A study of factors influencing teacher turnover in private schools in district Gujrat Pakistan

This study aimed at identifying and exploring the factors of teacher turnover in private schools in district Gujrat and to devise a retention framework for policy makers of private schools. Teacher turnover is becoming a serious issue not only in developed countries but also in developing countries like Pakistan. It is expensive as it incurs high costs and leads to poor student performances. The teaching profession in Pakistan has lost its true glory due to the high turnover rate in recent years for many reasons. This wearisome situation prompted to conduct the current research to find out the factors behind this phenomenon. The study was conducted using a qualitative research design with an open-ended questionnaire survey and interviews as instruments for data collection. This method was adopted due to the exploratory nature of research. Multistage and multiple sampling techniques were used to select the appropriate sample, who were comprised of: existing teachers and former teachers of private schools in district Gujrat. Thematic analysis technique was adopted to manually analyse data using excel spreadsheets and the results are presented in the form of percentage charts and a descriptive story. The findings show very high percentage of teachers leave private schools before completing five years and, similarly, more than half of private school teachers intend to leave within the first five years. Moreover, notable findings are; reasons to become teachers, importance of workplace components in career decisions and early career teachers. along with some personal factors the study revealed many work-related factors of turnover including, lack of support, heavy workload, poor work conditions, student issues, low salaries and lack of monetary rewards and incentives. Lastly, recommendations to retain teacher were treated as strategies to improve teacher retention in private schools such as providing better facilities, support and higher work recognition, paying well, reducing workload and increasing job satisfaction.