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Delegation and Job Satisfaction of Primary Teachers in Primary Schools of Awei Sub County, Alebtong District, Uganda
Delegation and Job Satisfaction of Primary Teachers in Primary Schools of Awei Sub County, Alebtong District, Uganda
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Abstract:- The purpose of the study was to find out the satisfaction of lecturers in national teachers colleges rather
contributions of delegation and the job satisfaction of than primary schools. These studies dealt with the problem
primary school teachers in Awei Sub County with of job dissatisfaction but none looked at how delegation
specific objectives of task allocation, teachers’ influences job satisfaction in primary school teachers which
responsibilities and teacher power position’s influence prompted the researcher to carry out a study on the effects
on job satisfaction. This study carried out a quantitative of delegation on job satisfaction of teachers in primary
research with non-experimental, co-relational, cross- schools of Awei Sub County, Alebtong district.
sectional, survey design. The population comprised of
104 both primary school teachers and head teachers in This study considers the concepts of delegation and
Awei Sub County from where a sample size of 82 job satisfaction. And Musaazi (1988) refers delegation to
respondents were sampled using on Solvent’s formula. the process of dividing up the total work and giving part of
Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship it subordinates. However in this study, the researcher
between delegation and job satisfaction that is indicated conceptualized delegation as the allocation of tasks,
by 0.743 which is statistically significant at 0.000<0.01 assignments of responsibility and power position of
and the coefficient of determination (Adjusted R2) value teachers. On the other hand, Hanaysha & Tahir, 2016 refer
of 0.545 implies that 54.5% of the variation in job job satisfaction as the collection of feelings and beliefs the
satisfaction of teachers can be explained by the level of people have about their current jobs. However this study
task allocation, responsibility assignment and power defines job satisfaction as the contentment, enthusiasm and
position. The researcher recommends that head commitment of primary teachers in Alebtong district.
teachers should allocate more tasks to teachers, assign
more responsibilities and also give them more powers in The results from Crossman and Harris’s (2005 cited in
the position they occupy to execute responsibilities. All Maurice, 2015) study indicated that teachers in foundation
this has likely led to their job satisfaction. schools exhibited the lowest job satisfaction. Other authors
cite different factors, intruding conflicts between work and
Keywords:- Delegation, Job Satisfaction, power position, family life (Spear et al., 2000); behavior difficulties
Responsibility assignment, Task allocation. exhibited by some pupils, the failing schools (Wong, 2009)
as well as pay (Chung et al., 2004 cited in Maurice, 2015).
I. INTRODUCTION Maurice (2015) research into job satisfaction among
teachers in the compulsory schooling and higher education
This section introduced the background of the study, sectors in the UK revealed that some motivational factors
problem statement, research objectives, questions, are attributed to what had been reported as an endemic
hypothesis, and scope of the study, study significance and malaise within the teaching profession. Maurice cites
conceptual framework. among others, low salaries, low delegation and low status,
de-professionalization resulting from school based teaching
A. Background of the study training, low pay and recognition among others.
In Uganda, there has been concerns on job satisfaction
of teachers in schools. Kayizzi (1990) carried out a study Teacher’s low level of motivation and limited job
on the predictors of job satisfaction among graduate satisfaction is a major concern in the Ugandan education
teachers in Kampala district and his results revealed systems (Donkoh, 2018). UNESCO’s research on the
physical conditions at work places and availability of teaching in Africa under their teacher initiative in sub-
facilities have a strong correlation with job satisfaction. Saharan Africa revealed that many of the teachers were
Mohammad (2016) also asserts that in order to make striking in Uganda due to little pay.
lecturers happy and be contented with their jobs, there is
need to pay them an amount of money that is considerably Although it’s not the only factor, this general feeling
beyond what meets the basic needs. However his study of dissatisfaction, limited delegated works and lack of
concentrated only on the impact of allowances on the job motivation affects teacher’s attendance at work. Repeated
Fig 1:- Showing the conceptual framework on Delegation and Job satisfaction
From the conceptual framework above, the researcher Musaazi (1988) also asserts that delegation increases
hypothesized the delegation in terms of task allocation, flexibility in an organization as every problem is longer
responsibility sharing and power position to influence job referred to the central authority for decision making. A case
satisfaction in terms of the teachers’ contentment, in point is a teacher who takes decisions without referring
enthusiasm and commitment. each issue to the head teacher. And that this case,
delegation allows decision making with least delays.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Cliff (2010) also asserts that delegation leads to
This section assesses the literature in relation to the empowerment, in that people have the freedom to
study objectives as put forward by previous researchers. contribute ideas and do their jobs in the best possible ways.
