Factors Influencing the Attrition of Agriculture Teachers in Secondary Schools in Botswana

Journal of Instructional Psychology, March, 1999 by S.K. Subair, B.B. Mojaphoko

Data collected were analysed using the SPSS to input the data. Percentage were used to describe the agriculture teachers selected demographic characteristics while mean, standard deviation and ranks were used to describe the factors associated with the attrition of agriculture teachers. In order to identify the position of each of the 48 statements in the domains, means were generated and ranked.

To describe the level of agreement between the 7 domains of Remuneration, Interpersonal relations, Advancement, Professional factors, working conditions, Administrative factors and Autonomy, overall means were generated for each of the domain. An average mean of the liken scale figures used to collect the data was taken. Overall mean of 3.5 or above was taken to denote agreement with all the statements in each domain and a mean below 3.5 was considered to denote disagreement.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 contains the demographic information about the respondents. The demographic information included sex, level of education, teaching experience in agriculture, marital status, age, type of school and salary. The total number of respondents as shown in Table 13 was 91. Out of the 91 respondents 71 (78.1%) were males and 20 (21.9%) were females. Regarding their level of Education, 24 (26.4%) had first degree, 3 (3.33%) had certificate in agriculture, and 7 (7.7%) had O'level and equivalent. About 59% of the respondents had a diploma degree in Agricultural education while only 3.3.% had a Master's degree in Agriculture or Agriculture Education. Pertaining to their period of service, most 46 (50.5%) served for I to 5 years; 17 (18.7%) had served for a period of 6 - 10 years; 17 (18.7%) had served for 11 - 15 years; 8 (8.7%) has served for a period of 16 - 20 years, and only 3 (3.3%) had served for a period of 21 and above years. Furthermore, large proportion of the respondents 42 (47.2%) were between 20 and 30 years of age; 36 (40.4%) were between 40 years of age 6 (6.6%) were between 41 and 50 years old, and 5 (5.6%) were 51 and above age. Most of the respondents 73 (80.2%) taught in Community owned schools; 2 (2.2%) taught in government-aided Mission schools, and 15 (17.6%) taught in government-owned schools. Most of the respondents 43 (48.3%) were paid a salary between P16 000 and 25 000 per annum; 33 (35.9%) were paid between P26 000 and P35 000; 10 (11.2%) were paid between P5000 and P15 000, and only 3 (3.3%) were paid between P36 000 and above per annum.

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Demographic Characteristics     Frequency   Percentage

1. Sex
   Male                            71          78.1
   Female                          20          22.9

2. Level of Education
   O'level/Equivalent               7           7.7
   Certificate in Agric             3           3.3
   Diploma Agric. Ed.              54          59.3
   Bsc. Agric. and Agric. Ed.      24          26.3
   Msc. Agric. or Ed.               3           3.3

3. Teaching Experience
   1-5 years                       46          50.5
   6-10 years                      17          18.7
   11-15 years                     17          18.7
   16-20 years                      8           8.7
   21 years and above               3           3.3

4. Marital Status
   Single                          52          57.1
   Married                         38          41.8

5. Age
   20-30 years                     42          47.2
   31-40 years                     36          40.4
   41-50 years                      6           6.7
   51 years and above               5           5.6

6. Type of School
   Government - Owned              15          17.6
   Government - aided Mission       2           2.2
   Community - Owned               73          80.2

7. Salary (Pula) per Annum
   P5 000 - P15 000                10          11.2
   P16 000 - P25 000               43          48.3
   P26 000 - P35 000               33          35.9
   P36 000 - and above              3           3.3