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Deployment and Utilization of Graduate Teachers and Performance in Nigeria: Public Secondary Schools Experiences in Edo State

Isoken Ogboro*, Mon Nwadiani

Edo University, Iyamho, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract: Secondary education is a key aspect of educational development. It is so core that it bridges the gap between two levels of education that matters in knowledge based economy. The utilization of teachers in their subject areas is critical to performance and the survival of this level of education. This study had the broad objective to investigate the Deployment and Utilization of Graduate Teachers and performance in Public Secondary Schools Experiences in Edo State. The specific objectives were to determine the level of utilization of graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools and to identify the level of deployment of graduate teachers in the different teaching subjects in Edo State public senior secondary schools. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was made up of 3366 graduate teachers deployed to 306 public secondary schools in the 18 local government areas as at 2010/2011. A sample size of 396 graduates using multi-stage randomly selected procedure determination from a finite population. Questionnaires were distributed to be filled and returned. Validity of the instrument was measured using content validity, and this was done by experts from the academia. Internal consistency was done using Cronbach alpha coefficient test statistic to test the reliability of the instrument, yielding a coefficient of 0.78. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson product moment correlation at 5% probability level of significance and regression analysis with charts for illustrations. The findings indicated that: There is low deployment and uneven distribution of graduate teachers to public schools in Edo State. Also, poor utilization of these teachers was very obvious. Thus, the study concluded that job performance would be very low. The study therefore recommended that government should carry out an analysis to fill areas of scarcity, rationalize distribution of teachers and ensure there is a balance in deployment. This will create a fair system of graduate teachers’ deployment in both urban and rural areas especially in mathematics and English subjects.

Keywords: utilization, deployment, job performance, teachers and public schools

Citation: Isoken Ogboro, Mon Nwadiani, Deployment and Utilization of Graduate Teachers and Performance in Nigeria: Public Secondary Schools Experiences in Edo State. American Journal of Educational Research, 5 (8). 917-926. January 2017. doi:10.12691/education-5-8-12

1. Introduction

Teachers are the frontline implementers of the educational programmes in the secondary schools. Their effective deployment and utilization would largely determine the internal efficiency of the school system. It is in the classroom that the destiny of the nation is shaped through the quality of its teachers, especially the university graduate teachers who are meant to be deployed to the Senior Secondary Schools.

Secondary education is one of the fastest growing components of the education sector in Nigeria with increasing enrolment. For instance enrolment in senior secondary schools in Edo State between 2000 and 2002 increased from 255163 to 268830 [1]. The increase in enrolment in senior secondary schools could be attributed to the large number of output from the junior secondary school level. In essence, secondary education provides the foundation for further learning at the tertiary level of education; the pool of entrance into skill acquisition training centers and the world of work. This brings to fore the need for qualified teachers to be properly deployed and utilized in the secondary school system.

Thus, adequate deployment of university graduate teachers is very significant in achieving the objectives of the secondary school system. Deployment of university graduate teachers into the secondary school system entails distribution of teachers in accordance with the approved standard of teachers in the teaching subject. Deployment ensures that teachers required in each subject are deployed to schools to meet the approved standard of one teacher to 40 students in a class. It also ensures that deployment of teachers is not lop-sided. The deployment of teachers is said to be normal if it meets the required number of teachers in the teaching subject areas of the senior school system. On the other hand, the deployment of teachers is said to be faulty if there is uneven distribution of teachers.

Imuekheme [2], observed that deployment of teachers to schools had been lop-sided in Edo State. The observed trend in the deployment of teachers is that there are more teachers in urban areas than the rural areas. The deployment of teachers to schools could also affect the utilization of the teachers in the secondary school system.

Teacher utilization is determined by the assignment of work-load which is the teaching hours per week for each teacher. Where the deployment is faulty, it could result in having some teachers with heavier work-load than others. In most urban centers where more teachers in the same subject areas are deployed to teach, such teachers are usually underutilized.

However, trends in our school system show that student-teacher ratio is more than 40:1 because of the increase in student enrolment. The implications of increase in enrolment could result in over stretching of the school facilities and high utilization of teachers, as the pupil-teacher ratio will increase and may lead to poor job performance.

