Challenges of Academic Staff Commitment to Teaching for Goal Attainment and National Development in Public Universities in Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges of academic staff commitment to teaching for goal attainment and national development in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey design was adopted, and the population consisted of 3,624 academic staff from three public universities in Rivers State. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 362 academic staff (200 male and 162 female). A 17-item questionnaire, validated by three measurement and evaluation experts, was used for data collection. The questionnaire's reliability was 0.85, as determined by Cronbach Alpha Statistics. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while z-test analysis was employed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that factors affecting academic staff commitment include poor salaries/allowances, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate teaching resources, and delayed/irregular promotion. Strategies to address these challenges include increasing salaries/allowances, prompt payment, and instituting adequate supervision/quality control. Based on the findings, conclusions were drawn, and recommendations made, including reviewing the conditions of service for academic staff; and collaborating with stakeholders to promote infrastructure and teaching resources provision in public universities