An Assessment of the Factors Influencing Retention of Public Primary school Teachers in Tanzania: The Case of Ilemela District

The purpose of this study was to assess the factors that influence retention of teachers in primary schools in Ilemela district, the objectives of the study were, To investigate the relationship between motivation and job satisfaction among primary school teachers in public primary schools in Ilemela district, To examine how working environment and incentives contribute to the attrition of public primary schools teachers and To identify the influence of professional training and development on teachers‟ motivation and retention in Ilemela district. The study involved 63 respondents, including; teachers, heads of schools, District Education Officer, Teacher Trade Union Officer, and representative of General Secretary of Teachers Service Department. Simple random sampling procedures was used to select sample of teachers and meanwhile purposive sampling technique was used to pick heads of schools, District educational officer, Trade Union Officer and Representative of General Secretary of Teachers Service Department (TSD) of Ilemela District. Questionnaire, interview and documentary analysis methods were employed to collect data from the respondents. Qualitative research approach was mainly employed although it also drew some few elements of quantitative approach. The findings of the study revealed that 71% of the primary school teachers lacked motivation as a result of low salaries and poor working condition. The study also revealed 67% were overloaded in teaching. Moreover the study found out that motivation is important to teachers so as to increase effectiveness and efficiency to their profession.