Human Capital Investment Decisions: A Logit Model of Willingness to Attain Professional Teaching Qualifications by Uncertified Graduate Teachers in Harare Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The education system in Zimbabwe continues to face a shortage of qualified teachers especially in high schools where a bigger proportion of the teachers are holders of first degrees but who lack professional teaching qualifications. Yet there is a perceived general unwillingness by uncertified graduate teachers to invest in attaining professional teaching qualifications. The objective of the study was to find the determinants of willingness by uncertified graduate teachers to acquire professional teaching qualifications. Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 87 uncertified graduate teachers selected from a multi-stage cluster sample of high schools. A logit model of possible determinants was estimated. The study found that the majority of high school uncertified graduate teachers were unwilling to train as professional teachers. It was concluded that age, gender, type of degree, cost of training, remuneration, and the desire to work with children are statistically significant determinants of willingness to train as professional teachers. The study recommends that the government should make the teaching profession more attractive by making the remuneration of teachers competitive and comparable to those of other professions. Pay differences between certified and uncertified graduate teachers should be substantially different. The government should also make the cost of training affordable by offering financial assistance to those teachers who intend to train as professional teachers.