Job performance is a process and product of assigned job or task Rogers [3]. It is the outcome of work that provides the strongest link to the organizational goals. It is also an outcome of a behavior during the process of performing a task. Job performance therefore embraces three interrelated variables of behavior (processes), the result of the processes and the impact or value added. Thus, the job performance of teachers involves the three variables of behaviour or processes of the teacher in the classroom, the result of the behaviour on the students, and thirdly, what impact or value has been added to the students during the course of teaching and learning. The major factors therefore, that enhance the job performance of teachers in the school system are the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of their training in the universities or colleges of education.

Other factors that could affect the job performance of teachers are the competence to deliver and the ability to stimulate students to learn, which relate to the behaviour factor in the variable of job performance, provision of instructional materials and a conducive environment. Also, motivational incentives presented to the teachers in the school system could enhance their job performance.

Socio-economic and political influences of deployment of teachers to location of schools in urban centers and corrupt practices of selective posting of teachers to school location of their choice could result in having more graduate teachers in the urban location of schools than the rural. Improper deployment of teachers could lead to poor utilization of teachers. The effect could be low level utilization, as there would be surplus teachers in some subject areas while some other subject areas may be in short supply of required teachers. The poor utilization of teachers could lead to poor job performance. From the foregoing, it is necessary to investigate the levels of deployment, utilization and job performance of teachers in the public senior secondary schools in Edo State.

1.1. Research Objectives

1. To determine the level of utilization and job performance of graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools?

2. To determine the level of utilization and job performance of graduate teachers of different teaching subjects in Edo State public senior secondary schools?

1.2. Research Questions

i. What is the level of utilization and job performance of graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools?

ii. What is the level of deployment and job performance of graduate teachers of different teaching subjects in Edo state public senior secondary schools?

1.3. Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were generated at 0.05 significant alpha level.

Ho₁: There is no significant relationship between level of utilization and job performance of graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools

Ho₂: There are no significant relationship from level of deployment of graduate teachers in different teaching subjects and job performance in Edo State public senior secondary schools?

2. Literature Review

2.1. Conceptual Framework on Deployment

The conceptual framework which the study was based on was the concept of Education Production Function. The concept of Education Production Function relates to various inputs affecting students’ learning in the school system. The concept of Education Production Function was developed by Coleman [4]. The conceptual idea of Coleman [4] was that various school inputs such as facilities, class size, students etc., and quality of teachers’ utilization have an impact on students’ achievement in the school system. Another author supporting the concept of Education Production Function was Hanushek [5]. Their conceptual ideas were based on the system theory of input, through put and output.

The concept of Education Production Function relates to the deployment variable of the study because teachers utilization into the school system are inputs. The production or throughput function includes the effective utilization of the input (teachers) into the school system and the outcome is improved internal efficiency of the school system and learning outcome of the students.

The relevance of the conceptual framework of the Education Production Function on teacher deployment is based on the systematic level of deployment of teachers to meet the requirement of each subject area taught in the school, ascertaining areas of specialization of required teachers, ascertaining the locations where teachers are to be deployed and ascertaining the enrolment of students in each subject area.

2.2. Theoretical Framework on Teacher Utilization in the School System

The theoretical framework for variable of utilization of this study was based on Manpower utilization theory. Manpower utilization theory was propounded by Dyer and Reeves [6]. They based the theory on two categories of variables, which are the quantity and quality of manpower. Their idea is that the higher the quantity of labour in terms of productivity, which includes labour force, participation and weekly working hours; the higher the level of production. The features of the theory were based on the number of working hours that could represent the labour productivity. This theory was also supported by Arthur in 1994. On the side of the variable of quality of manpower, Tallman and Wang [7] claimed that the increase in productivity hinges on additional education by weighing the educational levels. This was based on the assumption that the more educated a worker is, the more productive he will be. Thus, labour quality was assessed by the enrolment ratios in the school system. Also considered for the quality of educational out- put is the pupil -teacher ratio for each educational level.

