An Assessment of Retirement Planning and Teachers' Well Being in the Tamale Metropolitan Public Second Cycle Institutions

ABSTRACT

There is an unpopular belief among Ghanaian workers that proceeding on retirement, especially in the Ghana Education Service, connotes sentencing oneself to impecuniousness due to ill-preparation and poor condition of service. The problem is compounded by volatile capital markets, rising medical-care costs and low saving rates among the working populace, making retirement behaviour and policy a major concern. The main objective of the study was to assess the state of retirement planning among teachers in the Tamale metropolitan public second cycle institutions and how it guarantees their well-being after exiting from active employment. Both probability and non-probability techniques were employed to select a total of 178 respondents made up of retired teachers, teachers in active service and officials of GES, teacher associations and SSNIT in an exploratory, cross-sectional, descriptive and evaluative study. The study shows that although there were some kinds of activities aimed at planning for retirement among teachers in public second cycle institutions, the entire process was incomplete. Also, contributions of stakeholders to facilitate secured future for teachers were far less than desired. Other factors such as education on retirement planning and information on investment opportunities, fashioned the extent and nature of one's preparation towards exit from work. Shelter and sustainable inflow of funds were the major concerns of all and one's well-being in old age is virtually tied to the preparations made while in active service. Therefore, for a holistic human resource development to occur, measures such as periodic seminars on retirement planning for teachers and improvement of welfare packages were recommended for stakeholders so as to reassure teachers of belonging to a noble profession. Workers, especially teachers are also expected to employ the study model for retirement planning to guarantee their well-being.