Education Is The Wealth Of Highest Degree Education Essay

Education plays an important role in molding professional and personal life of each person. Mahatma Gandhiji said The purpose of education is to bring out the best in you. Swami Vivekananda defines education as ‘the manifestation of the perfection already in man.’ [3] Education determines the quality and standard of life of every individual. Hence, no one can deny that education determines the quality of life.

It is the education which makes a country developed economically and technologically. Education plays a key role in the development of human resources in the country and thereby enhances economic development also. Good Education produces employable youth in the country. There are lots of employment opportunities for the well qualified individuals in the country and also abroad. The creation of well qualified individuals is the result of quality education. Ultimately, making quality education is in the hands of the personality called ‘teacher’ who delivers it to the recipient in an efficient manner. It is said that the effectiveness of formal education depends to a great extent on the quality of manpower [4] . The quality of education imparted to children depends to a large extent on the quality of teachers in the schools and colleges. The responsibility is more for the higher education teachers than the teachers of school education.

Higher Education in India is one of the most developed in the entire world. There has, in fact, been considerable improvement in the higher education scenario of India in both quantitative and qualitative terms. In technical education, the IITs, and in management, the IIMs have already marked their names among the top higher educational institutes of the world. As a result, students from various parts of the world are coming today for higher education in India. Higher education is of paramount importance for social and economic development. Institutions of higher education have the main responsibility for equipping individuals with advanced knowledge and skills required for positions of responsibility. Estimated social rates of return of ten percent or more in many developing countries also indicates that investments in higher education contributed to increase in labor productivity and to higher long term economic growth essential for poverty alleviation. (World Bank, 1994, p.1). According to UNESCO, “higher education is no longer a luxury; it is essential to national, social and economic development”.

There is an enormous growth of Higher Education in India. There were 20 Universities and 500 Colleges at the time of independence. As on 31.03.2010, there were 42 Central Universities, 257 State Universities, 61 State Private Universities, 130 Deemed Universities, five Institutions established under various State legislations and 39 Institutes of National Importance established by Central legislation. In addition, there were 31,324 colleges including around 2,260 colleges for Women. The total number of students enrolled at the beginning of the academic year 2009-2010 has been reported at 146.25 lakhs [5] . The table 1.1 and 1.2 below show the growth of higher education in India.

TABLE 1.1

Growth of Higher Educational Institutions and Enrolment in India

Year

Universities*

Colleges

Total

Enrolment (Lakh)

1947-48

20

496

516

2

1950-51

28

578

606

2

1960-61

45

1819

1864

6

1970-71

93

3277

3370

20

1980-81

123

4738

4891

28

1990-91

184

5748

5932

44

2000-01

266

11146

11412

88

2005-06

348

17625

17973

105

2009-10

533

31,324

31856

146

* Include Central, State, Private and deemed universities and also institutions of national importance established both by the Central and the State legislatures.

Source: University Grants Commission and updated from University News, 49(43) October 24-30, 2011.

The enrolment rate over the period of three decades is shown in table 1.2

Table 1.2

All India Growth of Student Enrolment

(1983-84 to 2009-2010)

Year

Total Enrolment

Increase over the

preceding year

Percentage

1983-84

33,07,649

1,74,556

5.6

1984-85

34,04,096

96,447

2.9

1985-86

36,05,029

2,00,933

5.9

1986-87

37,57,158

1,52,129

4.2

1987-88

40,20,159

2,63,001

7.0

1988-89

42,85,489

2,65,330

6.6

1989-90

46,02,680

3,17,191

7.4

1990-91

49,24,868

3,22,188

7.0

1991-92

52,65,886

3,41,018

6.9

1992-93

55,34,966

2,69,080

5.1

1993-94

58,17,249

2,82,283

5.1

1994-95

61,13,929

2,96,680

5.1

1995-96

65,74,005

4,60,076

7.5

1996-97

68,42,598

2,68,593

4.1

1997-98

72,60,418

4,17,820

6.1

1998-99

77,05,520

4,45,102

6.1

1999-2000

80,50,607

3,45,087

4.5

2000-2001

83,99,443

3,48,836

4.3

2001-2002

89,64,680

5,65,237

6.7

2002-2003

95,16,773

5,52,093

6.2

2003-2004

1,00,11,645

4,94,872

5.2

2004-2005

1,05,42,262

5,30,617

5.3

2005-2006

1,11,37,627

5,95,365

5.6

2006-2007

1,18,87,095

7,49,468

6.7

2007-2008

1,27,27,082

8,39,987

7.0

2008-2009

1,36,41,808

9,14,726

7.2

2009-2010

1,46,25,000

9,83,000

7.2

Source: ‘Higher Education In India Strategies and Schemes during Eleventh Plan Period (2007-2012) for Universities and Colleges’ University Grants Commission, January, 2011 and updated from University News, 49(43) October 24-30, 2011.

