International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies ISSN 2028-9324 Vol. 9 No. 4 Dec. 2014, pp. 1589-1597 © 2014 Innovative Space of Scientific Research Journals http://www.ijias.issr-journals.org/ Corresponding Author: Anne W. Kabutu Kariuki 1589 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THEIR MORALE AND COMMITMENT TO WORK: A CASE OF NAKURU DISTRICT Anne W. Kabutu Kariuki, M. Ndirangu, Antony K. Sang, and Evelyn Mongina Okao Departments of Curriculum, Instructions and Educational Management, Faculty of Education and Community Studies, Egerton University, Kenya Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT: This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of the factors that influenced their morale and commitment to work in public secondary schools. The target population consisted of teachers in public secondary schools in Nakuru District. A sample of 172 teachers was randomly selected for the study. The research design adopted in this study was descriptive survey. Teachers’ questionnaires and head teachers’ interview schedules were used to collect information on the respondents’ perceptions on factors that influenced their morale. The instruments were based on a 5 point Likert scale. The reliability coefficient was computed using Cronbach alpha and stood at 0.86. This was deemed adequate for the study. Pearson Moments Correlation was used to establish whether there was a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ characteristics and morale and commitment to work. The study established that teachers perceived remuneration, opportunity for further training, responsibility, social status, a sense of belonging and job security as impacting on the level of morale and commitment to their duties. The study found out no statistically significant relationship between teachers’ gender, age, and experience and commitment to work. However, there was statistically significant relationship between the professional qualifications and commitment to work. The study also established no statistically significant relationship between teachers’ characteristics and perception of the factors that influenced their morale and commitment to work. In all cases alpha coefficient was equal to 0.05. KEYWORDS: Teachers Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Job Performance. 1 INTRODUCTION Many teachers face the constant frustration of knowing that they are giving their professional best efforts yet they do not receive adequate compensation, a fact Mwai (2000) noted was particularly demoralizing to graduate teachers. This cadre of teachers feel that their pay is too low compared to their counterparts in other professions, thus, resulting to the teaching profession suffering great attrition. In demanding for an increase in their pay and improvement of terms of service, teachers were accused of using pupils as pawns and bait in their bid to force the government to implement the 150-200% salary increments awarded in 1997. This was viewed as having eroded public sympathy and respect not only for the teacher but also for the teaching profession. In this case the role of the teacher seemed to have been misunderstood and undervalued both by the public and the government. The government’s declaration of free primary and secondary education is a further manifestation of the centrality of formal schooling in Kenya’s quest for its human and economic development. This declaration has opened the floodgates to over-enrollment leading to very large class sizes. This has further led to the increase of the teachers’ responsibilities and expectations. In addition to all these, teachers are being expected to deal with broader social problems that find their way into the classroom, such as family problems, drug abuse, truancy, teenage pregnancies and absenteeism (Linda, 1998). Despite this, the society is not ready now as it was not even earlier to pay or recompense the teacher proportionately to his/her usefulness as evidenced by the government’s reluctance to honour its pledge for higher salaries and continued struggle by teachers (East African Standard Team, 1998; Castle, 1970).