Perspectives of School Managers and Teachers on the Implementation of the Eight-Hour Policy in Selected Schools of Ndola, Zambia

The standard working hours for civil service workers as stipulated by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in most countries is 8 hours. The eight hour work day policy has been enacted in the Labour Laws of Zambia as a guide for employers and employees. Recently, teachers were also mandated to follow this policy as they are part of the public service. However, this policy has been criticized by some teacher unions and the teachers themselves. The Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) called on the government to implement the eight hour policy for teachers to promote effective teaching. On the other hand, the National Union of Public and Private Educators (NUPPEZ) executive president said that the eight hour policy in its current form was  retrogressive to teachers. He further urged the Ministry of General Education to seriously engage the teacher unions to help look into the effective handling of the policy by both administrators and teachers alike. Therefore, this clearly shows that the eight hour policy has been received with mixed feelings by the teaching fraternity.

A sample of 40 participants drawn from three public primary schools and three public secondary schools was purposively selected and interviewed. The sample comprised teachers and head teachers. The study was mainly qualitative in nature and used a descriptive design. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The study revealed that of the six schools that were sampled, only two schools strongly supported the introduction of the eight-hour policy. Two schools were against the policy while the other two schools expressed mixed feelings. Generally, a large number of teachers felt that the policy was inimical to the interests of teachers. The study recommended inter alia that the Ministry of Education should improve infrastructure in schools such as staffrooms where teachers can prepare their work and relax in a conducive environment for eight hours.