Motivation Factors and Teacher Retention in Private Secondary Schools of Rwanda

Teacher retention is one of the pillars that lead to higher academic performance of students. Unfortunately, school administrators invest much time and effort in recruiting the teaching personnel but do not motivate them to remain in their respective schools. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of motivation factors on teacher retention in private secondary schools in Rwanda, with a case of Huye District. The specific objectives were: to examine the effect of recognition on teacher retention, to assess the effect of work environment on teacher retention, to determine the effect of professional development on teacher retention, and to evaluate the effect of remuneration on teacher retention in private secondary schools in Rwanda. The research used census as a sampling technique for a target population of 59 teachers; the total number of teachers working in private secondary schools in the district. The data analysis was done using descriptive and mixed method model and the Statistical Packages for Social Science Software (SPSS) version 21.0 was used to process the acquired data. From the analysis, the study came up with the following findings: teacher retention was not influenced by recognition since the majority of teachers; (70.1%) said that they were not aware of any recognition system in their schools. The findings revealed that 82.4% of the respondents had been motivated to stay in the school by the work environment. The study revealed that in-service training was a factor that could lead to teacher retention in the profession but not necessarily in their respective schools; only 27.5% of the respondents agreed that they had in-service training in their respective schools. In the same line, 56.1% of respondents agreed that remuneration is a teacher motivation factor, but only 17.6% of teachers stated that their remuneration was enough to cater for basic needs; with a Mean of 2.58 and Sd. of 1.22. Consequently, only 8.8% (with Mean of 2.58 and Sd. 0.96) of respondents agreed that they are willing to remain in their schools. Finally, the study concluded that mainly teachers would like to remain in schools which provide them with a favorable work environment and regular in-service trainings. In the second place, with considerate remuneration and recognition, teachers’ motivation would be increased and lead to their retention. Based on the findings from the study, the researcher recommended that school administration and stakeholders should provide teachers with in-service trainings, recognize teachers’ achievement and a considerate remuneration that could at least cater for their basic needs. Future studies should be conducted to assess the impact of teacher retention on students’ academic performance in private secondary schools in Rwanda.