2.3. Job Performance Measurement

The under-utilization or over utilization of employees in any organization could affect the level of job performance of the employees. Thus, the major issue in job performance is the measurement. Job performance measurement provides a basis for an organization to determine how well it is meeting its goals. Job performance measurement helps to identify areas of need, strength and weakness and decide on future initiative with a view to improving organizational performance. Amaratunga and Baldry [8] see job performance measurement as a means of effecting positive change in organizational culture, systems and processes.

In the school system, the issue of job performance measurement also relates to evaluating the level of teaching outcomes in meeting the objectives of the assigned teaching subjects to teachers in the system. Thus job performance measurement is a means of quantifying effectiveness and efficiency of the action of teachers in the school system. Performance measurement, according to Kennelly and Neely [9] who propounded a system performance management measurement, includes the following:

Process - existence of process for reviewing, modifying and deploying measures

People - the availability of the required skills to use to achieve organizational goals

System - flexible system that enables appropriate reporting and collection of data

Evaluation - the existence of evaluation within the organization.

The system performance management measurement applies to the study in the following ways:

Process: This relates to the process of assigning tasks or teaching subjects to the deployed teachers in the public senior secondary schools in Edo State.

People: This relates to the available qualified graduate teachers with the required knowledge and skills in specific teaching subject areas.

System: Flexible system that enables appropriate reporting and collection of data to determine the number of teachers required for each subject area in the school system.

Evaluation: This relates to evaluation of teachers’ job performance with a view to determining effectiveness and efficiency of the teachers in the school.

Feedback: Supervision by Principals, Ministry of Education, Post Primary School Board to report on the level of job performance and needs of teachers in improving performance. This is illustrated below in Figure 1.

Figure 1. An illustration of issues in Job Performance (Source: Adapted from [9])

The deployment and utilization of teachers in the school system has been a problem to state governments in Nigeria. As rightly stated by Nwidieduh [10], recruitment is a herculean task, especially in our society where the “Nigerian factor” constitutes a clog in the wheel of effective recruitment exercises, and the entire process is marred by ethnicity, religious/political affiliations, sexual discrimination, bribery and corruption. These variables are the major problems with the recruitment of teachers into senior secondary schools in Nigeria. The high rate of unemployment of university graduates has contributed to the inefficient recruitment of teachers into the public senior secondary school system largely because these graduates take up teaching jobs as a stop gap or measure pending when they can secure more lucrative or other secure jobs.

Aghenta [11] describing the inadequate deployment of teachers to secondary schools, stated that teachers who knows and can teach the subjects have never been sufficiently supplied to secondary schools in Nigeria. He enumerated the following as the types of teachers teaching in the secondary schools: NCE holders, University graduates without professional training, university graduates who hold postgraduate diploma in Education, B.Ed graduates. All these grades of teachers recruited into the secondary school system may know their subject but cannot teach especially those without education background.

To improve the quality of teachers, the Federal Government of Nigeria (2004) stated clearly in the National Policy on Education that teacher education is to produce highly motivated, conscientious and efficient teachers, with adequate intellectual and professional background and that the minimum qualification for entry into the teaching profession shall be the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE). Therefore, teacher education shall be structured to equip teachers for the effective performance of their duties to meet the required minimum standards and that teacher pupil ratio at the secondary school level shall be 1:40 (FRN: 2004). However, the implementation of this policy has not been followed as the pupil teacher ratio is more than 40:1 in public senior secondary schools in urban areas while those in rural areas are less than 40:1. Another aspect of the policy that is affecting the quality of teachers is the training of enough teachers at the university level. In most cases very few candidates choose education as their first choice course of study. According to Aghenta [11], the stock of bright candidates for education has dried up as very few candidates opt for education in the UME. He stated that the faculties of Education now get their candidates mainly direct from colleges of education.

