Strategies for Enhancing the Productivity of Secondary School Teachers in South West Region of Cameroon

This study investigates strategies used by principals for enhancing the productivity of secondary school teachers in selected government secondary schools in Cameroon. Four major strategies were examined. These include motivation, conflict resolution, supervisory and communication strategies and the extent to which they influence teachers’ productivity. Four research questions and hypotheses guided the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 350 teachers selected from a population of 1400 teachers in government secondary schools in Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to select teachers for the study. Results showed that, principals’ communication, conflict management, supervisory and motivation strategies influence the productivity of teachers in Government Secondary Schools. Of the four strategies examined, conflict management strategy was found to have more influence on the productivity of teachers. Principals’ strategies have a direct relationship with teachers’ productivity. Therefore, there is a possible correlation between principals’ leadership and management strategies, teachers’ productivity and school effectiveness. In addition, effective collaboration amongst teachers is necessary for teachers’ effectiveness. It is recommended that principals should put in strategies that will enhance effective communication, conflict management, motivation and supervision to improve on the productivity of teachers.


Introduction
Secondary education occupies a central position in the education ladder. While it absorbs graduates from primary education, it prepares students for access into higher educational institutions. This gives secondary education its relevance. Low productivity in secondary education which is reflected in students' output, such as skills acquired, repetition, dropout amongst others have adverse effects on the society and students. For example, school dropout at this level limits future opportunities for students and also represents a significant drain of the limited resources that countries have for the provision of secondary education. UNESCO (1984) cited in Mutua (2014), reports that school dropouts are most likely candidates for unemployment and dropouts from secondary school are often the most disadvantaged in the job markets. Being educated, their educational aspirations are high. They are often not satisfied with traditional occupations or engaging in production at subsistence level. Moreover, family members expect them to engage in salaried work to bring returns to the investment that the family made. While successful leavers have difficulties in obtaining employment, these dropouts have an even more difficult task in securing jobs. It could be said that dropout is not only an economic and pedagogical issue, but also a social and political one (Mutua, 2014).
The efficient and effective management of any organization lies on the ability of the top management or its manager to motivate the workforce. In the case of secondary education in Cameroon and other parts of the world, the principal is the head of the school and the manner in which the principal performs his/her roles and functions are paramount in improving the teaching and learning environment for teachers to be productive. Principals are the main administrators of staff and students who are at the center of educational productivity; teachers are at the center of the teaching-learning process while students are the major stakeholders in education since their performance informs the educational community on how the school is faring. Therefore, if teachers are not productive, students will not be. Nwosu (2017), reports that teachers are arguably the most important group of professionals for our nation's future. Without teachers, the education system will be crippled. The increased importance in teacher's job performance has made it extremely important to identify the factors that influence teacher's job performance. Based on the above assertion, this study sets out to examine strategies that principals can use to improve on the productivity of teachers as a result of their position.
Principals, as the head of educational institutions are charged with the responsibility of implementing educational policies, teachers on the other hand are the principal actors for the achievement of the goals and objectives of education. Fagbamiye (2004), stated that the principal is essentially an organizer and implementer of plans, policies and programmes meant for specific educational objectives. His administrative tasks include directing the teachers and students in an environment conducive to the maximum development of the learners. Teachers play a pivotal role in the achievement of educational goals and objectives given that their effectiveness determines students output. This is also backed by Section 37(1) of Law No. 98/004 of 14 th April 1998 to lay down the guidelines of education in Cameroon which states that; "the teacher shall be the principal guarantor of quality education". Though there are other factors that contribute to teachers' productivity, principals as head of secondary schools has a paramount role to play in teachers' job performance.
Even though till present, educational administrators in Cameroon do not undergo any formal training, appointment into administrative positions is based on teaching experience and output, after obtaining formal training in the higher teachers training college. This indicates that they lack the conceptual skills in educational administration and management which creates a gap in effective management and administration of secondary schools. There are some questions that could be raised to begin addressing the challenges associated with teachers' productivity. Does the principal use of motivational strategies enhance teachers' productivity? Do supervisory strategies used by the principal enhance teachers' productivity? Do conflict management strategies of school affairs enhance teachers' productivity? Do communication strategies of the principal enhance teachers' productivity? The goal of this paper is thus to examine whether principal's use of motivational, supervisory, conflict management and communication strategies enhance teachers' productivity.
Teachers, as one of the major stakeholders in education, need to manage both students and knowledge, monitor students' progress and provide guidance services under the guidance and supervisory role of the principal (Onuma, 2016). Therefore, the provision of management support practices by school principals is essential for teachers' performance in building sufficiently motivated and effective teachers (ibid). Lemos, Muralidharan and Scur (2017) also established a relationship between management practices and school productivity while Price and Moolenaur (2015), reports that principals are greatly dependent on their teachers to reach school goals as teachers form the bridge from administration to classroom.

