THE UPGRADING OF TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN GHANA TO COLLEGES OF EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS ON TUTOR JOB SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT

The study sought to explore tutors’ job satisfaction and commitment in the face of the continuous attrition of tutors in Colleges of Education to the Public Universities while Colleges of Education have been upgraded to tertiary level. Eighty-five tutors purposively selected from two Colleges of Education in Ghana constituted the sample for the study. A descriptive survey design was used to provide description of issues related to Job Satisfaction and Commitment among tutors working in Colleges of Education in Ghana. A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The results of the study revealed that a majority, of tutors were satisfied with the procedures for promotion since it did not hinder progression. A majority of tutors were satisfied with administrative rules and procedures since they were used as guide to solutions. A majority of tutors were also satisfied with their principal’s actions since they attended to their needs. However, a majority of tutors were not satisfied with vehicle maintenance, overtime, fuel and committee sitting allowances. A majority of tutors were also dissatisfied with their salary compared to the inputs (skills, knowledge, ability and work load). Moreover, gauging the affective, continuance and normative commitment levels among tutors in the selected Colleges of Education for the study, affective commitment recorded the highest mean suggesting that tutors were emotionally attached to their colleges as well as identified themselves with their colleges. However, tutors recorded low mean in continuance commitment, indicating that they had no feelings of obligation to remain with the Colleges of Education. Consequently, it was recommended that the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance should ensure that compensations for tutors of Colleges of Education are as good as that of other public Universities and stakeholders of Colleges of Education should not focus only on monetary compensations in ensuring job satisfaction and commitment of tutors. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Affective Commitment, Continuance Commitment, Normative                       Commitment.