INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study and research questions were discussed.
Background of the Study
This project is on the strategies for promoting productivity of teacher in secondary schools in Udi local government area of Enugu. Promoting productivity of teachers in secondary schools deals with the way things can be done in various schools to reach an effective end. These include the use of work hours and mode of motivation on the teachers.
Production in economics is a process of workers combining various material inputs and immaterial inputs in order to make something for consumption.
Economic well-being is created in a production process, meaning all economic activities that aim directly or indirectly to satisfy human wants and needs.
The word Productivity first came in writing in 1776. According to Sumanth (1990), the term productivity was probably first time used by French mathematician in an article in 1776. Littre in 1883 defined productivity as the faculty to produce. In discussing how different people look at productivity, it will be necessary to name examples of some people who would at one time or the other be involved in promoting productivity. Eatwell and Newman (1991) defined productivity as a ratio of some measures of output to some index of input. Regardless of the type of production, be it economic or political system, this definition of productivity remains the same as long as the basic concept is the relationship between the quantity and quality of resources used to produce them. According to the department of labour, productive workplace is built on teamwork and is shared vision of where a business is heading. Before an effective productivity could be attained, there must be willingness among the staffs at all levels to keep learning and investing in skills.
Productivity describes the various measures of the efficiency of production. It is also the measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory and system. Productivity is computed by dividing average output per period by the total cost incurred. Productivity is much more important than revenues and Profits of the organization because profits only reflect the end result whereas Productivity reflects the increase efficiency as well as effectiveness of business Policies and processes. The importance of productivity can never be under looked by any diligent business owner. Successful ventures are often those that give priority to productivity compared to solely looking into revenues and profits of the company.
The public complaint about the continuous fall in productivity of teachers in secondary schools in Udi Local Government is now at an alarming rate. It is for this reason that this work is carried out in the view to finding the cause of low productivity, how to eliminate them and bring about recommendations that will promote productivity of teachers in secondary schools in Udi general to achieve a successful result in the programme. Hence, productivity can actually be evaluated with respect to level of growth rate. A high productivity represents good use of resources and high returns. High growth rates show an active and growing economy or industry with potential. It is argued that productivity is one of the basic variables governing economics production activities or rather the most important one.
However, productivity is seen as one of the most vital factors affecting an educational institution’s competitiveness. According to Koss and Lewis, (1993) many educators who every day make decisions about improving teaching efficiency do not know how to answer the question: what do we really mean by productivity? So far, the term productivity may seem rather easy to understand, however, there are several implications which have caused much confusion. A common mistake is, for instance, to use productivity measures of production, which refers to the amount of a product or service produced.
Promoting productivity is the volume of goods and services produced per worker within some specific unit of the year. High productivity comes from having the right leaders creating the right environment that allows employees to increase in their skills, knowledge and feel empowered. To promote productivity of teacher, there must be visionary leaders who are trained to be more goal oriented, and focused on results and also hold a clear picture of where they are taking the community or organization.
By way of analogy, Amadi (1991) explained that example of productivity ratio is kilometers driven per gallon of petrol where petrol is the input and kilometers covered constituted the output. However, input measure of petrol is not used to determine the efficiency of the car’s performance. Together, related factors such as speed, traffic flow, the engine’s efficiency and the fuel’s efficiency are equally involved in the computation of the input index. The output measure of kilometer driven therefore becomes a gauge of the effectiveness of the result achieved. Smith (2017) divided up labor into two broad categories, productive and unproductive labor. Productive labor, according to Smith, was any work which fixed itself in a tangible object. Unproductive labor was any work where the value was consumed as soon as it was created. Smith contrasted the role of laborers in a manufacturing plant (productive work) with the tasks of a servant (unproductive work).
Statement of the Problem
The researcher was spurred to embark on this work following reported cases of poor performance of teachers in secondary schools in Udi Local Government. There has been continuous decrease in productivity of teachers since Nigeria independence resulting in poor achievement of students in external examinations over the year. This study was carried out to investigate the causes of low productivity of teachers in secondary schools in Udi Local government with a view to proffering solutions to the menace.
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed at investigating the strategies for promoting productivity of teachers in secondary schools Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State of Nigeria. Specifically the study sought to;
Scope of the Study
The focus of the study will be on strategies for promoting productivity of teacher in Udi Local Government Area.
Significance of the Study
Findings from of this study will benefit parents, students, ministry of education. The higher recruitment of experienced and professional teachers into the teaching profession will create more chances of high productivity in the government and the classroom.
Therefore, if ministry of education applies the recommended approach derived from the result of the study they will be more productive. The management will be directed on what should be done by the teachers to promote productivity in the system. Teachers will impact more knowledge in their students. The students will benefit by acquiring knowledge and performing better in their examinations. Parents will be happy seeing their words performing excellently well and their money not being wasted. The society will have highly intelligent individuals who will contribute to the growth of the nation.
Research Questions
To guide the study the following research questions were used.