Welfare Package and Teachers’ Performance at the Public Basic Schools in West Akim Municipality, Ghana ()
1. Introduction
Education, according to Kosgei (2014) and Lyimo (2014) , is the cornerstone of national prosperity and security and a crucial tool for social, economic, and political transformation on a global scale; as a result, it must be prioritized in every nation for meaningful growth (Jones, 2015; Roseline, 2015) . The success of teachers, whose work is essential and necessitates skills, in-depth knowledge, competence, and a positive attitude, is a key factor in the quality of education around the world (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2015; Njoku, 2011) . Teacher’s performance is therefore a critical factor to the survival of the quality of any education system around the globe (Khan & Mansoor, 2013; Awan & Asghar, 2014) and particularly in most developing countries where universal primary education systems are being implemented (Ochwo, 2013; Akpanobong & Asuquo, 2015; Muthoni & Wafula, 2016) . However, following the numerous challenges confronting teachers’ welfare, available literature shows that teachers’ performance is continuously deteriorating (UNESCO, 2015) resulting in poor academic performance among students, particularly at the primary levels (Akubia, 2011) . According to the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, millions of students still leave primary schools without even the most basic of skills because of the poor quality of primary-level education. Although the importance of teachers in providing high-quality education is acknowledged (Adeyemo, Oladipupo, & Omisore, 2013) , it is still puzzling why they are unable to fulfill their professional obligations (Tao, 2013) . Many believe that teachers’ inappropriate and appalling working conditions have worsened their subpar performance, which is characterized by absenteeism, little class preparation, and rote memorization, neglecting the inadequate provision of assistance packages (Kitunga, 2009; Tao, 2013; Wandira, Onen, & Kimoga, 2015) . Teachers, on the other hand, are the most valuable human resource in the world, and their welfare needs to be carefully handled in order to maximize return on investment and objectives of education system (UNESCO, 2015; Tao, 2013; Akinsolu, 2010; Kitunga, 2009) .
Every organization’s success or failure is based on the effectiveness and caliber of its workforce (Sirisha, 2015; Khan & Mansoor, 2013; Vereraselvam, 2014) . Adequate levels of earnings, safe and humane conditions of work enhance quality of life of workers and hence their welfare which remains a major qualitative dimension of employment (Moruri, Ogoti, & Munyua, 2018) . Employees’ welfare involves the various services, benefits and facilities that an employer offers to enrich the life of employees for effective and efficient performance (Ramana et al., 2015; Priti, 2009; Monappa, 2008; Mishra & Bhagat, 2007) . It is therefore not surprising for Patro (2015) to assert that the ability of employers to offer extra incentives in the form of employee welfare schemes makes employees to be enthusiastic and more dedicated to their work. Welfare schemes promote physical, psychological and general well-being of the employees and their families (Subhasish, Medha, & Darshana, 2018; Patro, 2015; Okereke & Amgbare, 2010) . They involve some or all of the amenities provided in or near the organization and related to the working and living conditions (Varadaraj & Charumathi, 2019) including nourishment facilities, transport arrangements, recreational services, housing schemes, in-service training, pension, bonus, medical facilities, child care facilities, personal counselling among others (Jayanthi & Ilangovan, 2019) .
Employee welfare programs increase industrial efficiency, which benefits both management and employees (Gupta, 2014) . As a result, each organization’s performance depends on both the profits it has reported and the welfare benefits that employers provide to their workforces in order to generate profits (Schaltegger & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013) . The modern definition of employee welfare includes any actions taken by companies to provide their staff with amenities and services in addition to pay and benefits (Budd, 2004) . Welfare schemes are now statutorily enforceable and every organisation has corporate social responsibility to provide for its employees who are the main drivers that ensure the growth and sustainability of any organisation (Benn, Dunphy, & Griffiths, 2014) . As an impetus to employees’ efficiency, welfare packages are always vital in all performing organisations (Casey, 2013) . Such packages are made available to support the obligatory wages or salaries for workers (Collins & Mayer, 2010) , and to also give employees certain labour rights. Employers are therefore obliged to make welfare package available to their employees because it is governed by policies and laws based on negotiation and agreement only between them without any government interference (Oginni & Segun, 2013) . Besides, such packages are usually shaped by national and international standards and accepted as social and economic rights of employees (Venugopal, Bhaskar, & Principal, 2011) that go beyond organizational harmony creation and monitoring of working conditions (Patro, 2015) .