India’s enrolment rate for Higher Education, which has risen from 0.7% in 1950-51, 1.4% in 1960-61, and 6% in early 2000, is still very low (about 8%) compared to the world average of 23.2%, and an average of 54.6% for developed countries, 36.3% for countries in transition, and 11.3 % for developing countries. (World Bank Country report on India’s Higher Education, 2006) [6] . There are many reasons for such poor quality of higher education institutions spanning from inadequate investment to inefficient faculty resources to deficiencies in the teaching-learning process. Thus, lack of quality and quantity of teachers has affected the enrolment of students in higher education in India.

Teachers are the central point in the higher education process. Playing a significant role in the teaching learning process they are the key to the innovation, creation and transmission of knowledge. If University is ‘knowledge industry’, the teachers can rightly be described as the producer and retailer of knowledge. They are the midwives who nurture the students and give birth to the ideas. [7] The total number of higher education teachers in India is 6, 99,464 (2009-2010) which is a large stock of human resource influencing the quality of education. The distribution of the number of teaching faculties is shown in table 1.3.

Table 1.3

Distribution of the Teaching Staff by Designation (2009-10)

Category

Professors*

Readers

Senior Lecturers

Lecturers

Tutor/

Demonstrators

Total

University Departments and University Colleges**

21,006

(20.85)

25,308 (25.13)

10,293

(10.22)

38,983

(38.69)

5,151

(5.11)

1,00,741

(100.00)

In Affiliated Colleges

40,538 (6.77)

1,35,532

(22.64)

84,707 (14.15)

3,22,820

(53.91)

15,126

(2.53)

5,98,723

(100.00)

* Includes Principals and Senior Teachers who are equivalent to Professors; Figures in parentheses

indicate the percentage of the cadres to the total staff; Part-time teachers/Physical Training

Instructors are in the category of Lecturers

** Provisional

Source: UGC Annual Report, 2009-10.

The whole process of education is shaped and molded by the teacher who plays a pivotal role in any system of education. Kothari Commission (1964-66) rightly remarked that ‘of all the different factors, which influenced the quality of education, the quality, the competence, and the character of teachers are the most significant factors. No other factors are more important than a sufficient supply of high quality teachers to the higher education and, providing them with the best possible professional preparation and creating satisfactory conditions of work in which they could be fully effective’ [8] .

In determining the quality of education, premises and equipments are needed but persons are vital to them and a teacher is the supreme factor. It is no exaggeration to state that a spacious building, costly equipment and sound syllabus will serve some useful purpose only when there are teachers who can make proper use of the buildings and equipment, who can give life and meaning to the curriculum, who can make the books interesting or dull who can make teaching methods inspiring or soul-killing.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, viewed education as an instrument of capacity building. Through it he hopes to realize the millennium mission-2020, to transform India into a developed country. He says; “The capacity required to buildup among the students in their formative years is in educational institutions.” [9] The role and responsibility of a teacher in the modern age has been stressed: “If you are a teacher, in whatever capacity, you have a very special role to play. Because, more than anybody else, you are shaping generations”. (Kalam and Rajan 1998) [10] .

A high quality teaching staff is the cornerstone of a successful educational system. Teachers are both the largest cost and the largest human capital resource of an education system. Attracting and retaining high quality teachers is thus a primary necessity for educational institutions. [11] 

Teaching is one of the noblest jobs on the earth. According to Bishay [12] (1996), the teaching profession ranks high on the success list of a society. Nobel laureate Hans Krebs in his inaugural address at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Newcastle-upon- Tyne in 1967 emphasized that ‘it is only a great teacher who can produce a great student.’ [13] 

Though many steps are taken by UGC, the Indian Higher Education system suffers due to poor quality. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) have accredited 148 out of 416 universities and 3934 out of 20,677 colleges by March 2009. The results of the accreditation show that 68% of colleges are rated as ‘B’ while another 23% colleges are rated as ‘C’ grade; and only the remaining 9% are A grade. The same is the situation for universities also which is, 46% Universities are rated as ‘B’ grade while another 23% are ‘C’ grade; and the remaining 31% are ‘A’ grade. The rank list prepared by Higher Education World University Ranking also reveals that there are no ranks for Indian Universities or Institutes even in top 200. [14] 

The Prime Minister of India, Sri. Manmohan Singh, has expressed his concern over the fact that two thirds (68%) of the country’s universities and 90 percent of its colleges are of “middling or poor quality”, over half of the faculty in India’s colleges do not have the appropriate degree qualifications [15] and only 7 percent of India’s 18 to 24 year olds enter higher education [16] (compared to 21 percent in Germany, and 34 percent in the US [17] ).

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2009 released by India’s Minister for Human Resource Development revealed that although enrollment in schools have increased, learning levels have declined over the years. It is poor to see that only 38% of the students from Class V can do arithmetic. The poor quality at school level finally leads poor quality in higher education because the base of the student is not strong enough. According to a McKinsey study, only 25 per cent of our engineering graduates, 15 per cent of our finance and accounting professionals and 10 per cent of professionals with any kind of degrees, in India, are suitable for working in multinational companies. This is the indicator of the poor quality of education in India [18] .