In the utilization of teachers, some teachers are assigned more than one of these subjects because of the lack of teachers. For example, specialist teacher in English Language may be assigned to teach English Language as well as Literature in English. In such a situation, the teacher has a work load of say five periods of 40 minutes a week to a 6-arms class of SSS III. This implies that the teacher will have a work load of:

The manpower hour which the teacher spends a day is at least four hours. Such a teacher is fully utilized. However, if the teacher is assigned another course for example Literature in English, that teacher will be over worked or over utilized because he may end up having eight hours per day. In the assignment of teaching periods, some teachers are over- utilized while others are under-utilized. It is alleged that in some urban areas, teachers have two periods a week while other teachers who are appointed as principals and vice principals are not assigned subjects to teach. Such teachers are said to be underutilized. Another variable that affects the utilization of teachers in senior secondary schools is the enrolment in the class. Some teachers are assigned to teach a class of 50-100 students in a class. Such a teacher will have to contend with the assignment of preparing the lesson, marking continuous assessment work and examination scripts, especially where such a teacher had to attend to an enrolment of one hundred students in a class for six classes. Akinsolu [12] in his study viewed that teacher-student ratio has impact on students’ academic performance. His study corroborates that of Ibitoye [13] that states that school size and class size was a powerful predictor of students’ academic performance.

Also Adesola [14], and Ahievboloria [15] in their studies, emphasized that effective utilization of teachers is more important than its mere provision and that effectively utilized human resources would in turn utilize other resources of education to enhance better students’ academic performance. Ayodele and Ige [16] in a study on Teachers’ utilization as correlate of students’ academic performance in Senior Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria also stated that the use into which available teachers are put are major impetus or facilitators of high or low students’ academic performance. They further added that the public is apt at putting the blame on teacher’s utilization rather than provision of qualified teachers.

In a field study on secondary school teachers, principals and decision makers, by the World Bank in 2005, it revealed that one of the concerns expressed by teachers is the amount of work they do. They feel that they are overloaded with teaching hours. The study revealed that some teachers taught an average of 14 class periods per week. The study also reported that teachers in Francophone countries such as Madagascar and Guinea taught between four and eight class periods per week, whereas teachers in Ghana taught between 20 and 30 class periods per week. The study also revealed that one reason why they do not want to stay on the job was the burden of grading continuous assessment.

2.4. Job Performance in the School System

Teachers have been recruited, deployed and assigned workload. The next step is the task of actual teaching, which is the job performance. Job performance, as revealed by many studies, depend on so many factors some of which are knowledge and skills acquired by the teacher, the competence to deliver and stimulate students to learn, provision of instructional materials, conducive environment and the motivation to actually perform assigned tasks.

Omoifo [17] states that a teacher is anyone involved in classroom activities such as assessing learning, seminars, workshops, and laboratory sessions and so on, be it at primary, secondary or tertiary levels. She further stated that the quality of education a student receives largely depends on the quality of teaching and learning resources provided. Thus, for effective teaching and learning in the classroom, there is the need for adequate resources to be provided by relevant authorities. She concluded that effective teaching relies on facilitating environments conducive for learning.

2.5. Teacher’s Utilization and Job Performance in a School System

The utilization of workers in any organization is determined by the assigned task to be performed. The proper utilization of workers, impact on the level of job performance in an organization. In the school system where the majority of workers are the teachers their proper utilization will have impact on their job performance. The major problem is determining the concept of the teachers’ work to be performed in the school system. In a study by Darling-Hammond, Wise and Pease [18] presented several concepts of teachers’ work. These concepts of the teachers work include first of all, viewing teaching as labour whereby the teacher’s task is to implement educational programmes in line with prescribed procedures and routines. Secondly, they saw teaching as a craft that is an activity involving knowledge of specialized techniques and rules for applying them. In the study they also viewed teaching as a profession. In their view, a teacher would need to be able to master not only theoretical and technical knowledge and specialized skills and techniques but also sound professional judgment about their application, arising from a body of knowledge of theory.

Teachers’ utilization begins with the deployment. Thus, the basic areas of utilization of teachers bother on assigned work-load and supervision by the managers of schools (principal, vice principal, heads of department of academic units). These two basic variables of utilization impact on the job performance of teachers in the secondary school setting.

