Perceived relationship between management of teachers and their performance in Universal Primary Education schools of Tororo Municipality

Abstract

The study sought to examine the relationship between management and the performance of primary school teachers of Tororo Municipality. The objectives of the study were; to establish the relationship between planning for and performance of teachers in UPE schools of Tororo Municipality, to analyze the relationship between directing and performance of teachers in UPE schools of Tororo Municipality, and to examine the relationship between control and performance of teachers in UPE schools of Tororo Municipality. The study employed a descriptive cross sectional survey as its research design. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to a sample of 62 respondents who included seven purposively selected headteachers and 55 teachers selected using convenience sampling. Headteachers were also interviewed. The collected data were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis aided by the SPSS program. The applied quantitative methods included factor analysis, descriptive analysis and the correlation and regression methods of analysis. Findings of the study showed that the three hypotheses of the study were rejected in favour of their alternatives. The relationships between planning for, directing, control of teachers and their performance in UPE schools of Tororo Municipality were positive and significantly predictive. Each of these management functions was, however, ineffectively conducted, implying that they explained why teachers performed ineffectively. The study was concluded by observing that planning for, directing and control of teachers were each essential to achieving the desired teacher performance. Their ineffectiveness was because they were constrained by the contingencies introduced by UPE, which included the changed funding and pupil promotion policies and excessive enrolment. The most constrained aspects of the functions included budgeting, setting of manageable class sizes, headteachers’ directing influence, and concurrent and detective control over teachers. The study recommended that government should increase funding in order to enable headteachers improve planning, mainly budgeting for teachers. It should also expand UPE school physical infrastructure to enable headteachers to deal with excessive enrolments by setting manageable class sizes. Headteachers should improve how they influence and conduct concurrent and detective control of teachers by motivating and ensuring that pupils are taught all lessons and evaluated every month.