There is a large gap between educational standard and suitability for employment in India. It is very clear from the observation of The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) [19] which runs as follows:

‘There is ‘talent gap’ of five million by 2012 and a shortfall of 750,000 skilled workers in the next five years. India’s 520 universities, 25,000 colleges and 6000 Industrial Training Institutes turn out 2.3 million non-technical and 500,000 technical graduates. But National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) says that only 10 percent of the former and 25 percent of the latter are employable’.

India does a poor job of educating its masses. Only about 10% of those in the age group 18-23 years get into collegiate education. There are countries which manage 80-90%! The Knowledge Commission projects that to raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from 10 to 15%, we will need about 1500 universities, instead of the 450 or so that we have now. [20] 

Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission said that “of the 90,000 odd MBAs produced each year, only a miniscule percentage is found to be worth employing.” A report on global skills for graduates in financial services also says that “58 per cent of financial service organizations are facing difficulties in recruiting people with the right set of skills.” In the job fairs conducted at the University of Madras in 2007, though there was no dearth of job opportunities, the number of graduates who had the required conceptual, analytical, communication and interpersonal skills was only 4 per cent and the remaining 96 per cent were substandard and unfit [21] .

Naik [22] (1982) summarizes the nature of this situation as follows:

‘Over-production of ‘educated’ persons; increasing educated unemployment; weakening of student motivation; increasing unrest and indiscipline on the campuses; frequent collapse of administration; deterioration of standards; and above all, the demoralizing effect irrelevance and purposelessness of most of what is being done’. Thus, in terms of its efficiency, productivity, and utilization of resources the system has completely broken down (A.Singh, 1988, p.5) [23] .

The National Policy on Education (NPE – 1986, 1992) emphasized on the improvement of quality of education. One of the factors contributing to the improvement of quality of education is competent and dedicated teacher. [24] 

Majority of the problems in higher education can be resolved if the teachers involve themselves into the system. The significant problems like poor quality education, low employability and quality of Human resources are within the control of the teaching community. So, it is on the hands of the teachers of higher educational institutions to change the critical scenario prevailing in India and the entire system may be revamped through their efficient and effective performance. This involvement is created by so many factors in and around the teachers.

Though, the teacher is highly qualified, experienced, satisfied with the career and talented in teaching and other academic work, unless he/she is actually involved and committed to his/her job, all the said qualification, experience and talents is a mere useless. This commitment is voluntary and automatic one. It means, one cannot compel a teacher to be committed to his/her job. It should be automatically created by both internal and external motivators. This commitment, interest towards job, aim to deliver the best, positive attitude towards job and institution is nothing but ‘morale’. If he/she does not have high morale he/she may not be able to put in all his/her efforts in attaining the objective of any educational system. It is the duty of the people around the teachers to provide them the environment which will boost up their morale. The people around them are their family members, peer group, administrators, students and the society like media, parents of the students and the general public.

The teachers with high morale will be committed to their duties. They will not only teach but create the students as good citizens. They will work more than the allotted workload. In the sense, they will work both physically, mentally and wholeheartedly. Destiny of future India is being shaped in its educational institutions. And in these efforts teachers were and are the critical input. Sergiovanni [25] (1991) confirmed that the essential requirements for effective schools are highly motivated teachers who are committed to work.

NCTE (1998) [26] states, “A teacher in the technological age must have commitment to the learner, commitment to the society, commitment to the profession, commitment to achieve excellence and commitment to basic human values. Thus a teacher should be equipped with modern competence to work effectively to cater to the needs of information-seeking society, to prove himself or herself as a knowledge worker’.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Teacher morale depends mainly on the attitude and interest of the teachers towards teaching profession. Many of them do not have favourable attitude towards their job. They take up teaching profession as a last resort. The personal morale of a teacher is low, when there is no positive attitude towards his job. On the other hand, he is comfortable or his morale is high when there is a favourable attitude towards the teaching profession.

“A teacher with strong positive attitudes about teaching has students whose self esteem is high. Students seem to recognize the effectiveness of teachers who are satisfied with their teaching performance.”(Peck, Fox and Morston 1977) [27] . Educational progress depends upon the quality of teachers. Unfortunately most of the persons who enter teaching profession do not like their jobs at all. They are here because they could not be selected for any other profession, Hence, quite a number of rejected and dejected university degree holders seek admission in training colleges and become teachers.

Many teachers take no pleasure in the teaching and simply pass their time. They do not care to set worthwhile goals before their pupils. They never care for what the students say about them. They are easy-going and do not take pains in discharging their duties. Teachers are the important group of professionals who play a vital role in the nation’s future. Therefore it is disturbing to find many of them are dissatisfied with their jobs. (Bishay, 1996) [28] 

The teaching profession does not attract bright young people anymore at least at the school leaving stage. [29] Most of the teachers do not think of teaching as their career of life from the early school stage and hence do not purposely plan and prepare for it. They enter it by chance, without any previous thought about it.