Moreover, after ensuring proper human conditions of work and living, welfare services help secure the labour force for it curtails the perilous effect on the life of workforces and their relatives (Manzine & Gwandure, 2011) . They help in raising employees’ standards of living (Priti, 2009) , increase the loyalty and motivation of employees and rest mainly on the aspect of the social responsibility of organizations since the workers’ whole life centres on the employer (Armstrong, 2006) and supplement the income of employees by providing services such as housing, medical assistance, canteens and recreation facilities (Mishra & Manju, 2007) . Labour welfare is in the interest of the employee, the business and the society at large (Streeck, 2005) . According to Priti (2009) , the purpose of welfare programs is to advance economic development by boosting productivity and efficiency. The fundamental idea is to encourage employees to provide their devoted services without complaint in an effort to advance both their general well-being and a genuine spirit of cooperation. Keitany (2014) , for instance, established a positive linear relationship between welfare programmes and employee performance in the study on perceived relationship between employee welfare programmes and employee performance at the Kenya Pipeline Company.
The concept of welfare package has gained popularity in many organizations as a strategy of improving performance of employees (Andrews, Iroanwusi, & Princewill, 2018; Waititu, Kihara, & Senaji, 2017; Okereke & Amgbare, 2010; Odunlami & Matthew, 2014) including teachers (Asumah, Kuranch, & Mensah, 2019) . Welfare packages are the rewards, benefits, compensation other than wages or salary that are offered to employees to enhance their well-being at some cost to the employer (Ramana et al., 2015) . Logically, all welfare schemes are to improve the working and living conditions of workforces thereby creating efficient, effective and healthy organisation. Venugopal, Bhaskar and Principal (2011) , for instance, aptly articulated the vigorous nature of the concept of welfare amenities and services whilst Ramana et al. (2015) explains that organizations provide welfare facilities to create and maintain the high level of employees’ motivation for effective and efficient performance, and also boost their morale and retain them for longer duration. In spite of this, Mwiti (2007) and Odeku & Odeku (2014) contend that, while welfare services may not necessarily be related to a worker’s employment, their presence or absence is nevertheless noticeable through worker performance, attitude, and high or low labor turnover. Work-related problems can lead to poor quality of life for employees and accordingly decline their performance (Odeku & Odeku, 2014; Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015) . The significance relationship of welfare scheme and performance teachers is acknowledge worldwide (Tao, 2013) . Article 8 of the UNESCO charter discloses that good working conditions for teachers promote effectiveness in their work and concentration on their professional task. Teachers’ welfare scheme involves the ability and the willingness of all educational stakeholders to directly and indirectly making available the provision of housing, payment of allowances, medical care, and a conducive working environment for teachers (Odeku & Odeku, 2014) . Provision of welfare package to teachers is thus considered vital because the quality of teachers is crucial to any education system (Tao, 2013; Akinsolu, 2010; Kitunga, 2009) . In most African countries, however, the reverse is witnessed for the teaching profession is mainly characterised with poor infrastructures, insufficient logistics, slackness in the upholding of ethical conducts, low salaries and inadequate reward system (Akubia, 2011) .
Teachers regulate the quality of a country’s education system to meet the requirements of societal development (Turkkahraman, 2012) for they are exclusively in charge for the children’s citizenship education (Chapin, 2014) . Teachers play a crucial role in promoting the development of society (Nkata, 2005) and hence seen as advocates of social justice and citizenship (Francis & Le Roux, 2011) . Many factors influence teachers’ performance though, provision of welfare package is essential in defining their capabilities and the success of their schools (Naluwemba, Sekiwu, & Okwenje, 2016) . Although effective implementation of welfare packages motivates teachers and other education employees and eventually helps schools to achieve their set goals (Odunlami & Matthew, 2014; Andrews, Iroanwusi, & Princewill, 2018) , the opposite is always the result particularly in the developing countries. Provision of welfare package for teachers’ healthiness is acknowledged as a vital factor in quality education delivery in unindustrialized countries (Businge & Nakajubi, 2014) but hitherto remains problematic. Teacher turnover due to health-related issues and death has thus become a chronic problem especially in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa (UNESCO, 2014) where Ghana is located. Similarly, inadequate housing for teachers limits their performance at all levels. Shelter is accepted as the second most important human need after food, therefore, provision for housing is a fundamental human right all workers enjoy (Tao, 2013; Nhlabatsi & Dlamini, 2015; UN-Habitat, 2015) . It is found to be a major incentive for teachers’ retention, especially in rural areas (Mulkeen, 2005) . Lyimo’s (2014) study on welfare for teachers in Tanzania, for instance, reveals inadequate housing for teachers dissipates their effectiveness and efficiency. Ikenyiri and Ihua-maduenyi (2011) in Nigeria looked at the efficiency of teachers’ needs assessments in Omoku-Rivers State and discovered that raising the rent allowance was a significant predictor of teachers’ effectiveness in Rivers State primary schools.
