Comparative Study of Performance of Male and Female Teachers of Elementary Level in Punjab

Abstract

Education is a process of transferring knowledge, culture and tradition of one generation to the next. The teacher is the main agent who performs his part in the process of education. A UNESCO sponsored study of four countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan) conducted in 2000, shows that the female teachers perform better than male teachers in earlier grades. The purpose of this study was to draw a comparison between male and female teachers working at elementary level in government boys schools in the province of Punjab. The objectives of the study were: (i) to compare the performance of male and female teachers working in boys schools at elementary level in rural areas; (ii) to compare the performance of male and female teachers working in boys schools at elementary level in urban areas; (iii) to compare the performance of male teachers working in boys schools in rural areas with those of working in urban areas; (iv) to compare the performance of female teachers working in boys schools in rural areas with those of working in urban areas; and (v) to compare the performance of male and female teachers working in boys schools at elementary level. In this study, pre-test and post-test were used. Sixty-eight (68) students of grade 4 and sixteen (16) teachers were the sample of study. From each school thirty four (34) students and eight (8) teachers were selected as sample of study. Each group comprised of seventeen (17) students. The data collected through pre-test and post-test were analyzed by applying t-test and one way ANOVA. Significance of difference between both the comparison groups in pre-test and post-test was analyzed by using t-test at 0.05 level. The major findings of the study were; The performance of urban male teachers was better than the rural teachers in the subjects of Urdu, Maths, Science and English while the performance of urban female teachers was xv 16 better than rural female teachers in all these subjects. However, female teachers performed better than male teachers in the subjects of Urdu, Science and English except Maths while female teachers working in urban areas gave better results than male teachers working in urban area schools in the subject of Urdu, Science and English except Maths. It is recommended that Female teachers may be appointed at primary level in boys schools. Male teachers may be appointed for the teaching of mathematics at elementary level. Residence and transport facilities may be provided to the teachers working in rural areas. Every teacher may be bound to serve in rural area at least for five years during his/her job. Teaching facilities and infrastructure of elementary level may be improved. Female teachers may be provided additional training for teaching of mathematics. A handsome amount may be given in the shape of unattractive/hard area allowance to the teachers working in rural areas.