Theoretical Framework
More often, teachers are held responsible for the success or failure of educational organization because their productivity reflect the productivity of the system. Nakopdia (2001) emphasized that teachers count more important than any other factor which contributes to the quality of education at any level of our educational system. Teacher productivity is the ratio of output produced by the teachers, here the output refers to the quality and quantity of students produces by the teachers (Yusuf & Adigun, 2010). Johnson and Birkland (2003), also defined teacher productivity as a measure of the quantity and quality of the outcome, to their inputs in any aspect of their activities as teachers such as test results, graduation rates, dropout rates, labour market outcome, school climate, teacher commitment and discipline. Looking at these definitions, the second definition by Johnson and Birkland is more appropriate for this study given that it looks at the output of teachers with respect to their input.
Teachers cannot give what they do not have. Their output is a determinant of their input which also gives room for proper evaluation. Owoeye (1999) in , asserted that variables of teachers' productivity such as effective teaching, lesson note preparation, effectiveuse of scheme of work, effective supervision, monitoring of students' work and disciplinary ability are virtues which teachers should uphold effectively in the school system.  explained that productivity on the part of the teachers is determined by their level of participation in the day to day running of the school, regularity in school, class attendance, and student's level of discipline and proper use of instructional materials to facilitate learning process.
In this regard, the teachers' performance could be measured through annual report of the activities in terms of performance in teaching, lesson preparation, lesson presentation, mastery of subject matter, competence, teachers' commitment to job and extra-curricular activities. Other areas of assessment include effective leadership, effective supervision, effective monitoring of students' work, motivation, class control and disciplinary ability of

Gender of Teachers
Both male and female teachers were represented in the sample, which was slightly dominated by female teachers (56%) while male teachers constitute 44% of the participants. It was observed in the field that in most schools, the female population is greater than the male population of teachers. This indicated that more females are getting into the teaching profession than their male counterpart. Principals, being the central source of leadership influence are expected to look into gender issues of teachers to facilitate continuous school improvement. Therefore, the principal should put in strategies to know the insight of female teachers' problems and how to solve these problems to improve on their productivity.

Teaching Longevity and Duty Position
Most teachers (52.3%) have taught in their institutions between 5 to 10 years which was suitable for the research since most of the teachers did not find it difficult to understand the questions and providing adequate responses. This was followed by those who have taught for 10 years who account for 27.4% and above and lastly those who have taught between 3 to 5 years (20.3%) in the schools (see table 2). This also indicates that teachers transfer is not frequent, as such, has positive implication on students' performance. When teachers are stable, they can better understand the students in terms of their strength and weaknesses which may improve on students' performance. A very large proportion of the teachers (96.6%) do not hold any post of responsibility while 3.4% hold post of responsibility (see table 3). The post of responsibilities included discipline master/mistress, head of department, vice principal and class master. While some of these teachers have held these positions for less than a year, others have held their positions for more than five years. About 41.7% of those who have held posts of responsibilities have held it for five years and above. Another 33.3% have held it between 2 to 5 years while 25% have held it between 0 to 2 years. Teachers with post of responsibilities are more frequent in school than those without post of responsibility. By implication, they are liable to have frequent contact with the principal (see table 4).   Table 5 shows that most of the teachers (54.9%) indicated that they do not have monthly meeting with their principals. About 40.6% of the teachers indicated that they have meeting with the principal one's a month while 3.5% indicated that they have meeting with the principal two times a month.