In Ghana, however, teachers in public basic schools have inadequate good welfare packages couple with deplorable working conditions (Owusu-Acheaw, 2008) and inadequate reward system (Jayanthi & Ilangovan, 2019) .
Recently, performances of Ghanaian students in the field of academics have been very abysmal because most schools have consistently scored less than 50% in the BECE for the past decade (Asumah, Kuranchie, & Mensah, 2019) . Extant researches have considered welfare management (Andrews, Iroanwusi, & Princewill, 2018; Waititu, Kihara, & Senaji, 2017; Nyakwara, Shiundu, & Gongera, 2014; Moruri, Ogoti, & Munyua, 2018) though, little attention is paid to how welfare packages could influence the performance of teachers and that of students in the public basic schools (Asumah, Kuranchie, & Mensah, 2019; Levačić, 2009) . The ultimate question therefore remains as: how do welfare packages including allowances, medical health care and housing influence the performance of teachers in Ghanaian public basic schools? Dwelling on Maslow’s theory of hierarchy which emphasises the essence of motivation, the study aims at examining welfare package impacts on teachers’ performance in Ghanaian basic schools using West Akim Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana as a case. The rest of the article is comprehensively detailed and under four themes: Maslow Hierarchy Theory and the concept of welfare and performance; research context and methodology; findings and discussions; and conclusion.
2. Maslow Hierarchy Theory and the Concept of Welfare and Performance
The need to motivate workers is a fundamental issue in all organisations that aim at achieving set goals (Waititu, Kihara, & Senaji, 2017) . Welfare package has therefore become a concerned to keep employees motivation levels high, both at work and at home (Ramana et al., 2015; Manzini & Gwandure, 2011; Armstrong, 2008; Mwiti, 2007) . According to research by Daddie et al. (2018) , the inherent nature of the task, shift work, a lack of administrative assistance, and occasionally a subpar appraisal system that negatively impacts performance are the main sources of stress for employees, necessitating regular evaluation. Performance reviews of employees are a crucial component that is important to both the employer and the employee (Odeku & Odeku, 2014) .
There are a wide range of philosophical perspectives on how well teachers perform. While Kitunga (2009) holds that the most significant factor influencing academic success and, thus, the quality of education is the caliber of instructors, Iyamu (2005) holds that competent principals, teachers, and other school personnel have a substantial impact on learning. In both philosophical schools, the teacher is seen as a facilitator of learning, a co-traveler on the student’s educational path, a source of comfort who nourishes feelings (Brennen, 2001) . Mishra and Bhagat (2007) opine that if an employer takes good care of the employees, they will tend to be more efficient by improving production. Therefore, welfare services are offered to maintain teachers’ motivation levels high, which will boost their productive efficiency as employees of the education service (Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015) . Thus, it is suggested that companies engage in welfare activities to ensure, boost, and maintain workers’ efficiency (Aswathappa, 2008; Mishra & Bhagat, 2007) . That is, if employees such as teachers are given adequate housing and/or treated fairly their performance might be high (Manzine & Gwandure, 2011; Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015) for such facilities pay good dividends in the long run as they contribute greatly towards the health and efficiency of workers (Gupta & Joshi, 2004) . Performance is the extent to which an employee and organizational goals are met, and can be evaluated from three different perspectives: results-oriented, conduct-oriented, and the integration of conduct and result-oriented (Daddie et al., 2018) .
Welfare activities are meant to promote socio-economic development by increasing efficiency and productivity of employees (Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015) , an assertion that supports the behaviourist Maslow’s (1954) disposition that welfare packages help improve teachers’ performance at all levels. That is, he claimed that people can only be healthy and properly adjusted when their five fundamental needs—physiological, security or safety, affiliation or social, self-esteem, and self-actualization, are met. Maslow (1954) divided human needs into five categories, which he claimed are triggered in a hierarchy from the lowest to the highest level. The lowest needs are the physiological needs, which specifically satisfy fundamental biological drives like the need for water, food, air to breathe, and shelter. These physiological needs are considered the basic needs for survival and hence tend to have the highest strength because without them an individual cannot survive. The theory is fundamentally built on the assumption that once a person is satisfied, he or she is capable of living up to expectation.