Fidler, Russel and Simkins (1997) assert that there is This involvement increases their job satisfaction and
delegation of tasks through decentralization in the frequently yields better performances on the job. He asserts
management of organizations of the modern era. Chandan that without delegation, managers do all the work
(1999) also puts forward the decentralization gives young themselves and underutilize their workforce.
level managers and supervisors the authority to make
decisions relative to their roles and within the policy Muhammad, Rizwan and Yasin (2012) in their study
guidelines of the organization. And that task allocation on the impact of pay and promotion on job satisfaction in
makes young staff responsible and more dedicated to their higher education institutes in Pakistan revealed that
work which makes them feel proud of being given the promotion has less influence and is partially significant to
responsibility. job satisfaction. Add that when promotion is accompanied
by different rewards, there it enhances teachers’
In a study of factors influencing the retention, satisfaction. Similarly Mhozya (2007) as quoted by
turnover and attrition of k-12 music teachers in the US by Maurice explored job satisfaction of primary teachers in
Gardner (2010), it revealed that recognition had the Botswana and revealed that a significant number of
strongest positive impact on the teachers’ career and job teachers were not satisfied with the ways of promotion.
satisfaction amongst other factors. In addition, this study
asserts that perception of teachers in relation to support and Maurice (2015) says that when it comes to
recognition from their administrators exhibit the most determining is satisfaction, position is more important than
prominent positive effect on their retention. the salary. In his survey, he asserts that salary minimally
influences job satisfaction. On looking at employees’
According to Bryan (2010), argues that position in a company, he revealed that there is a strong
departmentalization which is a form of delegation mostly connection with jobs happiness.
benefit firms through division of work tasks. And that
coordination and control are provincial and easier made Rao and Naryana (1987) assert that granting authority
when top managers can view various tasks of the to subordinates involves making commitments, use of
employees and how they are performing them within their resources and take of actions that are necessary to perform
specified departments which in turn enables the the duties assigned to them. And that assignment would be
organization to maximally utilize each department as a meaningless without granting the requisite authority in
profit center.
N
n=1+N (e)² Response rate=60⁄82*100=73.2%
104 This showed that 73.2% respondents gave in time to
n=1+104 (0.05)²
respond to our survey which was relatively a good response
n=82 respondents from the total sampled sample size. The other percentage
was attributed to the teacher and head teacher busy
The researcher employed purposive sampling schedules in attendance to the students’ needs and other
techniques on selecting the head teachers under study and school demands.
also simple random sampling on the selection of teachers to
participate in the study. The researcher used questionnaires C. Descriptive Statistics on delegation
that were administered to respondents in a cross-sectional This section presents analysis of the responses from
manner. From where questionnaires were filled by the teachers on the contribution of delegation on the teachers’
respondents with the presence of the researcher in order to job satisfaction. The responses were on a five point scales
build a better rapor and atmosphere for the respondents to ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
answer questions. Survey was also used because it involves
a relatively large number of respondents (Amin, 2005).
Allocation of tasks SD (%) D (%) NS (%) A (%) SA (%) Mean Std. deviation
There are performing departments and sections in our 0(0) 10(17) 0(0) 30(50) 20(33) 4 1
school
Experience is always considered when the top 12(20) 8(13) 2(3) 25(42) 13(22) 3.32 1.45
management is allocating tasks to us
We teachers are always with authority to decide on tasks 3(5) 10(16) 13(22) 22(37) 12(20) 3.5 1.13
proportionate to our roles and responsibilities
As a teacher, am in position of responsibility in this school 0(0) 0(0) 10(17) 30(50) 20(33) 4.17 0.69
With delegation in place, administration has been reduced 0(0) 8(13) 9(15) 31(52) 12(20) 3.78 0.91
of the burden of workload
Flexibility amongst management is in existence as a result 3(5) 12(20) 8(13) 25(42) 12(20) 3.52 1.16
of task allocation
Decision making has eased with presence of task 2(3) 35(58) 4(7) 12(20) 7(12) 2.78 1.16
allocation amongst teachers
Table 1:- Responses on Allocation of tasks to teachers
Source: Primary data 2018
The findings from Table 2 indicate that with only 7% not sure. This is more so explained by a mean of
assignments and responsibility allocation, teachers are able 3.97 and 1.3 standard deviation.