Steyn and van Wyk [30] (1999), contend there is a perception that teachers are lazy, unprofessional, uncommitted who only come to school to receive their salaries at the end of the month.

Teacher’s self efficacy is one of the determining factors of teacher morale. Self efficacy refers to the teacher’s belief in his/her capabilities to successfully perform the job taken up. Teacher efficacy contributes to achievement because high efficacy teachers try harder, work for the development of low ability students also. (Ross [31] , 1998). A faculty member with a high level of self efficacy put forth more effort and takes up challenging tasks in the course of the employment. But, practically teachers lack this self efficacy due to several reasons. Many teachers do not possess the required skills of teaching. For example, they are not able to communicate with confidence in front of a crowd and hence, they are incapable of reaching the students group.

Satisfaction plays a significant role in determining teacher morale. Job satisfaction is an affective reaction to an individual’s work situation, and has been described as a positive emotional response resulting from appraisal of one’s job [32] . More the job satisfaction more the morale will be. The highly satisfied teachers exert more efforts and have psychological well being about the job and the institution. But, in reality we cannot assure job satisfaction among all the teachers. Because, there are differences in salary, working environment and so on among the different categories of teachers namely Government, Aided and Self Financed teachers.

The colleges lack required facilities and systems. For effective functioning, the teachers must be provided with basic facilities like buildings with good condition, teaching aids, washing and rest room facilities and the like. In many colleges, even the basic amenities such as toilets, drinking water and canteen facilities are not available to teachers. The space of the staff room is not adequate. Sufficient number of cup boards, bureaus and shelves are not available to keep the teaching materials and the notebooks submitted for correction. The resources needed for the teaching-learning process like teaching aids, overhead projector and other Computer Integrated Technologies are not provided. This has an adverse effect on the teacher morale. Teachers are frustrated by the difficulty of doing high quality teaching in the current climate. (Kohn, 2000) [33] . Good teachers are difficult to recruit and almost impossible to retain if the rewards of teaching do not outweigh the possible frustrations on account of poor job conditions [34] . The working environment in the college is not conducive for the teachers to do their job effectively.

Prof.V R Mehta [35] , said that ‘most of our institutions are characterized by poor teaching (or no teaching!), overcrowded class rooms, lack of competent faculty and absence of infra-structure. The expansion in the size of the faculty has not been matched by the increase in the facilities. In most cases libraries don’t have funds for books, laboratories for equipment. Most teachers don’t have even a decent space to sit. It is a matter of shame that when we appoint a lower division clerk in the Government, we ensure that he gets a table and a chair’.

Conley, Bacharach and Bauer [36] (1989, p. 59) maintain that “if teacher performance in schools is to be improved, it is necessary to pay attention to the kind of work environment that enhances teachers’ sense of professionalism and decreases their job dissatisfaction.”

The most important issue relating to teacher in higher education in recent years relates to the shortage of well-qualified permanent teachers. This has resulted in the rise of low paid temporary teachers. Another issue relates to the qualification and training of teachers. The research facilities and the travel support to the teachers to attend conferences are important dimensions to develop their capacity as a good teacher. It needs to be recognised that, the education is too important sector not to be neglected due to limitation of resources. [37] 

Management is a key factor which influences teacher morale. In the state of Texas, when the teachers were asked to point out the reasons for decline in morale, they told that the treatment received from administrators and the students’ attitude was the main reasons. (Corwin 2001) [38] . According to the NCES report public school teachers who left the profession stated that they were dissatisfied with the support from administrators. (Thomas, 1998) [39] .

The importance of achievement, recognition, and organizational climate for teacher satisfaction was documented by Johnson(1967) [40] , Lacy (1968) [41] , Sergiovanni(1966) [42] , and Wright (1985) [43] . Lipsitz (1984) [44] , Weller (1982) [45] and Wright (1985) concluded that the administrator was one of the key factors influencing teacher morale and satisfaction.

Organizational culture of an institution influences the teaching community. In many organizations, the culture is a closed culture which results in deprived performance, low morale and low level of productivity. Several studies have indicated the importance of the principal’s leadership style in determining the teacher morale. (Goodlad, 1984) [46] .

Organizations characterized by flexible, open structures and receptivity to innovative ideas, all of which heighten individual autonomy and enhance morale, are referred to as organic organizations. They generally have well-educated, professionally oriented members working in uncertain environments with non routine technologies. The entirely opposite type is the bureaucratic or mechanistic organization, in which rigid structures, a strong emphasis on rules and procedures, an elaborate hierarchy of authority, and low participation by members in decision-making tend to frustrate needs for autonomy and work discretion, thus leading to low morale and dissatisfaction. (Hage [47] , Perrow [48] ,).

