THE ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS TOWARDS TEACHING IN THE RURAL AREAS

ABSTRACT

There have been a lot of controversy and misunderstanding over this issue of posting and transfer of teacher. Most often, teachers refuse and reject posting, a practice that creates administrative problems that do not in any way help to enhance the smooth and effective running of the school in Egor Local Government Area of Edo state, teachers are not even distributed. While the urban schools are in most cases overstaffed and the rural area grossly understaffed.

This is unhealthy and detrimental to the academic progress of {pupils} students in rural areas. Some contributors have made various suggest ions on what can be done to it, if possible reverse this trend of teacher’s refusal to work in rural areas. This study intends to find out the basic factors responsible for teachers, general attitude towards the rural sector and determine the influence they have on the individuals. The major findings include;

i.             That more male teacher have positive attitude towards rural posting.

ii.            Marital status of a teacher has relationship with the attitude of the teachers towards rural posting.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONEBackground of the study

Statement of problem

Purpose of the study

Basic assumptions

Research questions

Significance of the study

Scope and delimitation of study

Definition of terms

CHAPTER TWO         

Literature Review        –              Importance of rural areas. –              The effect of migration from rural sections to urban area –              The implication of teachers in the rural area. –              Teacher refusal of rural posting –              Teacher interest in rural area.CHAPTER THREE

MethodologyResearch instrument

Administration of instrument

Method of analysis

CHAPTER FOUR       

Analysis and discussion of data

Research question I

Research question II

Research question III

Research question IV

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary, recommendation and conclusion

Summary

Recommendations

Conclusion

REFERENCESQUESTIONNAIRE     

CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY                                                In its classical definition, and simple definition, education is the transmission or transfers of cultural values, behaviour, believes by adults of a community or a geographical location of people to their children or young ones, that is from one generation to the next generation.

This transmission process embraces and includes knowledge, experiences, skills, habit, values, believes, attitudes, behaviour and many other abilities gained by one generation to the next generation in its ramification.

During the colonial period, the Christian missions set up school to train manpower that would serves as interpreter, clerks, teachers, messengers and so on to enhance their evangelical activities.

These schools were located at both the rural and urban areas. Since the missionaries were in control over these schools before the Government involvement, schools even the rural were adequately staffed and cared for.

With rapid development of urban areas and cities with basis facilities such as potable water, electrification and subsequent setting up of industries, there soon began a mass and aggressive drift from rural areas to urban cities.

The teachers were not left out as  Some of them began to protest over rural postings with concrete and genuine reasons including women whose husbands and family were already in the cities and town others going includes the medical doctors and hospitals. Yet, there were others who secured urban posting as a result of favouritism and passing through the back doors.

The resultant effect of teachers negative attitude towards serving in the rural area can not be over emphasized. At various time, both federal and state Government to right this rural to urban drift by imposing a town year compulsory rural services for all newly employed staffing not be working out effective.

This measure was not fully successful because most of the effected teachers had a way to circumventing the law. Statistics show that generally, students from urban centers perform better than their counterparts from rural areas and the major contributory factor has been traced to inadequate staffing.

The question now is whether it is fair to deny these children the equal educational opportunities necessary to all children of this nation?

In keeping with the policy of equal educational opportunity, a well know educationalist Andrew Urevbu suggested that all hands should be on deck to make education available for all Nigerian. He called on the communities, the professional and even the business bodies as well as cultural and philanthropic organization to come to the aid of Education.

An investigation into the factors or reasons why people, mean teachers in the rural areas to an urban setting could be traced to the following.

1.           The basic infrastructural facilities available in the towns and cities which automatically create a considerate and comfortable living and a better health.

2.           Occupational opportunities available in urban centre which teachers in the rural area feel when they come to town and cities they can take over.

3.           It also creates room or an opportunity for them in the urban areas to update their educational qualifications and status.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A lot of variables have contributed to the changes and modification in attitudes mostly of teachers as regards teaching in rural school.

Teachers constitute a segment of the entire society and belong to the educated elite. The modern trend even in education is geared towards training people for urban competence. For this reason, trained teachers are oriented towards urban lifestyle and living.

No wonder that the teachers under this group tend to developed negative attitude towards teaching in the rural areas. These teachers protest strongly against rural posting and only accept under administrative compulsion.

Since the highly qualified and competent teachers are sent to urban areas and the alternatives that is those with low standards are sent to the rural areas. The qualities of the school children’s education would obviously be adversely be affected. It is established that poor teaching procedures, poor educated children. Therefore, children urban schools receive higher quality of education than their counterparts in the rural school sectors.

Teacher’s refusal of rural posting create administrative problems. The rural-urban drift affects people’s socio-economic and socio-political life. The spatial distribution of amenities and inadequate infrastructure are part of the basic factors creating avenue for the problem.

While schools in the urban areas are over staffed, their rural counterpart are under-staffed which is another factor for poor teaching learning environment or situation.

Therefore, the researcher intend to investigate the circumstances surrounding the trend whereby teachers are always repulsive of rural posting

To this end, this researcher intends to provide answers to the following question.