Motivational Strategies and Teachers' Productivity
About 67.7% of the teachers said that the principal sometimes motivate them. Another 16.9% indicated that the principal always uses motivation to encourage them to work and appreciate their effort while 15.4% were of the opinion that the principal do not motivate them as shown in table 6. Majority of the teachers have positive opinion on principals' motivation. Motivation is an integral part of teachers' productivity and teachers' look up to the principal who is the head of the school for their needs. Motivational strategies have always been regarded as the internalized drive that is more dominant in an individual at a given moment which is integral and essential part of the secondary school administration. To this end, no meaningful development could be achieve in the school system without the appropriate strategies to stirrup the commitment of teachers on the part of the school principal as regards their productivity (Orodho, Waweru, &Getange, 2014;Republic of Kenya, 2013). According to , the achievement of quality education rests squarely on the shoulders of teachers who need appropriate motivation to produce the desired educational productivity. Given the fact that education is one of the important factors that help in bringing about rapid social and economic development in any given nation, the role of principals and teachers cannot be downplayed. However, concerted efforts are always made through effective and efficient motivational strategies by the school principals to ensure teachers' productivity in the school system. The principal in performing these roles and functions and considering the roles that teachers play in attaining the goals and objectives of secondary education, should be able to bring out the best in teachers; that internal drive that encourages them to do what they are suppose to do by putting in positive motivational strategies. These strategies may be monetary, conducive working environment, positive school culture and climate, communication, delegation, praise amongst others depending on the situation. Sometimes a principal may use a particular strategy which may be good but does not meet up the need of the teacher. This becomes a de-motivator to the teacher(s) concern. Therefore, the principal has a responsibility to benchmark various ways in which he can motivate teachers which may be through positive interaction with teachers. Akerele (2007) and Analou (2000) report that, in order to maintain morale, and find ways to make each teacher more effective, the principal need to gather input from his staff on a regular basis. He should not necessarily know the detailed in and out of every teacher's job, but he can learn, help and guide his teacher to more efficient work habits by listening to their input and putting their ideas to good use. Therefore, principals can encourage effective productivity of their teachers by identifying their needs and trying to satisfy or meeting them through appropriate, relevant and adequate motivational strategies (Maicibi, 2003;Orodho, 2013;Ouma, 2007). Nevertheless, a combination of financial and non-financial incentives help together in bringing motivation and zeal to work in a concern that really enhance the productivity of teachers in the school system (Mumanyire, 2005). In organizational psychology, it is frequently expressed that job productivity is a function of ability and motivation on the part of the leader (Dugu, 2000;Fechlin & Olivia, 1993). Table 7 shows that out of 263 teachers with low output in productivity, 218 indicated that principals sometimes use motivational strategies to improve on their productivity, 31 indicated that the principal always motivate them to work while 14 indicated that they are never motivated by the principal. Out of 87 teachers with high output in productivity, 19 were of the opinion that principals sometimes motivate them, 28 indicated always while 40 said that they were never praised by the principal. The χ 2 calculated value is 122.1. Since χ 2 calculated value (122.1) is greater than χ 2 critical value (3.841), we reject the null hypothesis. Inference leads us to conclude that teachers' productivity is enhanced by motivational strategy used by principals. The c.c is 0.51, while C max is 0.71. Since 0.51 lies within 0.4 and 0.71, the magnitude is high. That is, teachers' productivity is highly enhanced by motivation from the principal. This study is in line with the findings of Acheck (2015) on motivational strategies used by principals in the management of secondary schools in Fako Division, South West Region of Cameroon. Results established that, use of motivational strategies by principals which range from exhibiting positive leadership characteristics, being empathic, supportive and compassionate to the needs and desires of teachers and leading through transformational leadership practices affect teachers' productivity. Motivational strategies used by principals among others have a very significant importance in the teaching-learning process. In order words, there is a positive correlation between motivation and the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. In ascertaining the factors that influence motivation among secondary school teachers in the area under study, school principals acknowledged that extrinsic and intrinsic factors influence motivation in the Division with the extrinsic factor of the "general state of the nation's economy" being the first influence. The study in general shows teachers believe very much in the use of financial or economy rewards in schools as motivational strategies.
Getange (2016) also concluded thatprincipals' motivational strategies (condition of service, effective communication, interpersonal relationship, end of year award and commendation at meeting) have positive and significant influence on teachers' productivity. It further established that condition of service, interpersonal relationship, end of year award and commendation at meeting exhibited by the school principals in the study area had a greater influence on teachers' productivity in terms of use of instructional materials.

