The influence of work environment on job satisfaction among teachers in public primary schools programmes in Nembure division, Embu west district, Kenya

Abstract

The Kenya Vision 2030 aims at achieving a globally competitive and quality education, training and research for sustainable development. One major reason why people join and work in an organization is to satisfy their personal needs. Therefore the most important information to have regarding an employee in an organization is the factors influencing job satisfaction at the work place. This study will investigate the influence of work environment on job satisfaction among public primary school teachers in Nembure Division, Embu West District. The objectives of the study are: to establish how availability of teaching personnel influence job satisfaction, to investigate how school physical facilities influence job satisfaction, establish how parents involvement influence job satisfaction and establish how reward systems influence job satisfaction among public primary school teachers. The study was guided by Hertzberg's motivation hygiene theory. The moderating and intervening variables were government policies and pupils’ intellectual quotient respectively. The study used a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 229 public primary school teachers. Stratified random sampling and purposeful sampling was used in this study resulting to a sample of 140 primary school teachers. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Ten (10) primary school teachers were used for Pilot testing before the commencement of the study. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Ms Excel. Descriptive statistics was computed and data was presented using tables. Availability of teaching staff ensured teachers handle manageable workload and leads to teachers’ commitment and loyalty to the job. Public primary have 11-15 teaching staff as indicated by 39.4% of respondents and have stayed in the schools for more than 16 years as indicated by 63.6% of the respondents. School facilities satisfy teachers and hence improve pupils’ performance as indicated by 63 respondents (47.7 %). The parents should be involved in general meetings, school committees and parent teachers meeting. This is because parent involvement enhances education for students, parents, teachers, and schools as indicated by 47.7% of the respondents. Rewards motivate the teacher to perform better as indicated by 72.7 % of respondents. The research findings generated information which will be used by government departments in the ministry of education, government agencies, future scholars and other stakeholders to come up with learning programmes which will provide job satisfaction to secondary school teachers. The study will also be useful to future scholars as it will also add to the existing body of knowledge.