As a result, when a need is met at a certain level in the hierarchy, it ceases to exist as a need, and employees are instead motivated by needs that exist at higher levels. This presupposes that welfare packages at workplaces need to be dynamic to ensure that sustained management of staff needs are guaranteed. This also suggests that the needs of the teacher must be provided accordingly starting from the psychological needs to self-actualization. Given that welfare in the current study focused on provision of teachers’ allowances, accommodation and medical health care, it can be noted from the theoretical perspective that Abraham Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy theory of need greatly contributes to thoughtful and shaping the connection between welfare and the performance of teachers; hence its adaption for the conceptual framework to illustrate the interconnections between the independent and dependent variables in this study (Oso & Onen, 2009) . The framework (see Figure 1) suggests that provision of welfare services in the Ghana Education Service (GES) could have direct influence on public basic school teachers effectiveness and efficiency with regards to their performance and productivity, students at the basic level in terms of their academic performance and skills development, which eventually lead to the achievement of the nations’ educational goal—provision of quality education, especially at the basic level.
3. Research Context and Methodology
3.1. Study Area
The West Akim Municipality is located in the western part of Eastern region, Ghana. The municipality is classified as lowland and highland areas with the highest point found around the Atiwa range, which is about 1250 ft. above sea level (Ampadu-Agyei, 2009) . It lies within latitude 5˚51'36"N and longitude 0˚39'58" West and occupies a land area of 825 km2 (see Figure 2). In terms of population growth and physical expansion, the West Akim Municipality is noted as one of the fastest growing assembles in the Eastern region of Ghana (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013) . Projection from the 2010 Population and Housing Census makes the population for the municipality to stand as 108,298 with male and female population being 52,208 and 56,090 representing 48.2% and 51.8% respectively. In furtherance, with 39.2% of residents under the age of 15, 18.6% between the ages of 15 and 24, 18.6% between the ages of 25 and 39, and just 23.4% above the age of 40, the municipality has a rather young population.
In the population of those aged 11 and older, literacy rates are 82.5% and 17.5%, respectively. This implies great pressure on infrastructure and human resources, particularly professional teachers, for quality education. With regards to education system, the municipality is put into nine main circuits and endowed with 58 Public KGs, 58 Primary Schools, 52 Public Junior High Schools, 16 Private Junior High Schools, two Public Senior High Schools, two Private Senior High Schools and one Public Vocational School. The education sector has witnessed a massive improvement in infrastructure though, there has not been a corresponding improvement in the performance of students at the basic level because, according to the Education Directorate, the B.E.C.E result has persistently hovers around 62 - 65 percent.
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Figure 1. Study’s conceptual framework. Source: Adapted from the Maslow’s (1954) motivational hierarchy.
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Figure 2. Map of the study area. Source: Google map.
3.2. Research Design
Anchored on mixed method techniques under the post-positivist philosophy (Waititu, Kihara, & Senaji, 2017; Creswell & Clark, 2011) , a cross sectional survey research design was employed for the study (Andrews, Iroanwusi, & Princewill, 2018; Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 2012; Creswell, 2009; Amin, 2005) . The Cochran (1963) scientific formula:
and proportionate sampling method: SC = TS × NH/TH were respectively adapted for the purpose of achieving requisite sample size and equity in representation for the study (Sarantakos, 1998) . A sample size of 384 was made from the target population of nine hundred and fifty-three (953) teachers within the nine circuits in the municipality, per the data from the West Akim Municipal Education Office for the 2020/2021 academic year. To ensure an equal chance of being selected to be part of the study, simple random sampling technique with lotto approach was employed to select the teachers from the various circuits for this study. A total of 384 questionnaires were distributed to some teachers in the study area though, 153 responses were received representing 60% which, according to Fincham (2008) , is good to provide the required information for the purpose of data analysis.