1.           Does the sex of the teacher his or attitude to rural posting?

2.           Does the qualification of the teacher have any effect on his or her attitude on rural posting?

3.                Does the years of   experience of a teacher have any influence on the attitude of teachers to rural posting?

4.           Does the marital status of a teacher affect his or her acceptance to rural areas?

5.           Does the environmental setting has any effect in teaching as a profession?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY                                                                   Thepurpose or reason for this study is to examine the attitude of teachers towards teaching in rural school. Movement from one place or location to another geographical location involves a lot of risks, financial and social inconveniences particularly at this period of economic squeeze and like in transport fares and accommodation in the ever rushing and busying cities and towns.

As a result of these known difficulties that both the civil servant and workers in the private sectors enjoying inconveniences allowances since the colonial era, benefits rarely extended to teachers, hence the discontentment amongst the teachers in the rural service. Since, the teachers in the rural service nurse some grudges, there is the danger of ineffectiveness in the discharge of their duties and releasing of their full potentials in the teaching job.

The Nigeria constitution claims to favour and protect the interest of all the citizens and guarantee equal opportunities for all. But the rural-urban drift is known to create dispute between the urban and rural areas, thereby encouraging inequality.

It becomes desirable to examine the possibility of maintaining some kind of balances between these areas most especially as its concerning education, the light of mankind.

The study will be use to find out what would be done to attract suitable qualified teachers in rural areas. It would also be found out how their qualification and experience affects teacher’s attitude.

Personal contact with the teachers directed by its movement will be of tremendous help towards obtaining a first hand information about the physical, social-economic and political constraints encountered by the rural teachers which are responsible for their negative attitude.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

It is assumed chat the researcher will encounter some problems or difficulties as well as cooperation during the course of the research. Some of these difficulties include:

1.           Transportation: There are no good roads into some of these villages and so transport where available is very costly.

2.           Poor living condition: The poor attitude of teachers towards rural posting is due to the poor living condition when compared to urban life.

3.           Incentives: If teacher are given the necessary incentives like rural allowance more qualified teachers will be willing to accept rural posting. This will tend to create equal educational opportunities for both the rural and urban schools children in this our nation, Nigeria.

4.           Condition of service: it’ is fact that a worker is at his/her best when satisfied with conditions of service that will elevate the socio economic status of the individual that is lacking profession hence the discontentment and poor output.

5.           It is assumed that the interviewer would enjoy some measures of co-operation from the interviewers.

6.           It is assumed that the oral responses would be turn and given voluntary and without bias.

RESEARCH QUESTION

The following questions were raised for the study.

1.           Does the sex of the teacher his or attitude to rural posting?

2.           Does the qualification of the teacher have any effect on his or her attitude on rural posting?

3.           Does the teaching experience of a teacher have any influence on the attitude of teachers to rural posting?

4.           Does the marital status of a teacher affect his or her acceptance to rural areas?

5.           To what extent does the environmental setting to teachers affect their attitude towards rural posting?

SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

The result of the survey research will obviously reveal the reasons affecting the attitude of and behaviour of teachers towards their service in the rural area.

This in turn will help identify the main problems faced by teachers, students and the community in general with appropriate solution sought. out

This will help teaching and learning experiences in the rural area to be compared favorably with their urban counterpart.

Some of them in sight and revelation that will beneficial to the teachers, the students and the government may include age of the teachers that are positively disposed to teaching in the rural communities.

The study will therefore act as a guide to the educational administrators when deciding whom to be posted where for effective performance.

Otherwise, it will be unrealistic of instance to post more female teachers to the rural sectors without finding out other considerations that can motivate such female like marital status, duty post or position or responsibility.

The social attainment or economic status of those expected to teach in the rural area will expose their reaction to any posting or transfer if adequate infrastructures are provided to narrow the gap between the urban and rural experiences, teachers will be attracted to prove capability and willingness to work anywhere under certain favourable conditions.

The question that remains unanswered is what can be done to encourage a vertical growth in educational development and in proves teachers acceptance or rural services.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to Egor local government area of Edo state of Nigeria. The survey is restricted to the attitude of trained certificated teachers teaching in pre-primary and post primary school including the graduate teachers without teaching qualifications. Urban and rural teachers are included in the study to represent a general opinion.

The population are predominantly farmers with weather condition that favour bumper harvest, although the roads to some of these villages get washed away during heavy rainfall, rendering accessibility very difficulty.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Attitude: This refers to the general behaviour of teacher as a result of teaching. This outward expression of inner teaching reflects to total, disposition of the teacher which includes some actions and reactions affecting the general out-put of the teachers.

Teachers: Teachers are all those that are professionally skilled and certificated as a result of training in educational and related courses to improve knowledge to learners. They include N.C.E. AND Bachelor degree holders, B.Sc form recognized universities.

Posting/transfer: Posting or transfer of teachers is the process or a situation whereby a teacher or a worker is moved from one place of work to another local to work usually the same work and the same position.