to exploit their skills are shown by majority 75% in
agreement and 25% uncertain with none contrary. This With respect to whether teachers hold positions of
implies that assignments lead to skills exploitation as given responsibility, majority 73% agreed, 20% disagreed and 7%
by a mean of 4.08 and 0.75 standard deviation. were uncertain as also given by 3.77 mean and 0.53 standard
deviation.
The researcher also looked at whether responsibility
assignments through delegation reduces the workload and The researcher also inquired whether when teachers
the findings revealed that majority 93% were in agreement are assigned different tasks and responsibilities, they
with 7% not sure. This explains that assignments reduce the perform them well in mind that they are held responsible for
work burden as given by a high mean of 4.3 and 0.58 the good and bad results and results revealed that highest
standard deviation. majority of 97% were in agreement and only 3% were not
sure. This explains that teachers are responsible with their
On whether the teacher is always assigned different roles as shown by a high mean of 4.33 and lower deviation
responsibilities, 78% were in agreement, 15% contrary and of 0.53.
From table 3, the researcher inquired whether D. Teachers responses on job satisfaction
delegation gives; power primary teachers to perform all their In this study, the dependent variable was job
responsibilities and duties, power over situations at work, satisfaction. It was used to mean contentment at work, work
power over resource allocation and power over decision enthusiasm and work commitment. Thus, in measuring job
making. The study findings revealed that 70%, 32%, 89% satisfaction, the researcher asked teachers to provide their
and 27% were in agreement respectively. Those that were in responses regarding the above concepts of job satisfaction.
contrary were 30%, 68%, 3% and 66% respectively. This The responses on which respondents were asked based on a
implies that delegation gives power over resource allocation five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to
by not full authority to decision making as given by the strongly agree as given in table 4 below
means of 3.98 and 2.48 respectively.
In Table 4, study findings revealed that there is teacher as shown by a mean of 3.5 and 0.81 standard
efficiency in activities at school which motivates teachers deviation.
to be content with their work as given by 90% in
agreement, 7% uncertain and only 3% contrary. This On whether as teachers, commitment to work brings
implies contentment brings in efficiency of teachers as their satisfaction, study findings revealed that 84% were in
shown by a mean of 4.13 and standard deviation 0.67. agreement, 11% uncertain and minority 5% contrary. This
explains that commitment itself is motivation as shown by
The researcher also asked whether there is high an average of 4 and a low standard deviation of 0.73.
quality of work due to delegation which in turn builds
teachers satisfaction and majority 70% were in agreement, The researcher also asked whether as teacher, they
20% contrary with 10% uncertain. This implies that good work hard with respect to responsibilities assigned in hope
work results from teacher delegation that in turn motivates of promotions and other benefits that come along and 80%
The table 6 above indicates that the coefficient of Head teacher said that “they become more committed to
determination (Adjusted R2) value is 0.545; this implies work”, while another one said, “They are motivated”.
that 54.5% of the variation in job satisfaction of teachers
can be explained by the level of task allocation, Then the Head teachers were asked to tell how the
responsibility assignment and power position. power to utilize resources encouraged teachers to work
harder. All the 6(100%) Head teachers said that when the
In addition, the researcher also wanted to find out teachers in their departments are responsible for making
Head teachers’ views on delegation of teachers and job their budgets which they run once approved, they easily
satisfaction. In the first place, the Head teachers were asked carry out the activities of the departments to meet the set
to explain how the teachers having powers to execute targets.
responsibilities encouraged them to perform beyond
average performance. On this, they all agreed that teachers One Head teacher stated that, “teachers at times are
derived job satisfaction. able to make a small difference on the purchases they make
and this motives them to work harder”. Another Head
One Head teacher remarked that, “Teachers always teacher remarked that, the teacher feels free to carry out
want to ensure their departments are on top. Some work activities as they have the resources to execute them hence
over time to ensure that they beat all deadlines”. Another working hard”.