With the use of a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, we sought the opinion of these 153 teachers on the effects of welfare on teachers’ performance. Additionally, through interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), the views of 15 other key-informants including the education director, circuit supervisors and some executives from the Strategic Management Committee and Parent-Teachers Association who had in-depth knowledge on the topic were solicited. Data collection from field spans for approximately two months. After assuring the participants of their confidentiality and completing the consent form, the conduction of interviews and FGDs with the purposively selected key-informants took between 30 and 45 minutes whiles the teachers used 20 to 30 minutes to respond to the questionnaire administered to them individually. The gathered data was first examined for its accuracy and completeness before coded them in Microsoft excel and finally transported to the Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) software version 22 for the analysis from which the results were presented in tables and descriptions.
4. Findings and Discussion
4.1. Demographic Information
The study aimed to examine the effects of welfare packages on public basic school teachers’ performance in the West Akim Municipality of Eastern region, Ghana. Specifically, the study examined how the provision of allowances, housing and health care to public basic school teachers influences their performance. Socio-demographic characteristics including gender, educational level, experience in teaching and the marital status of respondents were solicited and accordingly assessed. It was discovered that majority of the respondents (93) representing 61% were females while the remaining 60 representing 39% were females. This result is consistent with the World Bank report on gender characteristics of Ghanaian teachers that the females usually outnumber their male counterparts, especially at the basic level, perhaps females prefer teaching profession to others careers. In terms of experience and educational qualification, over 60% have taught more than five years and hold first degree which implies that majority of the teachers in the study area have upgraded themselves and are professionally experience, hence capable of providing quality teaching. Besides, overwhelming majority of 103 respondents representing 67.3% were married which is an indication that teachers in the study area might be very responsible in the discharge of their duties when all is set to ensuring quality education (see Table 1).
4.2. Provision of Welfare Packages
The respondents were asked on their level of agreement to the questions presented to them in a 5-point Likert-scale (i.e. Strongly Agreed [SA]; Agreed [A]; Undecided [U]; Disagreed [D]; and Strongly Disagreed [SD]) format with regard to allowances, housing and health care provision which form the basis of the study. The frequencies from their responses are presented with the percentages in the parenthesis (see Table 2).
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Table 1. Socio-Demographic characteristics of respondents.
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Table 2. Provision of Welfare packages for Teachers in the public Basic School.
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
On the issue of allowances provision to teachers in the public basic school, the study found that allowances are not paid to the public basic schools teachers in the West Akim Municipality as the overwhelming majority of the respondents expressed their disagreement to the assessment statements made for them. Grossly, it was discovered that the schools had no budget for teachers’ allowances (88%) and that the schools do not pay allowance to teachers during staff meetings (94%). The teachers are also not paid for any transport allowances (87.6%) neither do they receive overtime allowances (90.8%), no matter the number of extra hours they spend for official duties including remedial teaching, and marking of students’ exercises and tests. It was revealed further that teachers at the public basic school in the study area do not receive any allowance for the time spent in participating in the co-curricular activities (92.1%) such as indulging in guidance and counselling activities or serving on the various school committees—sports, culture, disciplinary, entertainment, sanitation etc.
The issue of allowance payment was critical during both the interview and FGDs sessions. Almost all the participants for FGDs were in support when one stated:
“Till when will teachers be treated fairly just like other professionals in Ghana?…elsewhere any extra responsibility attracts allowance but in our case, it is made as co-curricular; meanwhile, some of such co-curricular activities take even more hours than the normal contact hours to go…so what do you expect me to do?…in fact, I will always exchange those co-curricular activities with other things that could add something to my meagre salary…no two ways about that” (Male, FGDs, 2020).
This means teachers are usually discouraged in putting up their best when activities outside the normal classroom teaching come to play and this, in a way, affects their and performance and the general development of students. The findings suggest that public basic school teachers are not financially remunerated enough to enable them perform better. Consequently, there is lack of commitment on the part of the teachers in the delivery of their duties as professional and this might negatively influences the academic performance of students and the general achievement of the goals of the nation’s educational system. This supports the assertions of Davar (2006) ; Akintoye (2000) ; Aswathappa (2008) and Sinclair et al.’s (2005) that when employees are financially motivated, they are willing to give off their best for better result.
