Open AccessRe-employing Elderly Teachers in Sri Lankan Schools: Exploring Employers’ Perspective
Author(s) -
L. A. Pavithra Madhuwanthi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
asian journal of advanced research and reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2582-3248
DOI - 10.9734/ajarr/2020/v14i230328
Subject(s) - likert scale , competence (human resources) , private sector , descriptive statistics , developing country , flexibility (engineering) , population , socioeconomics , business , economic growth , psychology , sociology , economics , social psychology , mathematics , management , demography , developmental psychology , statistics
Having realized the gravity of ageing population across the world, the 2030 agenda for sustainable development calls the attention to ensure inclusive society including elderly people in the society. Hence, this paper intends to examine the employers’ attitudes towards Re-employed Elderly Teachers (RETs) in the private sector schools in Sri Lanka. The data were collected through a country-wide survey using a self-administered questionnaire among the employers representing 98 private sector schools in Sri Lanka. The employers’ attitudes towards the RETs were measured by using 19 attitudinal variables, ranging on a 7-point likert scale from strongly disagree (1 value) to strongly agree (7 value) and descriptive data analysis was performed. Out of the 19 attitudinal variables, employers perceived 12 variables positively. The variable that recorded the highest positive was RETs were more responsible (86.8 percent). Furthermore, employers had positive attitudes towards RETs being loyal, reliable, punctual, stress tolerant, exhibiting lower absenteeism, competence, working hard, having fewer grievances, being self-motivated, interested in new skills, and cooperative. Employers rated 3 variables attitudinal negatively. They were technological adaptability of RETs, flexibility of RETs and the cost of RETs. Among those three variables, the highest negative variable was technological adaptability of RETs (60.2 percent). As indicated by employers’ attitudes, the RETs particularly need to improve their IT skills and flexibility characteristic according to the requirements of the new school environment.