2.6. Assigned Work-load

The assignment of work-load to a teacher is the first determinant of the level of utilization of the teacher and this impact on the level of job performance. The assigned work-load is based on the teaching hours per week and the class size, the class size is the teacher; student ratio. As earlier cited, the National Policy on Education (2004) states that the teacher; pupil ratio should be 1:40 and the maximum work-load of 24 periods a week and minimum of 18 periods a week. However, in a research carried out by the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council on the demand and supply of teachers in a study by Oragwam [19] shows that the teacher student ratio nationwide stands at between 1:150 and 1:858 this ratio is far from the stipulated 1:40 stated in the National Policy on Education (2004).

3. Methodology

The study adopted the descriptive research design based on the ex-post facto because of the descriptive nature of the research. The design was considered suitable for the study because the events in the study have already occurred. Teachers have been deployed, utilized and performing their jobs. The population of the study was the 3366 graduate teachers deployed to 306 public senior secondary schools in the eighteen (18) local government areas of Edo state as at 2010/2011 academic session. The sample of the study was 396 graduate teachers in different teaching subjects in the 36 sampled schools. The multi-stage randomly sampling technique was used. In the first stage, a sample of 22 schools accounting for 11% of the 208 schools in urban locations and 14 schools accounting for the 98 schools in rural locations totaling 36 schools in the 18 local government areas of Edo State were randomly selected. In the second stage 154 graduate teachers in different teaching subjects in the 14 selected Public senior secondary schools in the rural locations were randomly selected. While 242 graduate teachers in different teaching subjects in the 22 selected schools in the urban locations of schools were randomly selected, totaling a sample of 396 graduate teachers for the study. The justification for the sampled schools was that the number selected represented 10% of the total number of schools in the 18 local government areas. The sampled number of 396 teachers represented 12% of the total number of graduate teachers in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools. The principals of the 36 sampled schools responded to the instruments for the variables of deployment, utilization and job performance of the graduate teachers. The research instruments of the study were two checklists and a questionnaire. The research instruments were administered to 36 principals of the sampled senior secondary schools in the 18 local government areas of Edo State. The data collected were analyzed using mean, percentages which were used to determine levels of deployment, utilization and job performance of graduate teachers in the sampled Edo state public senior secondary schools. Pearson’s Moment Product correlation and Regression Analysis of Variance statistical tools were used to test the hypotheses on the relationship between level of deployment, level of utilization and job performance. A coefficient of the variables of deployment and utilization’s contribution to job performance was also used. Graphs and Bar-charts were used for illustrations.

4. Analysis of Data and Discussion of Results

4.1. Research Question One

What is the level of utilization of graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools?

In analyzing the data to answer research question four, data collected were grouped into three levels of low utilization, normal utilization and high utilization. Low utilization is when the assigned teaching periods of graduate teachers are below the minimum of 18 periods per week. Normal utilization is when the assigned periods are equal to 24 maximum and 18 minimum periods per week. High level utilization is when the assigned periods are over 24 maximum periods per week. The data analysis is shown on Table 1.

Table 1. Level of Utilization of Graduates Teachers in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

Data in Table 1 showed the levels of utilization of graduate teachers in 36 sampled schools in 18 local government areas of Edo State public Senior Secondary Schools in the 2010/2011 academic session. The summary of the data analyzed showed that, out of a total of 396 graduates teachers required in the eleven teaching subject areas 249 (62.9%) were lowly utilized in sampled schools, only 40 (10.1%) were normally utilized to meet the approved requirements of the schools teaching subjects and 107 (27.0%) were highly utilized. The data showed gross low level utilization of graduate teachers, while there is also evidence of high level utilization of some graduate teachers. The results of the analysis are represented on the bar chart.

Figure 2. Level of utilization of graduate’s teachers in Edo State’s Public Senior Secondary Schools

4.2. Research Question Two:

What is the level of utilization of graduate teachers in different teaching subjects of Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools?

The level of utilization of graduate teachers in different teaching subjects in Edo state public senior secondary schools were also grouped into three levels of low utilization, normal utilization and high utilization. The data analysis is shown on Table 2.