The policies framed by the management affect teacher morale to a great extend. Teachers often complain that they are not adequately consulted regarding policy changes and that their rights are violated. This leads to frustration and dissatisfaction, and in turn affects the commitment and productivity of teachers. Teacher Morale has a link to the freedom to try new ideas, intrinsic work elements and responsible levels.

On the one hand, there is a teacher shortage due to low salary compared to other professions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites the nation has been hiring teachers at a rate of two million “new” teachers per decade. 40% of teachers are leaving the profession within the first three years, and up to fifty per cent leaving within the first five years, (Teaching Times, 2001; Coeymann, Johnson, Teicher & Wiltenburg, 2001) [49] . On the other hand, there are many qualified and meritorious candidates rejected due to unjust & influential process of interview and selection procedure.

In India, in many Universities and Colleges, selections of teachers are made very often before the vacancies are announced. The interviews are held as stage shows to project a few favourite candidates. Meritorious candidates, with a far more teaching experience, research work and publication, are rejected in favour of mediocre charlatans who distinguish themselves by their loyalty to a particular academic gang. (Sanjay Kumar, 2008) [50] . When these rejected group work in any self financed colleges at a lower pay, their morale tends to diminish.

A report of National Centre for Education Statistics 1997on job satisfaction among American teachers explain “more administrative support, positive school atmosphere, and teacher autonomy as working conditions associated with higher teacher satisfaction.” Dye’s (1981) [51] and Wright’s (1985) [52] results suggested that teacher perceptions of conditions are more important than actual conditions in affecting job satisfaction and the intention to continue or discontinue teaching.

One manifestation of the college climate is the professional freedom afforded to teachers to carry out their assignments in support of the school’s mission. A Principal’s ability to create a positive college climate and culture can affect teacher morale. As Adams (1992) [53] state, “Principals, who control many of the contingencies in the work environment and are the source of much reinforcement for teaching behaviour, are the keys to improving the morale and self-esteem of teachers.” The working environment in the college is not conducive.

Teacher morale is influenced by the co teachers. If the colleagues have low morale that will pass on to other teachers who have high morale which will reduce the level of morale in a short period, which will in turn affect the group morale of the college. The teachers of many colleges do not get full cooperation from their colleagues. At times, the inter-personal relationship with the peer is not pleasant. It affects their performance and morale.

The teachers of colleges lack team spirit. They are not working together cooperatively. ‘There are teachers who act as de-motivators displaying the behaviors such as gossiping or complaining, secret conversations from which some people are excluded, resistance to change, unwillingness to support each other, silence in meetings, but lots of discussion afterwards.'(Thody, Gray, Bowden, Welch, 2000) [54] .

Workload involves the morale of the teacher. The college teacher’s workload is heavy nowadays. When there is a heavy workload, the teacher involvement in their job will be lesser. The General Teaching Council for Teachers in England had conducted a survey among teachers. The results revealed that 50% of the teachers have stated that the workload is the number one problem for teachers. Teaching conditions have changed and intensified in more recent times due to heightened expectations, broader demand, increased accountability, more “social work” responsibilities, multiple innovations and increased amounts of administrative work leading to overload. (Sachs 2003 [55] , Hoyle 2001 [56] ). The teachers are assigned with heavy non-teaching and clerical work. Graham (1985) [57] believed that the teaching community burdens more work connected with non academic work.

Salary plays a vital role in determining the morale of the teachers. The economic status of teachers is one of the factors responsible for increased unrest among teachers. They are underpaid. Their standard of living is at its lowest in 40 years. (Coeyman et.al. 2001) [58] . The study, in Missouri, on salary reveal that it is the major barrier to entering the profession (Hardy, 1998) [59] .

The research study on education shows that 73 percent of the teachers left the teaching job and entered the business world because the salary of teachers is lower when compared to other professionals. A survey conducted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) indicated that teachers with 16 years experience only earned an average of about $40,000. Engineers with the same experience earned about $68,200, computer scientists $66,700 and accountants about $49,200. Teachers should be able to purchase a home, send their children to college, and retire with enough assets to maintain a modest standard of living (Colb, 2001) [60] .

Vocational industrial education teachers in Texas who had quit teaching cited salary as the primary reason. (Lindsey, 1979) [61] . Another study made by Dye (1981) [62] also showed that low salary is the reason for majority of the vocational industrial teachers’ decision to leave teaching. He identified low teaching salary was the most significant difference between mobile and stable teachers. But, in the present scenario, there is a talk among the public that the teachers are better paid or sometimes more paid than any other job. Salary of the faculty members, particularly those working in self financed colleges, is very low when compared to government and aided colleges. So, many teachers move to various colleges for earning higher salary. This state affects the morale of the teachers.

