Rewards And Teacher Performance Of Public Secondary Schools In Kericho County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Performance in schools has been a subject of debate coupled with criticism from stakeholders regarding poor performance and ranking. This study was conducted to determine the effects of rewards on performance of teachers in selected secondary schools in Kericho County. The objectives of the study were: to determine the effect of basic salary, overtime payment, cash for scores, recognition, and work environment on teacher performance. The study was guided by Equity Theory, Reinforcement Theory and Expectancy Theory. The descriptive research design was adopted in this study because it allowed for analysis of different variables at the same time and hence enabled the researcher to establish the effectiveness of different rewards on performance of teachers in secondary schools in Kericho County. The target population of the study was 487 teachers whereby 48 was considered as the sample size. Simple random sampling was used to draw a representative sample of the teaching workforce. Questionnaire was the major tool that was used to collect primary data. The questionnaires were semistructured and contained both closed and open-ended questions. The data was found to have face validity as well as contextual validity. It was also valid with coefficient of reliability of 0.9497 more than the recommended 0.8. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings indicated that basic salary and overtime payment significantly affected the performance of the teachers. While cash for scores, recognition and work environment were insignificant to the performance of teacher’s. The research concluded that non-financial rewards provide positive but insignificant effect on performance while proper remuneration for both overtime and salary would improve the performance of the teacher. Rewards improved performance of teachers significantly. The study recommends that the Teachers Service Commission should increase the basic salary so as to motivate the teachers more and hence enhance their commitment. The study also recommends that teachers who have responsibilities in school should be given responsibility allowance. The study further recommends that school administrators engage teachers more in decision making so that they feel that their opinions were important