Assessment of Staff Personnel Services in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region of Ghana

The increasing complexity of schools in terms of new reforms and what constitute the school environment have made the task of head teachers even more demanding. Head teachers of basic schools in the public domain have to perform various tasks for the smooth operation of their schools. Crucial among these tasks are staff personnel services. Performances of these tasks have positive impact on the development of their schools. This study was motivated by the desire to assess the extent to which head teachers in public Junior Secondary Schools in the Wa Municipality in the Upper West Region of Ghana provide staff personnel services to teachers in their schools. All schools in the municipality were purposively sampled for the study. Proportional allocation and the lottery methods were used to select the sample of 220 respondents, comprising 185 teachers and 35 head teachers. Questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data and were administered personally by the researcher over a period of three weeks. Data collected were analyzed partly using frequencies and percentages. The study revealed that teachers in public Junior Secondary Schools in the municipality were satisfied with the extent to which staff personnel services were provided in their schools. However, both teachers and head teachers expressed low satisfaction in the areas of salaries, allowances and basic amenities like accommodation for teachers and head teachers as well. These were however, beyond the tasks of head teachers at the school level. Perhaps, a holistic approach to address these conditions of service for teachers by higher authorities would go a long way to boost teachers' level of performance in their schools. Keywords: Staff personnel services, orientation, motivation, delegation, staff development