Teacher morale is associated with a sense of respect and appreciation. Teachers at present do not feel recognized for the work well done either financially or verbally or symbolically. Commitment to teaching and the workplace have been found to be enhanced by psychic rewards (acknowledgement of teaching competence), meaningful and varied work, task autonomy and participatory decision-making, positive feedback, collaboration, administrative support, reasonable work load, adequate resources and pay, and learning opportunities providing challenge and accomplishment (Firestone & Pennel [63] , 1993; Johnson [64] , 1990; Rosenholtz [65] , 1989). Research in Canada (Ball & Stenlund [66] , 1990) reveals that teachers indicate that success in their work was a major reason for being satisfied in their choice of profession. Individuals do not feel valued or appreciated when they do not have a voice in the decision making processes. (Levin, 1984) [67] .

Teachers have a limited access to quality professional development. In many colleges the opportunities for the teacher’s professional development and research are not provided. There is a mismatch between professional learning opportunities offered to teachers and the perceived needs of teachers themselves in the area of further research. (Dinham and Scott 1998b) [68] .

The student’s strength in the class is very big. It varies between 40 and 70. The teachers are not able to give personal care or attention to every student. They are not able to control the class discipline. This in turn affects the morale of the teachers. When the students do not complete their home work and seem to be very irregular the teacher morale comes down. In a cross cultural study made on teacher enthusiasm and discouragement among teachers from the U.S. and six other nations, it is identified that the students are the primary factor who create professional enthusiasm and discouragement. (Stenlund 1995) [69] . Teachers do not have control over the quality of raw material with which they work. (Vollmer, 2002) [70] . Education is unique in which students (raw materials) make the decision how they are to be changed. (Savage, 2003) [71] .

Student discipline plays a very important role in determining the teacher morale. “The loss of productivity in the classroom, the lack of civility in the classroom and the degradation of teacher morale affect all directly and indirectly”(Corinne Gregory 2004) [72] . One of the important reasons for teachers leaving the profession is lack of discipline. Teachers find the disruptive behavior frustrating and claim that it reduces their effectiveness in increasing student achievement. In a research it is also established that there is an existence of relationship between teacher satisfaction and student achievement (Doyle & Forsyth, 1973 [73] ; Goodman, 1980 [74] ; and Stanton, 1974 [75] ). The findings indicate that the teachers whose students achieve high had higher morale than the teachers with relatively low pupil achievement.

Ingersoll [76] (2002) compares the turnover rate of teaching profession with other occupations. He has stated that teaching has a relatively high turnover rate. The occupation also loses many of its newly trained members early in their careers. He has found out that thirty nine percent leave teaching altogether in the first five years due to job dissatisfaction or the desire to seek better jobs or other careers, making the overall amount of turnover accounted for by retirement relatively minor. Ingersoll’s analysis of US national surveys on teacher staffing, found that teachers’ own perceptions were much less positive. High attrition rates were associated with school factors, including lack of support, limited input in decision making, and student discipline, as well as low salaries, job dissatisfaction and pursuit of better jobs.

The more time teachers spend on discipline, the less time they spend on actually teaching. This affects the relationships between teachers and students and causes conflicts between them. In turn, teachers report that this disruptive behavior on a large scale destroys teacher morale. (Malone, et.al., 1998) [77] . Many teachers are experiencing increasing problems with behavior and discipline leading to high stress, decreased satisfaction and poor morale. (Buckingham 2003) [78] .

Teacher morale highly depends on parent support. It is also found from a study that teachers who receive a great deal of parental support are more satisfied than teachers who do not. (National Centre for Education Statistics) [79] .

There is no doubt that teachers themselves both shape and shaped by their public image. The status of teachers is an amalgam of a variety of impressions gained by members of the public from their own experiences as children, the interactions they have with their children’s teachers and more importantly, the image that is conveyed by the media’ (Simpson, 1997) [80] 

Society criticizes teachers for not living up to its expectations. People are quick to find faults with teachers and blame them for not able to keep up with the changes that are occurring in the world. They take teachers to task for virtually all the problems affecting our society. One explanation for the apparently generally lack of competence of teachers is that they lack motivation. Low pay, unfavorable working conditions and poor prospects of career advancement keep teachers in mental lethargy.

The pressure on teachers is increasing nowadays; it is difficult for them to put their heart and soul into their job. The public and media perception on teacher is often not positive and this creates a demoralizing effect. In a conference at Glasgow, the majority of the teachers participated have stated that when the opportunity came up in a social gathering to declare about their jobs, they would try to avoid saying teacher and some admitted they would talk lies. Their efficiency depends on their morale. Morale is connected to a variety of issues ranging from discipline policies to academic support. But the teachers themselves view teaching as low-status work, they deem it a semi-skilled work. (Ingersoll, 1997) [81] . They even do not encourage their own children to become or enter the field of education.

Organizational Commitment is a predictor of such important behavioural outcomes as performance, absenteeism, and turnover (Morris and Sherman [82] , 1981). Researchers claim that organizational commitment to the institution is an important concept in the analysis of institutional life. On this point, researchers such as Cheng [83] (1990), Hoy & Miskel [84] (1991), Owens [85] (1991) and Sergiovanni [86] (1991) shared a common view that teachers’ perceptions of the workplace or the quality of workplace will influence the motivation and commitment of teachers work in there. This ultimately will affect the quality of education provided in these institutions.

