By Dr Takavafira Zhou
There is little double, if any, that educators’ welfare has the greatest impact on quality of education in any country. Human resources element is fundamental to the achievement of the school objective. Teachers’ welfare (regular payment of adequate salary, prompt promotion, fringe benefit and /other incentives packages and in-service-training) determine the level of enhanced quality academic achievement.
The functionary/efficiency theory of labour welfare postulates that welfare facilities are provided to make the workers more efficient and productive. If an employer takes good care of his workforce, they will tend to be more efficient by improving production. Adams’ (1963) theory of equity posits that individuals seek a fair balance between what they put into their job and what they get out of it.
Education is the fundamental basis on which any nation could function effectively. It’s socio-political and economic development depends solely on the quality of education given to citizens. Any nation that aspires to be recognized as a developed country must invest in its human resource. Sadly, over the past three decades the status of educators in Zimbabwe has fallen from grace to grass with monotonous regularity. Fundamentally, policy makers and administrators in Africa have been borrowing neo-liberal policies of sustainability and profitability to run public institutions. Such capitalist/private or industrial ethics maximise profits and minimise costs with the consequent disaster when applied in the public sector. The neo-liberal profitability and sustainability, without responsibility and redistribution of wealth is like a prescription that treats a disease by killing a patient. The best asset that any nation has is its young people, and every nation must invest in the proper management of youths by teachers or in managers of youths (teachers). Teacher welfare is crucial in boosting teacher motivation and effectiveness resulting in high productivity and increased pupil performance.
Purpose welfare measures aims at generating an efficient, healthy, satisfied and productive labour force. The objective of providing these facilities is to make working life a better experience and also to improve living standard. Teachers’ welfare embraces the various benefits, services and facilities offered by the employer & administrators to teachers with the aim of enriching their working and social life and to satisfy their needs in order to enhance productivity.
This implies the setting up of minimum appropriate standards and providing amenities like health, food, clothing, housing, medical assistance, education, insurance, job security, recreation and many others. Such facilities enable an employee and his/her family to lead a good work life, family life and social life. While welfare is anything done for the comfort and improvement, intellectual and social, of the workers over and above the wages paid, research has demonstrated that teachers become more productive with better pay in that it raises their morale hence motivation to perform well.
The situation in which an individual or staff works, including but not limited to, such things as amenities, physical environment, stress and noise levels, and degree of safety or danger is also crucial. International Labour Organisation (ILO), working conditions cover a broad range of topics and issues, from working time (hours of work, rest periods, and work schedule) to remuneration, as well as the physical conditions and mental demands that are present at the workplace. Working condition could therefore be said to comprise aspects such as the working hours, employment policy, workers’ health issues, workplace premises and the conduct of workers at the workplace. Clean environment, classroom, staffroom, adequate rooms for teachers, friendly policies, balance between work and leisure and other fringe benefits are the necessary conditions for the teachers’ performance in educational institutions.
Working conditions play an important role in a school’s ability to provide high quality education. Educational institutions that are able to offer their teachers a safe, pleasant, and supportive working environment and adequate compensation are better able to attract and retain good teachers and motivate them to do their best. Teachers’ working conditions are very vital to students because they affect how much individual attention teachers give to students.
Fringe benefit denotes rewards received in addition to direct salaries, such as company car, accommodation allowance, medical insurance, paid holidays, pension schemes, subsidized meals. Sadly, they do not exist in most schools, and even promotion of teachers in the public schools has been delayed unnecessarily. Lack of adequate housing and transport allowances hinder teaching performances. A teacher does not need to walk or travel a long distance to school. It is imperative to minimize absenteeism, late coming and enhance teachers’ status by giving fringe benefits.
Generally, housing is accepted as the second most important human need after food, a fundamental human right and it is more than shelter. Housing may provide investment opportunities, offer shelter and improve on teachers’ social and cultural status. Housing teachers is meant to make their work easier and enjoyable so that they may concentrate on their duties as educators. Educators cannot be innovative, dynamic and enthusiastic when they are lodgers or living like squatters.
The provision of medical care to teachers is a concern for the teachers’ mental and physical health which affects their work as educators. Teacher turnover due illness and death are becoming a chronic problem in in Zimbabwe. Conversely, teachers’ healthy is a critical factor in the provision of quality public education in developing countries.
There is a significant positive relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and teacher performance. A hardship allowances of 30% of the basic monthly salary given to teachers working in areas that are difficult to reach is a necessity. Acting allowances, duty (class teacher, HOD) allowance, A level, composite, bloated, etc allowances, and honoraria, must be fostered.
A hierarchical system with many sub systems such as the classroom, the blackboards, school compound, sanitation, toilets and urinals, staffroom, sitting facilities, teaching and learning materials, leadership styles of the school head, monitoring and evaluation, the school neighbourhood and the community are also important.
The provision of meals such as break tea, lunch and evening tea does not only address the teachers’ physical health but also helps the teacher have ample time to attend to the learners and lesson preparations.
There is, therefore, correlation between welfare management and teacher performance. By and large, welfare provision will positively influence teacher performance, innovation, dynamism and skilled educational revolution in in the 21st century. The Zimbabwean government needs to be familiar with such educational taxonomies in order to foster quality public education.