An exploration of factors influencing career progression of tutors in public primary teachers' training colleges in Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to determine the influence of gender, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) adherence to career progression policy guidelines and tutors' exposure to professional development on career progression of tutors in primary teachers training colleges in Kenya. This study was a descriptive survey with 264 tutors randomly sampled from eight Public Primary Teacher Training Colleges. Out of the 264 sampled, 207 tutors returned the questionnaires for analysis. Data was collected using a questionnaire for tutors, interview schedule for Principals and TSC officers. One way Chi-square and linear regression analysis (at α = 0.05 level of significance) were used to test the relationship between each variable and tutors career progression. The study found that gender was not significantly related to tutors' career progression. Further analysis revealed that exposure to professional development influenced tutors career progression positively. The study concluded that tutors' gender did not have any significant relationship with career progression. However, exposure to professional development and adherence to policy guidelines by TSC influenced career progression positively, which is positive result for this study. The study recommended that there is also need to increase the number of appointive positions in Primary Teacher Training Colleges to provide tutors with more chances of career progression. Above all the study recommended that tutors should be regularly exposed to professional development so as to update their skill and competence.