Abstract

Teacher retention has been a significant issue in education for a long time. Organisational stress is one of the main reasons why teachers leave their jobs. Therefore, implementing stress management strategies has become essential for schools to retain their teachers. The aim of this paper was to examine teachers' perceptions towards organisational stress management strategies used to retain teachers in private schools in Wakiso District, Uganda. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey method of the descriptive design. The target population was 1824 respondents comprising of all the teachers and head teachers from rural and urban schools in District. Wakiso district. A sample size of 317 respondents consisting of 267 teachers, and 50 Headteachers was used in the study. Sample selection of the respondents was by Probability and Non probability sampling techniques. Questionnaires and interview guide were employed to collect data for this study. In ensuring content validity of the research instrument, the items in the questionnaire were constructed in relation to the literature review of this study. In ensuring content validity, suggestions from educational research experts was sought while reliability was attained through test-retest technique. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively and presented in tables and narrations. The study found out that a majority (83.2%) teachers agreed that teachers’ self-esteem was encouraged among staff members in their schools. In addition, most of the teachers who participated in the study agreed with the statement that teachers’ participation in co-curricular activities promotes teachers, physical and mental health. The study also suggested that majority (53.9%) believed that stressed teachers in their schools were given emotional support by the school management. The paper concluded that there was a positive perception amongst the teachers on the various Organisational Stress Management strategies being employed by private secondary schools to retain teachers. It was therefore recommended that teachers need to be sensitized about the importance of having a positive perception towards Organisational stress Management strategies in order for them to work for a longer period in their specific private schools.