A. Introduction B. Conclusions
This chapter presents the summary, conclusions and Based on study findings the researcher concludes that
recommendations as derived from the data presented in there is a positive relationship between delegation and job
chapter four of Awei Sub County primary schools as given satisfaction that is shown by r coefficient (0.743) which is
below. statistically significant at 0.000<0.01. And that 54.5%
variations in job satisfaction of primary teachers are
Summary of the Study Findings explained by the level of task allocation, responsibility
Responses on allocation of tasks to teachers assignment and power position as given by the coefficient
Study findings revealed that there are performing of determination (Adjusted R2) value of 0.545.
departments and sections in schools with task allocation as
given by 83% agreement and only 17% in disagreement. C. Recommendations
And that with delegation in place, administration reduces Based on the study findings, the researcher
the burden of work load as shown by majority 72% are in recommends that head teachers and other managers in the
agreement, 15% uncertain and 13% contrary. Further institutions of learning to always delegate their tasks and
decision making is eased when task allocation is in place roles to their juniors as it motivates them to work harder
amongst teachers as given majority 61% were in and it builds their confidence which in turn improves the
disagreement, 32% agreed and 7% disagreed with a mean institutions standards as whole.
of 2.78 and 1.16 standard deviation.
D. Areas for further research
Responses on assignment of responsibilities to teachers The researcher proposes that further study be
Assignments and responsibility allocation helps conducted in on delegation and motivational factors of
teachers to ably exploit their skills as shown by majority teachers in the other areas of the country.
75% in agreement and 25% uncertain with none contrary
and an average of 4.08 and 0.75 standard deviation. And ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
that responsibility assignments through delegation reduces
the workload as given by majority 93% in agreement with I wish to extend my appreciation to my supervisor,
7% not sure and a high mean of 4.3 and 0.58 standard Dr. Marin Etoru, for his professional guidance in this
deviation. Furthermore teachers assigned different tasks research. My sincere gratitude is also extended to all the
and responsibilities perform them well in mind that they are staff in the School of Graduate Studies and Research, Team
held responsible for the good and bad results as given by a University for always being available for me whenever I
highest majority of 97% were in agreement and only 3% needed them. Special thanks to Dr. Patience Tugume, on
were not sure and high mean of 4.33 and lower deviation of whose part a lot of sacrifice was made.
0.53.
I thank all the colleagues of Master of Arts in Public
Responses on power position of teachers Administration for their cooperation and encouragement
Delegation gives; power primary teachers to perform during the course. I also extend gratitude to my friends;
all their responsibilities and duties, power over situations at Steven Ainebyona, Grace Ogweng and Wilson Ogong and
work, power over resource allocation and power over MS Miria, Deputy Academic Registrar of Team University
decision making with study findings revealing that 70%, for all the words of encouragements, my association with
32%, 89% and 27% were in agreement respectively. Those you made the course easy and gave me the moral to work
that were in contrary were 30%, 68%, 3% and 66% hard to the conclusion of the course.
respectively. This implies that delegation gives power over
resource allocation by not full authority to decision making Whole heartedly I appreciate the District Education
as given by the means of 3.98 and 2.48 respectively. Officer, Mr. Denis Kissa who rendered me immense and
immeasurable support in the progress of this course.
Teachers responses on job satisfaction Teachers and head teachers of the Awei Sub County
There is efficiency in activities at school which Primary Schools who were visited and who volunteered
motivates teachers to be content with their work as given their responses, their contribution towards the success of
by 90% in agreement, 7% uncertain and only 3% contrary this study cannot be under estimated.
with a mean of 4.13 and standard deviation 0.67. More so,
there is high quality of work due to delegation which in
turn builds teachers satisfaction as majority 70% were in