Other researchers (Csikzentmihalyi & McCormack [87] , 1986) along with Rosenholtz [88] (1989) indicate that if teachers are dissatisfied with their work lives and lack commitment to their organisations, not only will teachers suffer, but their students as well will suffer.

1.3 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

Nowadays, teaching is becoming a highly challenging job. Because, education particularly, higher education in India has expanded enormously. The concept of education has changed from ‘education for knowledge, information, skills, employment, livelihood’ to ‘education for social and national development.’ Thus, it is the responsibility of the teacher to create the students for social and national development.

Education in 21st century has become more complex than before. It has created a global market place for students and scholars. Universities and Institutions of higher education are producing graduates for global market. General Agreements on Trade in Services (GATS) adopted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 have put education as a tradable commodity which has promoted cross-border higher education. This calls for empowered, competent and dedicated teaching faculties.

Eleventh Five Year Plan is proposing 19.8% of its outlay for education. X plan outlay for higher education was Rs. 8928.5 crore. It has been increased to Rs. 84,943 crore in XI plan. As on March 31, 2011, the amount sanctioned and utilised for higher education worked out to be Rs. 12,963.78 crore [89] .

Table 1.4

Fund Allocation for Higher Education during the 11th FYP and the

Corresponding Expenditure

(Rs. in lakh)

Year

Fund Received

from MHRD

Actual Expenditure by UGC

% of Expenditure

2007-08

1,80,510.00

1,88,495.28

104.42*

2008-09

3,16,595.00

3,15,768.35

99.74

2009-10

3,67,693.00

3,73,086.60

101.47

2010-11

(Provisional)

4,31,580.00

4,20,369.84

97.40

Total

12,96,378.00

12,97,720.07

100.10*Excess expenditure met out of the funds received back from the grantee Institutions / interest earned.

Source: XII Five Year Plan, (2012-17), UGC, New Delhi.

There are 30 new central Universities, 8 IITs, 6 IIMs, 10 National Institute of Technology, 5 Institute of Science Education and Research and 2 Schools of Architecture likely to be started. Sizeable amount of fund is ready for improving existing facilities of 18000 colleges and 400 Universities. The University Grants Commission is planning to increase the number of Faculty Development Centres (currently ASC) from 60 to 100 [90] . The ultimate success of providing outlay and starting up of number of institutions depends undoubtedly in the hands of the teaching community. And, Teacher Morale is the most important factor deciding this success. It becomes the key to a good educational system. Morale makes the difference between viewing teaching as a “job” and viewing it as a “profession”. Morale has two educational implications. First, it improves school services and makes them worthy of public respect. Secondly, enthusiastic teachers communicate their satisfaction and approval not only to pupils, but also to parents and public. Good teachers are a valuable asset to any school system. Poor teachers are obstacles for the development of education. The latter are expensive in that they require excessive amounts of supervision and administration, frequently undo the work of good teachers, are difficult to eliminate, and often disrupt the equilibrium and morale of the whole teaching corps.

High quality teaching staff is the cornerstone of a successful educational system. Teachers are both the largest cost and the largest human capital resource of an education system, particularly at the school level. Attracting and retaining high quality teachers is thus a primary necessity for educational institutions. However, good teachers are difficult to recruit and almost impossible to retain if the rewards of teaching do not outweigh the possible frustrations on account of poor job conditions. [91] Today private industry and multinational corporations are in a position and are willing to offer attractive and mind boggling pay packages. So, retaining & creating committed teaching faculty is becoming the need of the hour. Thus, the educators need to be aware of the importance of having teachers with high morale. Hence, Morale is an important factor in teacher deciding whether or not to stay in the profession. Without good morale among the staff, even the most enlightened schemes can fail to reach their full effectiveness. If the teachers have poor morale, it leads to suspicion, tension and frustration, under functioning, poor relationships both among peers and towards authority. On the other hand, the situation of good morale is characterized by, feelings of trust, relaxation, happiness, effective learning, productiveness, good relationships both within the group and respect for authority which is not out of fear. The well being of the educational Institutions depends not only on individual morale but also on the entire group. All teachers in colleges must have good morale. Even if one does not have, the system will be interrupted. The low morale of group comes from the individuals bringing their low morale to the group. The colleges have different objectives like providing quality education, women empowerment, employability, social and national development and the like. Whatever may be their objectives, they can attain them only through faculty members who are working whole heartedly and selflessly. Morale makes the faculty members to work really and attain the objectives of the colleges. Thus, the administrators and management must create the environment which is conducive and providing high morale among the faculty members.

