Effects of Selected Factors on the Levels of Stress among Primary School Teachers, A case of Nakuru Municipality

Abstract

The education system in Kenya has been undergoing several changes, which teachers have been made to effect, as the implementers of the curriculum. However, no consideration is made of the circumstances under which they perform their duties. They have been the subjects of blame and criticism for the poor performance, especially with the inception of free primary education in Kenya. Teachers are currently handling large classes with wide range of age differences among pupils, teach many lessons and handle many cases of indiscipline than previously. All this demands are made on them with minimal consideration of their coping threshold. The purpose of the research was to investigate the effects of occupational demands, personality type and gender on the levels of stress among primary school teachers in N&l(l.11'll Municipality. Stu'vey research design was used. The population consisted of primary school teachers employed by teachers’ service commission. The population consisted of 800 teachers. The Nassium (2000), coefficient of variation, method for estimating sample size was used to detennine the study sample of 114 teachers self report and stress inventory was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results obtained indicate that there were significant effects of occupational demands and personality type on levels of stress. However, gender showed no significant effects on the levels of stress. It can be concluded that there was high level of stress. It is recommended that stress management programmes are required to check on stress related symptoms, which could make them more effective.