Provision of housing to teachers helps make their work easier and enjoyable which warrant them more concentration on their duties in the school (Tao, 2013) . Thus, provision of accommodation for teachers enhances their status and minimises their absenteeism and late coming (Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015) . Housing, however, is still a major burden on most teachers in the public schools (Nhlabatsi & Dlamini, 2015) . Our study reveals that the public basic school teachers in the study area are not provided with accommodation because the schools do not have teachers’ bungalow (90.1%) and they are also incapable of renting accommodation for these teachers (92.8%) to enable them have peace of mind to effectively deliver their services. The only few free accommodations available for teachers too were not in good conditions (66.9%) but no packaged is offered to the such teachers for maintenance purposes (90.1%). Surprisingly, it was uncovered that the SMC and PTA are not concerned about the housing needs of teachers (72.6%), a situation that kills the morale of the teachers for the teaching work and eventually influences their performance negatively. This emanated when one of the key informants for the FGDs indicated: “teachers receive their salaries every month and can therefore pay for their rent so why should SMS and parents be so concern about their accommodation…they are capable and responsible for their own accommodation issues, please (Male, FGDs, 2020)”.
The essence of providing accommodation to public basic school teachers resurfaced during the conduction of the interview when an interviewee remarked: “apart from the fact that shelter is one of the basic needs of every individual, provision of housing facilities or payment of allowance to teachers to rent a conducive accommodation will enable us to have peaceful and stable mind to render our professional services to enhance the academic performance of students in this community and the general educational system” (Female, Interview, 2020). This finding supports Venkata and Lokanadha (2015) , Nhlabatsi and Dlamin (2015) , and Tao (2013) who postulate that non-provision of housing facilities reduces the morale of teachers and hence affect academic performance of students.
All-inclusive school health programmes remain an apprehension of educational stakeholders (Odhon’g & Omolo, 2015; Lyimo, 2014) . Medical care provision is a concern for the teachers’ mental and physical health, which either disturbs their work (Lyimo, 2014) or contributes to their effectiveness in class as educators (Ikenyiri & Ihua-Maduenyi, 2011) . However, it was revealed that the provision of medical care in the study area is a challenge for none of the public basic schools in the study area had sick bay to provide health care for teachers because of their inability to pay for the services of qualified nurse. Besides, the available health facilities were too distanced to provide emergency health care services for both teachers and students. Surprisingly, whereas almost all the public basic schools do not have budget for the health needs of the teachers (84.9%), some of the respondents (30.1%) agreed that some of the schools have a well-stocked first aid box which is accessible to students whenever the need arises. It was further revealed that whiles no payment is made for teachers’ medical bills (91.5%), the SMC and parents do show a concern on teachers’ health care issues (89.4%). This suggests that stakeholders put a more premium to the welfare of students in the public basic school compared with the professional teachers who continuously provide the students with requisite citizenship knowledge for national development. A participant during the FGDs lamented: “I cannot go extra mile in rendering services that could create health complications for myself as a professional teacher…. I mean why should I put my life in jeopardy knowing definitely that my employer values the health of the students more than me the teacher”. This revelation is tandem with Businge and Nakajubi (2014) ; Amstrong (2006) ; Lyimo (2014) ; and Khan and Mansoor (2013) whose studies claimed that lack of medical care for teachers reduces their morale for teaching which accordingly affect their performance and the academic performance of students in the public basic schools.
5. Conclusion
An achievement of the vision and mission of every organization depends largely on the welfare packages available to the employees. Thus, employers’ capabilities to provide welfare packages encourage employees to perform creditably towards quality production and general achievement of the goals of the organization. In the education set up, for instance, the availability of welfare packages to teachers motivates them to demonstrate their teaching professionalism effectively and efficiently towards quality academic performance of students at all levels. Therefore, the provision of welfare packages including allowances, housing and medical care to the public basic school teachers might have positive influence on their performance towards the achievement of quality academic standards at the basic level. The study however reveals that majority of teachers in this category in the West Akim Municipality are deprived of such welfare packages. This group of teachers do not receive any form of allowance neither do they provide with housing facilities nor medical care. This situation continuously challenges teachers’ satisfaction and disturbs their peace of mind in the course of discharging their teaching profession which eventually affects the academic performance of students at the basic level in particular.
We, therefore, recommend that the government collaborates with the GES to make the issue of teachers’ welfare package provision at the basic level a policy priority. For instance, the policy-makers could redesign the GETFUND to include such welfare packages for teachers at the public basic school. Besides, the fare wage and salary commission should conduct salary parity analysis making ensure that conditions of service of public basic school teachers and other sectors of the economy are equitable. That is, the single-spine salary structure must be re-looked at and the law accordingly applied.