Teacher transfer: trends and causes (2017- 2018): a case of Chibombo district in Central province

The study sought to investigate teacher transfer: trends and causes (2017-2018): A case study of Chibombo district in Central Province. The objectives of the study were to establish the underlying causes of teacher transfers from Chibombo district between 2017-2018, to investigate transfer trend of teachers from and to Chibombo district from 2017-2018, to determine the implications of these transfers may have on the overall educational dispensation in Chibombo district. The study was conducted in four government secondary schools in Chibombo district and employed a mixed methods design. Questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection in addition to interview guide, Observation analysis and document review. The collected data was analyzed descriptively using frequency tables. The study revealed the following revelations; there is a transfer procedure in the Ministry of Education but it is not well known to the teacher’s. Secondly the negative perception of teachers on teachers transfer has affected teacher performance in a school. Thirdly, the transfer of overstayed teachers has both negative and positive effect on teacher performance. The study made the following conclusions; teacher transfers do exist in the studied schools with a transfer policy and being carried out by the Ministry of Education in Zambia. Transfers in schools are liked by teachers since they increase on teachers’ innovativeness, flexibility at work and also enables them to participate more in school activities which improves their performance .Also teachers who overstay in the same school are demoralized, get used to unchanged environment which creates lack of innovativeness and thus declining teacher performance. The researcher recommended that the transfers of teacher s should be handled fairly by the Ministry of Education; teachers should be encouraged to form associations in schools or of the former members of their schools so as to be able to keep track of their friends in case of transfers. Finally, there should be stipulated duration any teacher is likely at least to spend at any station or school. This will assist in eliminating the problem of overstayed transfers which is creating discontentment among teachers in schools