Table 2. Levels of Utilization of Graduate Teachers of Different Teaching Subjects in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

Table 2 showed the data analysis on levels of utilization of graduate teachers in different subjects of the senior secondary schools as follows: For English Language in the 36 schools, 23 (69.9%) utilization was low, 2 (5.6%) were utilized normally, while 11 (30.6%) were highly utilized. For Mathematics in the 36 schools, 22 (61.1%) were low utilization, 1 (2.8%) normally utilized, while 13 (36.1%) were highly utilized. For Biology in the 36 schools, 21 (58.3%) were lowly utilized, 2 (5.6%) were normal utilization, while 13 (36.1%) were highly utilized. For Agricultural Science in the 36 schools, 19 (52.7%) were low utilization, 5 (13.9%) were normally utilized, while 12 (33.3%) were highly utilized.

For Economics in the 36 schools, 23 (63.9%) utilization were low, 6 (16.7%) were normal utilization, while 7 (19.4%) were highly utilized. For Physics in the 36 schools, 28 (77.8%) were lowly utilized, 2 (5.6%) were normally utilized, while 6 (16.7%) were highly utilized. For Chemistry in the 36 schools, 27 (75.0%) were lowly utilized, 2 (5.6%) were normal utilization, while 7 (19.4%) were highly utilized. For Government in the 36 schools, 20 (57.3%) were lowly utilized, 6 (16.7%) were normally utilized, while 9 (20.0%) were highly utilized. For Geography in the 36 schools, 20 (56.6%) were low utilization, 4 (11.1%) were normally utilized, while 12 (33.3%) were highly utilized.

For Literature in English in the 36 schools, 24 (66.6%) were lowly utilized, 5 (13.9%) were normally utilized, while 7 (19.4%) were highly utilized.

For Christian Religious Knowledge in the 36 schools, 21 (58.3%) were lowly utilized, 5 (13.9%) were normally utilized, while 10 (27.8%) were highly utilized. The data analyzed are graphically represented on Figure 3.

Figure 3. Level of Utilization of graduate teachers of different teaching subjects in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

Table 3. Pearson’s Correlation between the Variables of Deployment, Utilization and Job Performance

Table 3 showed the correlation between level of deployment and level of job performance yielding a Pearson’s r value of -.243 with a p-value of .153, and the correlation between level of utilization and level of job performance yielding a Pearson’s r value of .534 with a p-value of 0.05. Testing at an alpha level of .05, the correlation between deployment and level of job performance is not significant as the p-value is greater than 0.05, while correlation between level of utilization and level of job performance is significant since the p-value is less than 0.05.

Table 4. Model summary of graduate teachers’ deployment and utilization to job performance of graduate teachers

Table 4 showed an R square value .301 showing that graduate teachers’ deployment and utilization accounts for 30% of job performance of graduate teachers in public senior secondary schools in Edo State.

5. Discussion of Findings

5.1. Utilization of Graduate Teachers in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

The study showed low level of utilization of graduate teachers in the 36 schools sampled in Edo State public senior secondary schools. There was evidence of high utilization of some graduate teachers in the state Senior Secondary Schools. The low level of utilization of graduate teachers in the State senior secondary schools was attributed to the assignment of teaching periods of less than 24 and 18 periods a week. While some graduate teachers especially in English Language and Mathematics and other science subjects teach over 30 periods a week leading to high utilization of such teachers. Scarcity of graduate teachers in the science based subjects and low deployment of graduate teachers in the subject areas were the root causes of high level utilization of the graduate teachers in those subject areas.

Generally, the graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools utilization were low. This corroborated the study of Aghenta [20] which reported the variations of teacher’s work-loads in Nigerian Schools. He observed that generally, teacher’s utilization was low. However, this study contradicts that of Nwagwu’s [21]. The findings of his study stated that in many states of the country, secondary school teachers teach as many as 30 periods a week; that is an average of 6 periods a day. The study thus showed that teachers were over-worked or highly utilized.

5.2. Utilization of Graduate Teachers in Different Teaching Subjects in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

The study has shown that generally the level of low utilization of graduate teachers in the different teaching subjects in Edo State’s public senior secondary schools was high. However there was evidence of high level utilization of graduate teachers in the core teaching subjects of English Language, Mathematics and other science subjects such as Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The high utilization of graduate teachers in these core subjects is attributed to the large number of classes and teaching periods assigned to the teachers because of the compulsory nature of the subjects. In addition to the teaching of the core subjects, the teachers are also assigned other non-academic activities such as discipline of students, sport activities, opening of assembly etc.

