See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/338108707

DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEES PROMOTION IN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS IN

TANZANIA: THE CASE STUDY OF ARUSHA DISTRICT COUNCIL

Chapter · December 2019

CITATIONS READS

0 1,289

1 author:

Gloria William
University of Arusha
11 PUBLICATIONS 7 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Gloria William on 22 December 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEES PROMOTION IN PUBLIC
ORGANIZATIONS IN TANZANIA: THE CASE STUDY OF ARUSHA
DISTRICT COUNCIL

Gloria William (2017110144)

A Proposal Submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Award of the Degree
of (Business Administration in Management) University of Arusha
The University of Arusha

December 2019
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Human resources are important assets for implementation of policies and execution of functions

necessary to pursuing organizations’ goals. In attempt to ensure that human resources perform

effectively organizations establish and implement strategies to motivate employees. Promotion is

among the strategies used to motivate employees in organizations (Naveed, Usman and Bushra,

2011). Promotion happens when an employee within an organization advances in terms of

position, pay, status, responsibilities and status. It involves improvement in job position, status

and prestige as well as increase in responsibilities and pay. Promotion is done in order to

motivate employees for higher performance, increase job satisfaction, attract and retain

competent employees, recognize and reward efforts of employees, fill up vacancies from within

an organization, promote interests in training and development (Aswathappa, 2005; Randhawa,

2007).

Teachers are fundamental resources in provision of education services. They provide knowledge,

skills, wisdom, appropriate orientations, inspirations and models to students (Komba & Nkumbi,

2008). Teachers constitute essential resources for ensuring successful learning (UNESCO ,

2005). Taking into account their pivotal role in education, teachers should be respected and

motivated so as to teach effectively (Lyimo, 2014). Teachers’ motivation is a function of various

educational stakeholders including the employers, heads of schools, government, parents, Non-

Governmental Organizations, and community at large.

Efforts have been done at the global, regional and local levels to ensure promotions of teachers.

At the global level, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

1
(UNESCO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued recommendations

concerning status of teachers in 1966. The recommendations emphasized professional

advancement of teachers including timely, objective and fair promotions (ILO & UNESCO,

2016). In Tanzania, the government has taken policy initiatives to ensure public employees

receive promotions. Notably, there is the Public Service Management and Employment Policy of

2008 which emphasizes promotion of all public employees on basis of work performance.

In the year 2010 the government of Tanzania formulated Public Service Pay and Incentive Policy

which stipulates among other things including performance based promotion. The policy states

that public employees including teachers should be promoted on basis of open performance

appraisal evaluation (URT, 2010). Further steps to encourage promotion of teachers employed in

public service in Tanzania mainland took place in 2015 when the Teachers Service Commission

(TCS) was established by Act No. 25 of 2015. Among the functions of TCS is to manage

promotions and transfers of teachers (URT, 2015).

Despite the above-mentioned efforts, studies have shown that timely and fair teachers’

promotions remain a problem in developing countries. In the context of Asia a study by

Broekman (2013) has shown that teachers’ promotion has been a neglected aspect in Indonesia.

A study by Mulkeen, (2008) has shown that teachers employed in rural areas in African countries

including Leshoto, Malawi Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda face challenges including delays

of promotions. Moreover a recent media report by Daily Monitor (2017) has indicated that

teachers employed in public sector in Uganda work for several years without receiving

promotions. In Kenya, Sirima and Poipoi (2010) investigated factors influencing public

secondary school teachers’ job satisfaction in Busia District in Kenya. Results of the study show

that school management use various methods to motivate teaching including rewards for good

performance, remuneration, provision of promotion opportunities, letters of recommendations,

2
awarded certificates of merit and training opportunities. The study further reveal that promotions

of teachers are not granted on the required time leading to dissatisfactions among teachers.

In Tanzania media reports and empirical studies have indicated that the challenge of delays of

teachers’ promotions still prevails in public service in Tanzania. A report by Liganga (2014) has

shown that 40,000 were promoted but their salaries were not adjusted to match the new job

positions. Findings of a research done by Nyamubi (2017) have revealed that teachers reveal

they do not receive their promotions on required time. Consequently, the teachers lose morale to

work hard. Furthermore, findings by HakiElimu (2016) have also shown that 81% of teachers

interviewed stated that they were not promoted on time. However these reports have not

indicated reasons for delays of promotions of teachers.

