is likely to stay but it is de-motivated; and, given opportunity, it is likely to flee from the remote schools. Within the study findings, it is suggested that demographically inclined teachers’ placement policies in remote areas may consider the following strategies: allocating middle-aged women (40+ years), males within stable age groups (35 to 49 years), few less-experienced teachers (fresh employees from colleges and universities), and strengthening other retention strategies.
Recommended Citation
mwemezi, raymond
(2019)
"Teachers’ Demographic Characteristics and their Implications for Retaining Teachers in Tanzanian Remote Secondary Schools,"
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 8
:
No.
2
, Article 1.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v8.i2.0