The study affirmed the World Bank [22] which observed that in the assignment of teaching period, some teachers are highly utilized while others were lowly utilized. Ali and Yager (1990) in their study corroborate the findings of the study that some teachers were highly utilized in their teaching subject areas in addition to non-academic activities. The study identified an average of 27 different non-teaching tasks that added to the assigned work of teaching periods. Such non-teaching tasks include organization of the class, opening assembly, social activities like cultural dances, inter house sports, gardening, sanitation, preparing class time table, students discipline etc.

However the study of Bennell (2004) contradicted the findings of the study that some teachers in some subjects areas were highly utilized, by his findings that teaching load of secondary school teachers were frequently singled out as being too low. The study stated that the common reasons for low teaching load were: small schools, overcrowded curricula with too much speeches teaching, insufficient classroom and a predominance of single subject teachers.

5.3. Utilization of Graduate Teachers in Edo State Public Senior Secondary Schools

The study showed low level of utilization of graduate teachers in the 36 schools sampled in Edo State public senior secondary schools. There was evidence of high utilization of some graduate teachers in the state Senior Secondary Schools. The low level of utilization of graduate teachers in the State senior secondary schools was attributed to the assignment of teaching periods of less than 24 and 18 periods a week. While some graduate teachers especially in English Language and Mathematics and other science subjects teach over 30 periods a week leading to high utilization of such teachers. Scarcity of graduate teachers in the science based subjects and low deployment of graduate teachers in the subject areas were the root causes of high level utilization of the graduate teachers in those subject areas.

Generally, the graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools utilization were low. This corroborated the study of Aghenta [20] which reported the variations of teacher’s work-loads in Nigerian Schools. He observed that generally, teacher’s utilization were low. However, this study contradicts that of Nwagwu’s [23]. The findings of his study stated that in many states of the country, secondary school teachers teach as many as 30 periods a week; that is an average of 6 periods a day. The study thus showed that teachers were over-worked or highly utilized.

5.4. Findings

- On the level of utilization of graduate teachers in the eleven senior secondary school subjects, low utilization of teachers co-existed with high utilization in some teaching subjects. The findings of the study showed that English Language, Mathematics, Economics and Literature in English graduate teachers were highly utilized between 30.1% - 36.1% while the teachers utilization were low with 63.9%, 61.1% and 66.5% respectively. Physics has the highest percentage of 77.8% low utilization.

- In the different teaching subject areas in the senior secondary schools, the findings showed that the level of deployment was low in the teaching subjects of English language and Mathematics, Biology and Agricultural science. In the 36 schools sampled, the graduate teachers’ deployment was low by a 100% while none was normally deployed or highly deployed. The teaching subjects of Physics, Chemistry had 99.2% low deployment in the 36 schools sampled while only 2.8% was deployed normally. In the social sciences teaching subjects, Economics had 100% low deployment while Government had 97.2% low deployment. Only 2.8% was highly deployed and none was normal deployment.

- In the same vein, the findings on the level of job performance of graduate teachers in urban and rural locations of schools showed that the level of job performance was higher in the urban schools with 66.67% while that of the rural locations was 32.65%. The level of low job performance was higher in the rural locations than the urban locations of schools with 67.35and 37.3% respectively.

6. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:

1. The Edo State Post primary School Board should identify areas of scarcity in the senior secondary schools’ teaching subjects so that distribution of graduate teachers can be carried out effectively.

2. The Edo State Post primary School Board should rationalize the system of distribution of available teachers

3. The supervising agencies such as the Edo State Post Primary School Board and the Ministry of Education should monitor the level of utilization of the graduate teachers in Edo State public senior secondary schools.

4. Edo State Government should encourage a high level of job performance of graduate teachers in public senior secondary schools through the provision of incentives such as regular promotion, payment of salaries, housing and car loans and other motivational incentives that enhance high job performance

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