Moreover findings from a study conducted by Mwijage (2015) show that 89.5% stated that their

promotions were delayed. The findings of the study further indicate reasons for delays of

teachers’ promotions which include negligence of responsible officials, poor record keeping by

Teachers Service Department, budget shortage and delays of Teachers Service Department to

assign teachers with registration numbers. However taking into account that the study gathered

data largely using closed ended questionnaires, findings of the study do not show in details the

role of the abovementioned causes in delaying promotions of teachers.

In addition to the above, findings of Mayaru (2015) also indicate that teachers face the challenge

of not receiving promotion on time. Teachers expressed their discontents on delays in promotion

which lowers motivation to work. According to the findings of the study, delays of promotions

of teachers are caused by policy of promotions. It is indicated promotion involves considerations

including results of performance appraisal reviews and number of years of working experience

which is three years. However the findings do not explain the impact of such policy

arrangements on delays of promotions of teachers. Moreover, in 2015 the parliament passed

3
Teachers Service Commission (TCS) Act No. 25 which established TCS to manage human

resource management and professional affairs of teachers in mainland Tanzania including

promotions. However, despite the fact that the study was done in 2015, it did not acknowledge

the influence of TCS in promotions of teachers.

Another study done by Mark (2015) also revealed that public secondary school teachers are not

satisfied with their jobs because they do not received promotions on time. More importantly, a

study by Mosses (2017) has revealed secondary school teachers employed in Arusha District

face the challenge of delays in promotions. This trend clearly indicates that teachers’ timely

promotion is a problem at both global, regional and local levels. This situation raises a research

question on “what determines promotions of teachers? Is it performance? Or there are other

factors beside performance? These questions justify an empirical investigation on determinants

of teachers’ promotions.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Promotion is a prerequisite for motivation of employees in an organization. Promotions facilitate

professional growth by which employees to move to a higher ladder with more responsibilities

and increased salaries (Dresang, 2017). The government of Tanzania has recently established

Teachers Service Commission in 2015 to perform among other functions including managing

promotions of teachers. However evidence from several studies indicates that teachers employed

in public secondary schools still face the challenge of delays in promotions. Findings by

Nyamubi (2017), HakiElimu (2016), Mwijage (2015) and Mayaru (2015) consistently show that

teachers working in public secondary schools in various regions in Tanzania face the challenge

of delays in promotions. A recent study by Mosses, (2017) public secondary school teachers in

Arusha District face the challenge of delayed promotions which in turn undermines motivate to

4
work hard. This trend has motivated the need to undertake a study to describe the determinants

of teachers’ promotions in Tanzania by focusing on Arusha Dsitrict.

1.3 Research objectives

1.3.1 General objective

The main objective of this study is to describe determinants of teachers’ promotion in public

secondary schools in Arush District.

1.3.2 Specific objectives

The study aims to achieve three specific objectives which include,

(i) To ascertain professional factors influencing teachers’ promotions in Arusha District.

(ii) To ascertain personal factors influencing of teachers’ promotions in Arusha District.

(iii) To determine environmental factors influencing teachers’ promotions in Arusha District.

1.4 Research questions

The research aims to answer four research questions.

(i) What professional factors influence teachers’ promotions in Arusha District?

(ii) What personal factors influence of teachers’ promotions in Arusha District?

(iii) What environmental factors influence teachers’ promotions in Arusha District?

1.5 Theoretical framework

The study will be guided by the merit-based promotion. In this model, employees are promoted

on basis of ability, competency and performance rather than seniority. Employees who meet

performance standards receive promotions. This model does not only help to motivate but also

retains competent employees. However, merit-based involves a lot of time and efforts to promote

employees (Randhawa, 2007). The model emphasizes on making human resource decisions on

5
basis of professional factors. This study will use this model to assess the extent to which

professional factors are applied to promote teachers in Tanzania.

In Tanzania, the Public Service (Amendment) Act of 2007 stipulates that every promotion of

public employees should be done on basis of performance, career development, succession plan,

seniority among employees and the scheme of service (URT, 2007). This study will attempt to

examine the extent to which seniority and merit are determinants of public secondary schools’

teachers in Arusha District.

1.6 Conceptual framework

Figure 1: Conceptual framework

Dependent Variable Independent variables

Professional factors

1: Performance
2: Education

Personal Factors
Teachers’ 1: Age 2: Gender
Promotion
3: Discipline

Environmental Factors

1: Working Relationships

2: Financial status

3: Labour laws

Source: Researcher

6
1.7 Significance of the study of findings

Findings of this study shall provide important contributions to human resource management in

public service in Tanzania. First of findings of this study will help to address the problem of

delays of teachers promotions. The study findings will reveal causes of delays of teachers’

promotions in public service in Tanzania. Hence based on the findings, the public institutions

involved in management of promotions can take specific measures to solve the problem of delays

in promotions.