Supervisory Strategies and Teachers' Productivity
About 46.6% of the teachers indicated that they were not encouraged by the principal's supervisory strategy, 39.4% were encouraged while 14% were highly encouraged. This implies that, (53.4%) were encouraged by principals' supervisory strategy, see table 8. For the expected results of secondary education to be attained, principals' supervisory strategy must have a positive impact on teachers' performance or productivity. Efanga (2001, pp.156-157) explained that, Adequate strategic supervision has the capacity of impacting much on the effectiveness of the teachers. For instance, if an administrator sets up his strategies to supervise teachers' use of time, check how materials and supplies are utilized, coordinate student bodies to assist the teachers, make sure that teachers' notes of lessons and other records are up-to-date, there is a probability that tearchers will be effective in the performance of their duties. Though within the context of study there are pedagogic inspectors in all the regional delegations of secondary education in Cameroon in charge of supervising teachers, principals as internal evaluators come in contact with teachers on regular bases and have a greater role to play in impacting teachers' productivity. They can better understand teachers' strength and weaknesses and employ supervisory strategies that can improve on their output. When the principal adopts good supervisory strategy, the teacher's will be effective in performing the prescribed duties which invariably would lead to the achievement of the goals of secondary education (Nwiyi and Uriah, 2007). Table 9 shows that, out of 263 teachers classified under low output, 151 were not encouraged with the supervisory strategy used by the principal, 78 were encouraged while 34 were highly encouraged. Out of 87 teachers classified under high output, 12 were not encouraged, 25 were encouraged and 50 were highly encouraged with the principal supervisory strategy.The χ 2 calculated value is 80.75. Since χ 2 calculated value (80.75) is greater than χ 2 critical value (3.841), we reject the null hypothesis following the decision rule. Inference leads us to conclude that teachers' productivity is enhanced by principals' supervisory strategy. The c.c is 0.43 and C max is 0.71. Since 0.43 lies within 0.4 and 0.71, the magnitude is high. This implies teachers' productivity is highly enhanced by supervisory strategy used by the principal. This finding corroborates with the findings from a research study carried out by Okorie and Nwiyi (nd) on principals' supervisory strategy and teachers' effectiveness which revealed that, delegation of supervisory function, effective record keeping and teacher monthly assessment supervisory strategies improved on teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools. While taking into consideration the goals of the organization, the goals and objectives of the individual teacher must be given a serious taught when strategizing; a happy teacher is a productive teacher.

Conflict Management Strategies and Teachers' Productivity
About 72.9% of the teachers were classified to have said that they were not encouraged with the method in which the principal resolve conflict amongst teachers. 19.7 were encouraged with the principal's conflict resolution strategy while 7.7% were highly encouraged with the manner in which principals resolve conflict amongst teachers. As noted in table 10, given that a majority of the teachers (72.9%) were not encouraged by the principals' conflict management strategy implies that the principals lack appropriate conflict resolution strategy to improve on teachers' collaboration and productivity. Effective collaboration amongst teachers and staff is relevant for teacher effectiveness and job satisfaction because they may need help in one way or the other from their colleagues for effective implementation of their duties. Akiri (2014) reported that as the principal occupies a very significant position in the school system, for him to be effective, he needs amongst others: drive, energy, vision, personality and management in conflict resolution techniques. However, work group usually have a tendency to compete for limited resources, power and status, to the extent of disrupting the cooperative efforts. Teachers are individuals in the educational organization, having varied backgrounds, culture, goals and objectives to attain. As such, there are bound to be conflict of ideas, personality, likes and dislikes. However, for the goals and objectives of education to be attained, they must collaborate. Therefore, the principal as the head of secondary education need to employ effective conflict management strategies to enable teachers collaborate effectively to improve on their productivity. As noted in table 7, the Chi-Square (χ 2 ) calculated value is 204, and χ 2 critical value is 3.841. Since χ 2 calculated value (205) is greater than χ 2 critical value (3.841), we reject the null hypothesis following the decision rule. Inference leads us to conclude that teachers' productivity is enhanced by principals 'conflict management strategy. The c.c is 0.61 and Cmax is 0.71. Since 0.61 lies within 0.4 and 0.71, the magnitude is high. This implies teachers' productivity is highly enhanced by conflict management strategy used by the principal. This study corroborates the findings of Aniefiok, Uduak and Williams (2017) who concluded that Principals "conflict resolution strategies in conjunction to other motivational techniques are the most effective solution to the problem of teachers" job effectiveness in public secondary schools in AkwaIbom State, Nigeria. They further noted that, cause identification strategy and integration strategy related positively to teachers' job effectiveness in terms of classroom teaching, maintenance of classroom discipline and supervision of students' academic activities.

