It is increasingly becoming difficult to find good teachers whose work performance in school is of high quality and within the accepted standards.
But the question remains, what defines a good teacher. A good teacher is one who has a clear understanding of the needs of his or her students. These are teachers who are dedicated to their work and can use their judgment to assess what is best for their students and the most effective interventions needed to achieve them. They are creative in their teaching and make sure that students are interested in what they are teaching. However, current challenges in the educational sector are making it difficult to find good teachers who fit this criterion. This is further being compounded by a dwindling supply of qualified teachers with many of them who are dissatisfied leaving the profession for other more rewarding ones(Beidler, 2003). It is difficult to find good teachers basically due to various reasons. Some of these reasons include poor wages, unfavorable promotion and appraisal procedures and a continued perception that teaching is not lucrative.
In terms of salaries, there has been a wide disparity between teachers and other public officers. The implication is that the good teachers have crossed over to other careers where there is more appreciation leaving the bad ones. Being paid low salaries has led to low motivation which has in turn translated to ineffective performance of their duties at school. Many teachers have not had the opportunity to move up the promotion ladder, with majority being stuck in a job group for a very long time. This means that the teachers loss the motivation to work because their efforts are never recognized.
Teachers have lost interest in teaching which has translated to low drive among students. Students are no longer creative as a result of this. Schools have become routine to the point that what is important is passing tests and moving to the next grade. Teachers have failed to appreciate the fact that teaching is not all about passing exams, but holistic development of a person.
In conclusion therefore, the quality of teaching has gone down with many teachers less passionate about what they teach and the welfare of their students in general. The resultant effect is that many students have also started losing interest in learning because teachers have failed to motivate them. On the other hand, teachers are not receiving the right incentives necessary to facilitate effective impartation of knowledge.