This study is conducted to find out the various factors determining teacher morale and the present level of morale prevailing among the college teachers and the relationship between teacher morale and their organizational commitment. The study is significant to the field of education in that it builds upon the available body of knowledge relating teacher morale and organizational commitment. The study would provide a great deal of insight into the weaknesses or gaps existing in the work circumstances of the college teachers. Identification of these gaps could provide valuable information necessary to appropriately target the teachers who have poor morale. The study has the capacity for shaping work contexts that match the individual teacher’s needs so that they will get satisfactory environment for their best performance. Understanding the present morale factors is crucial to effective educational management. This study will contribute valuable information for educational planners and managers as well as researchers and the general public because it will inform them the factors leading to teacher morale and also the reasons for demoralization.

This study also focuses on the opinion and behavior differences existing between Government, Aided and Self Financing college teachers of Colleges situated in Madurai City. Hence, the findings and recommendations would help the management of each of the three types of institutions.

It is hoped that this compilation and analysis of data may be helpful the administrators to make a positive effort in developing morale. This survey will provide the college teachers a suitable climate in which high morale is found. A significant contribution of this research is practical suggestions to educational planners and college management and heads for the enhancement and sustenance of high teacher morale, which will ensure high quality higher education.

1.4 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

The roles that teachers play within their institutions are crucial to the preservation of the ideals and aspirations of higher education. Expectations placed on teachers have expanded exponentially (Lumsden [92] , 1998). Teachers in many institutions do not consider themselves as employees rather they see themselves as stakeholder of Colleges and Universities. (Lipman-Blumen [93] , 1998). As such, they are involved in teaching, research and service functions so as to achieve the goals of the institution for which he works. Motivation to perform these functions is intrinsic in nature. Teachers must possess the innate urge to perform the best in his career. Unless they possess voluntary involvement and commitment they cannot deliver their best to the academic community. Because, their belief, opinion, and behavior determine the student’s success and mold them into a useful citizen of the country. Literatures show that their general well being of the teacher determines the student’s future. Teacher Morale is said to be this general well being. Those who possess high morale they will be committed to their profession and organization for which they work. This study analyses the factors that determine Teacher Morale and Organisational Commitment and their interconnectivity. There have been several studies conducted on Teacher Morale and organizational commitment separately. Only a very few studies were conducted correlating both the concepts. This study is an attempt to find out how teacher morale impacts their organizational commitment. Moreover, in majority of the previous researches Teacher Morale was measured by using either Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire (PTO) or the adapted version of it. Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire is a popular inventory for measuring Teacher Morale used all over the world. The inventory was developed by Bentley and Rempel in the year 1980 which measures 10 dimensions namely,

Teacher Rapport with Principal

Satisfaction with Teaching

Rapport among Teachers

Teacher Salary

Teacher Work Load

Curriculum Issues

Teacher Status

Community Support of Education

School Facilities and Services

Community Pressures.

The instrument does not include the psychological factors of teachers. This study attempts to include the psychological factors such as, Attitude and interest towards teaching, Self Efficacy along with Personal Performance Satisfaction. These psychological factors are grouped under the head ‘Personal Factors’. The study intends to determine the impact of Teacher Morale on Teacher’s Organisational Commitment by using Organisational Commitment Questionnaire adapted from a structured questionnaire developed by Meyer & Allen 1997.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The study is mainly intended to analyse the present level of teacher morale and the various factors determining teacher morale. Additionally, it covers the analysis of organizational commitment of teachers and the relation between teacher morale and organizational commitment of college teachers. The study covers the whole of Madurai City. It studies the morale and organizational commitment of teachers working in Arts and Science Colleges situated in Madurai City and affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. The study does not cover teachers working in Colleges in any other places of Madurai district and any other districts of Tamilnadu or any other parts of India. It does not include any Universities and Medical, Engineering, Law, Pharmaceutical, Teacher Training, Catering Colleges and the like.

1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The research objectives are:

To find out the present level of the Morale of college teachers in Madurai City.

To determine the present level of Organisational Commitment amongst college teachers in Madurai City.

To discover if there is a relationship between Morale and Organisational Commitment amongst college teachers in Madurai City.

To analyse the factors determining morale of college teachers.

To determine if there are significant relationships between the socio economic characteristics and Morale of teachers.

To find out if there are significant relationships between the socio economic characteristics and Organisational Commitment of teachers based on their socio economic characteristics.

To offer suggestions for improving the Morale and Organisational Commitment of the College teachers.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES:

The research questions framed for this study are:

What are the current perceptions of the teachers relating to teacher morale in their organizations?

What are the current perceptions of the teachers relating to teacher organizational commitment in their organizations?

Is there any association between morale and organizational commitment?

Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers of Government, Aided and Self financing colleges regarding teacher morale?

Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers of Government, Aided and Self financing colleges regarding organizational commitment?

Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers of Government, Aided and Self financing colleges regarding teacher morale, when they are classified according to their bio-graphical characteristics?

Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers of Government, Aided and Self financing colleges regarding organizational com