Administrative motivational practices and teacher retention; a case of public primary schools in Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

Teacher retention in educational institutions is of great concern to stakeholders in the education sector. Retention of teachers has been a challenge in the management of public primary schools which informed this study; which intends to investigate the determinants of teacher retention in public primary schools in Machakos County. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of administrative motivational practices on teacher retention. The study employed mixed method approach using sequential concurrent design. The target population comprised of 898 headteachers, 8768 teachers, 9 TSC Sub-County directors and one TSC County director in Machakos County. The study used census sampling to select the TSC directors, simple stratified proportionate sampling to select the 382 teachers, and random sampling to select the 90 headteachers to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Content Validity of research instruments was ascertained using a pilot study while reliability of instruments was ascertained using Test-Retest technique. Quantitative data was analyzed using percentages and presented in graphs, charts and frequency distribution tables. Qualitative data drawn from interview was transcribed into themes and reported in narratives. Coefficient of Correlation was used on hypotheses to establish the influence of the variables. Hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of confidence. The results indicated that there was a statistically strong significant relationship between administrative motivational practices and teacher retention in public primary schools in Machakos County, Kenya at (p) levels of 0.00724. The study concluded administrative motivational practices influenced teacher retention. Based on the results the study recommended Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission, Boards of Management should support teachers by motivating them to attract and retain them in learning institutions.