Impact of retirement on stress levels of retired primary school teachers between 1995-2004: A case of Rachuonyo district, Kenya

Abstract

An assessment of the stress levels of retirees is crucial for the success of retirement counselling. In Kenya, primary school teachers constitute majority of the country‘s public service, yet no studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of retirement on stress levels of retired primary school teachers. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate the impact of retirement on stress levels of retired primary school teachers in Rachuonyo district, Kenya. Guided by specific research objectives, the study targeted the impact of counselling, individual attributes, perception and preparation for retirement of retired primary school teachers in Rachuonyo district, Kenya. To realise these objectives, the study adopted a descriptive survey in carrying out the research since no treatment was given to the study subjects before the research. The target population was 449 retired primary school teachers who retired between 1995 and 2004.To ensure representation proportionate sampling was done and 95 retired primary school teachers were sampled. A set of questionnaires was administered to the retired teachers available in the reseacher‘s contact location as well as to the retired teachers at the time they visited the D.E.O‘s office, Rachuonyo within the research period. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The inferential statistics used was the Pearson‘s correlation and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)version 12.1 was used in the data analysis. The study revealed that the impact of retirement on stress levels of retired primary school teachers in Rachuonyo is high, however, a good number of the respondents seemed not to be aware of the need to be counselled and where to get the counselling service to prepare them for retirement. The study also revealed that stress manifests itself differently in the respondents with signs such as feeling trouble to sleep, headache, making constant movements and the like. Lastly, the study revealed that majority of the respondents were between 57and 59 years of age. This study, therefore, concluded that majority of primary school teachers in the district retire without receiving retirement counselling. The researcher recommended that the Teachers‘Service Commission should set up counselling units in every district to provide effective counselling services to the teachers to prepare them for retirement and that further research should be conducted to evaluate factors that cause stress of retired primary school teachers in the district and possibly in the country.