FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TIME BOOK POLICY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF LILONGWE RURAL WEST EDUCATION DISTRICT IN MALAWI

Abstract

The teacher time book policy was introduced in Malawi primary schools in 1982 to monitor and curb teacher attendance challenges such as absenteeism and tardiness, besides collecting teacher attendance data. Despite the long existence of the policy, teacher absenteeism still challenges the country‟s education system. Also, data on teacher attendance is still elusive at both national and division levels. However, a search in literature proved scarcity of significant factors affecting the implementation of the policy. The aim of the study, therefore, was to explore factors affecting the implementation of the time book policy in primary schools of Lilongwe Rural Education District. The study collected data from PEAs, head teachers and teachers focussing on addressing the following four key areas: (i) How schools implemented the time book policy; (ii) Factors facilitating the implementation of the time book policy; (iii) Factors challenging the implementation of the time book policy; and (iv) The extent to which factors affect implementation of the teacher time book policy? It employed a sequential mixed-methods research design where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to generate data through interviews, observations and survey questionnaires. Among multitudes of factors that are thought to be affecting the implementation of the policy, the study argues that reinforcement of implementation with punishment (β = .206, p =.001), teachers knowledge about the policy (β =.177, p = .020), teachers‟ support for the policy (β = .165, p = .032) and capacity of the school to implement the policy (β = .166, p = .034) are the factors that significantly contributes to success of the implementation of the time book policy.