Secondly findings of the study shall provide recommendations which can help to reform policies

for public human resource management in Tanzania. Policy reforms can help improvement of

procedures for promotions of public employees in Tanzania especially teachers who face the

problem of delayed promotions.

1.8 Scope of the study

This study shall be based on public secondary schools located in Arusha District. Population of

the study will be drawn from selected schools in Arusha District. Findings of the study shall be

generalized across the public secondary schools located in the area of study.

1.9 Limitations of the study

The study expects to face the limitation of consent of respondents. Some respondents may not be

willing to participate in the study. Hence that can affect response rate. This limitation will be

addressed by providing adequate clarification to the respondents about the objectives and

significance of this study. The heads of schools will be used to facilitate respondents to respond

to the research questions.

7
1.10 Operational definitions of key terms

(i) Promotion

In this study the word promotion is used to mean teachers’ professional development that

involves moving from lower to upper job positions.

(ii) Determinant

The word determinant is used in this study to mean a reason or cause for or factor influencing

promotions of teachers.

(iii)Organization

The term organization is used in this study to imply government schools in Arusha District.

8
 LIST REFERENCES

Aswathappa, K. (2005). Human Resource and Personnel Management. New Delhi: TataMc-Graw-Hill
Education.

Broekman, A. (2013). The Rationale and Effects of Accountability Policies on the Work and Motivation
of Teachers: Evidence from Indonesia. In A. Verger, H. K. Alytinyelken, & M. De Koning,
Global Managerial Education Reforms and Teachers. Emerging Policies, Controversies and
Issues in Developing Contexts (pp. 19-37). Brussels: Education International.

Dresang, D. L. (2017). Personnel Management in Government Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations.

Sixth Edition .London : Routledge.

HakiElimu. (2016). Teachers Motivation and Job Satisfaction Research Report. Dar es Salaam :Author .

ILO & UNESCO. (2016). The ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966
) and the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching
Personnel (1997). Revised Edition 2016. Geneva: Authors.

Komba, W. L., & Nkumbi, E. (2008). Teacher Professional Development in Tanzania: Perceptions and
Practices. Journal of International Cooperation in Education,11(3) , 67-83.

Liganga, L. (2014, May 21). Education Special Report: Unhappy Teachers Can Only Deliver Unhappy
Results, Contends TTU. Retrieved December 21, 2019, from thecitizen.com:
http:/www.citizen.co.tz

Lyimo, G. E. (2014). Analysis of Teachers' Loe Payments in Tanzania. A Case Study of Public
Secondary Schools in Moshi Rural District . International Journal of Education and
Research,2(1) , 1-14.

Mark, A. (2015). Factors Influencing Teachers' Motivation and Job Satisfaction in Kibaha District,
Tanzania. Unpublished Master Dissertation . Dar es Salaam : The Open University of Tanzania .

Mayaru, M. O. (2015). The Challenges Facing Public Primary School Teachers in Thier Teaching
Career in Tanzania: A Case of Mbogwe District, Geita Region. Unpublished Master
Dissertation. Dar es Salaam : Open University of Tanzania.

Mosses, D. P. (2017). Influence of Teachers’ Motivation on Students’ Academic Improvement in Public

Secondary Schools in Arusha District Council. Unpublished Master Dissertation. Arusha: St.
Augustine University of Tanzania.

Mulkeen, A., & Chen, D. (2008). Teacher for Rural Schools: Experiences in Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. World Bank Publications : New York.

Mwijage, D. (2015). Challenges Facing Promotions of Teachers in Public Secondary Schools: The Case
of Ilemela Municipal Council. Unpublished Master Dissertation. Morogoro: Mzumbe University
.
9
Naveed, A., Usman, A., & Bushra, F. (2011). Promotion: A Predictor of Job Satisfaction. A Study of
Glass Industry of Lahore (Pakistan). International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(16)
, 301-305.

Nyamubi, G. J. (2017). Determinants of Secondary School Teachers’ Job Satisfaction in Tanzania.

Education Research International,2017 , 1-7.

Randhawa, G. (2007). Human Resource Management . Atlantic Publishers & Dsitributors : New Delhi.

UNESCO . (2005). Education for All. Global Monitoring Report. Paris: Author.

United Republic of Tanzaia. (2015). Teachers Service Commission Act No. 25 . Dar es Salaam : Author .

United Republic of Tanzania. (2010). Public Service Pay and Incentive Policy . Dar es Salaam :
President's Office Public Service Management.

10

View publication stats