TEACHERS’ JOB COMMITMENT AS A DETERMINANT OF PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ job commitment as a determinant of public senior secondary schools’ 
effectiveness in North-central Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design of correlational type to 
examine the relationship between teachers’ job commitment and the overall effectiveness of schools in the region. 
The population consisted of 1,019 principals and 10,618 teachers across public senior secondary schools in Kogi, 
Kwara, and Niger States, from which a sample of 657 respondents were selected through a multistage sampling 
technique involving purposive, proportional, and simple random technique. Data were collected using a self
developed instrument titled Teachers’ Job Commitment and School Effectiveness Questionnaire (TJCSEQ), 
structured on a 4-point Likert scale. Three research purposes were raised to guide the study and were translated 
into two research questions and one research hypothesis which were tested with Mean and Pearson Product 
Moment Correlation statistic respectively. Findings revealed that teachers in public senior secondary schools 
demonstrated an average level of job commitment (mean = 53.21,), while the schools themselves operated at an 
average level of effectiveness (mean = 40.60). The hypothesis tested indicated a strong and statistically significant 
positive relationship between teachers’ job commitment and school effectiveness (r = 0.737, p < 0.05). This 
implies that higher teacher commitment enhances school effectiveness across learning, discipline, supervision, and 
school-community relations. The study concluded that improving teachers’ job commitment is essential to 
advancing the effectiveness of public senior secondary schools in North-central Nigeria. It therefore recommends 
that education stakeholders enhance teachers’ motivation, provide continuous professional development, and 
strengthen supervisory mechanisms to foster sustained commitment and improved educational outcomes.