Abstract:
This study aimed at finding out whether human resource management practices predict teachers’ professional commitment in secondary schools in Aba Education Zone, Abia State, Nigeria. This study also determined the contributions of human resource management practices to teachers’ professional commitment. There has been a complaint by teachers on the way they are being treated by school administrators, and this has lead to high rate of teacher truancy, absenteeism and lateness to school. This tends to influence teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession. It therefore becomes pertinent for school administrators to pay attention to human resource management practices bearing in mind that it will improve teachers’ professional commitment. The study was guided by five research questions and five null hypotheses. Corrrelational survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 1877 secondary school teachers and the sample comprised 306 teachers drawn from the schools in Aba Education Zone. Multi stage random sampling technique was used to draw the sample. Instruments for data collection were structured, and adapted questionnaires. Data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The major findings of the study showed that human resource management practices significantly contribute to teachers’ professional commitment, and that human resource management practices (training and development, compensation, performance appraisal, and labour relations) significantly predict teachers’ professional commitment in Aba Education Zone. Based on these findings, the researcher recommended, among others, that the State Ministry of Education should pay more attention to funding human resource development programmes in secondary schools in Aba Education Zone; Secondary Education Management Board should continue to improve on the human resource management practices in secondary schools in Aba Education zone, Abia state.