Communication Strategies and Teachers' Productivity
About 50.3% of the teachers indicated that communication with the principal is not frequent. Another 29.7% were of the opinion that communication is frequent while 20.0% indicated that communication with the principal is very frequent. As shown in table 12, less than half of the participants (49.7%) have frequent communication with their principals. Communication is a very sensitive aspect of organizational management and it ineffectiveness may have adverse effects on the productivity of teachers. For example without effective and frequent communication, it will be difficult to tell whether teachers are effective or not or whether they have difficulties or not; information is strength. Nwosu (2017) explained that, communication has been found to be a central factor for effective job performance. Investigations reveal that principals' ability to communicate, increased teachers' morale, reduced misunderstanding and interpersonal conflict among staff and consequently enhanced teacher effectiveness (ibid). Therefore, effective communication will have a positive impact on the productivity of teachers; it has an influence on the perception and opinions about persons, positive school climate, effective implementation of goals and objectives, amongst others. As a managerial tool, communication is frequently expected to share information with members, to coordinate activities, to reduce unnecessary managerial burdens and rules, and ultimately to improve organizational performance (Nwosu, 2017). As an effective communication strategy, teachers should be involved in decision making in matters that affects them. This will assist the principal in effective decision making and effective implementation and consequently high output. Friedman (1991) supported this claim in his own study, that insufficient decision -making participation influenced effectiveness of teachers. These findings were equally supported by the works of Sairos and Sairos (1992), Hipps and Halpin (1992) and Dinhan (1992). Other researchers on participation of teachers in decision -making in schools revealed a positive correlation between participation in decision -making and teachers' productivity. It is logical that by involving teachers in decisions that affect them and by increasing their autonomy and control over their work lives through appropriate communication, employees would become more motivated, more committed to the organization, more productive and more satisfied with their job. Ekara (1996) also found out that teachers who had opportunity to participate always and actively in decision -making processes of the school were more enthusiastic about their system than those who had limited opportunity to participate.
Out of 176 teachers who do not have frequent communication with their principals, 146 have a low output while 30 have a high output. Out of 104 teachers who frequently communicated with the principals, 95 have low output while 9 have high output. Out of 70 teachers who communicate frequently with their principals, 32 have a low output as shown in table 13. The Chi-Square (χ 2 ) calculated value is 52.9, while χ 2 critical value is 3.841. Since χ 2 calculated value (52.9) is greater than χ 2 critical value (3.841), we reject the null hypothesis following the decision rule. Inference leads us to conclude that teachers' productivity is enhanced by the principals' communication strategy. The c.c is 0.36 and C max is 0.71. Since 0.36 lies within 0.35 and 0.4, the magnitude is moderate. This implies teachers' productivity is moderately enhanced by communication strategy used by the principal. Results from the hypotheses in table 13 showed that communication strategies used by the principals, to some extent affects teachers' productivity.

Conclusion
Results from findings showed that principals' communication, conflict management, supervisory and motivation strategies influence the productivity of teachers in Government Secondary Schools in Fako Division in the South West Region of Cameroon. Of all these strategies, conflict management influences the productivity of teachers more than the other strategies with a contingency coefficient (c.c.) value of 0.61, followed by motivational strategies (c.c. =0.51), supervisory strategies (c.c.= 0.43) and lastly communication strategies (c.c.=0.36). Findings concluded that, principals' strategies have a direct relationship with teachers' productivity. Therefore, there is a correlation between principals' leadership/management strategies, teachers' productivity and school effectiveness. In addition, effective collaboration amongst teachers is necessary for teachers' effectiveness. On a general note, principals are recommended to put in strategies that will enhance effective communication, conflict management, motivation and supervision to improve on the productivity of teachers. The specific recommendations include the following: 1) Given that motivation is an integral part of teachers' job performance, principals should employ motivational strategies that will meet the needs of teacher to improve on their performance.
2) Supervision of teachers should be based on improvement and not sanction. Principals should clearly state their objectives of supervision and communicate it to teachers to enable the principal gather relevant information during the process that may assist in improving the productivity of teachers. 3) Principals should establish and encourage culture and climate that encourages collaboration and reduce conflict amongst teachers. 4) Communication is relevant for effective implementation of goals and objectives. As such, principals should put in effective communication procedures for teachers to have relevant and reliable information on time.