¹Fatima Favour-Tamar Tanimu, PhD, ²Ishaya Umaru Tanimu, PhD

¹Faculty of Education University of The Gambia

²Faculty of Arts & Sciences Department of Humanities University of The Gambia

DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2025.v4i1n17

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ABSTRACT

The study looked into the impact of graduate teachers’ attrition in government senior secondary schools to choose other financially rewarding careers over teaching. The study was limited to senior secondary government schools in the Gambia's West Coast Region. The study aims to assess the influence of graduate teacher attrition on student performance in Gambia's government senior secondary schools. The problem of the study revealed that poor school conditions, high-income families for extra classes, and private schools for income negatively impact graduate teachers and students in the Gambia. They also seek better opportunities in other institutions due to poor motivation, remuneration, and promotion. As a result, students become frustrated by the frequent changes in graduate instructors since the most seasoned graduate instructors are the ones who quit teaching. The methodology used was the questionnaires administered in the case study area to 328 students and 7 graduate teachers. Prepared interview guidelines were used to interview 8 school and 2 educational administrators. Relevant literature was reviewed on the theories and findings on teacher attrition from different authors. The study population involves 2564 senior secondary students and 54 graduate teachers from four different senior secondary schools. Findings from the study show that graduate teachers face challenges such as large class sizes, demanding workloads, and an unfavourable work climate in schools. Parents in the Greater Banjul Area are sending their children to private and missionary senior secondary schools due to a high graduate teacher attrition rate. The study recommends that to retain graduate teachers, it is crucial to offer attractive retention allowances and housing that align with their qualifications and newly acquired skills. Graduate teachers who are assigned to deprived and hard-to-reach areas should be granted additional special allowances.

KEYWORDS:

Teachers, attrition, performance, secondary school

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VOlUME 04 ISSUE 01 JANUARY 2025