Human Resource Management Practice in Senior High Schools in the Akwapim North District in the Eastern Region of Ghana

The study examined the Human Resource Management practices in the Senior High Schools in the Akwapim North District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Areas examined include recruitment and selection, induction, training and development and supervision. The main purpose of the study was to find out the nature and impact of Human Resource Management practices in the Senior High schools in the Akwapim North District. The study population comprised all teachers, schools heads, assistant school heads and four front-line Directors of Education in the District. In all, a sample size of three hundred and twenty respondents was used for the study. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used to collect the data for the study. The study revealed among other things that a large majority of the respondents were of the view that orientation should be organized for teachers when appointed to teach in the schools. In-service training workshops should also be organized for teachers from time to time to upgrade their skills and knowledge. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended that greater emphasis should be placed on the upgrading of skills and knowledge of teachers through regular training, orientation and development programmes.


INTRODUCTION
Personnel Management now known as Human Resource Management began to develop as a field of specialization about the beginning of the twentieth century.Human Resource Management Practice is a modern term for what has traditionally been referred to as a Personnel Administration or Personnel Management.According to Grensing-Pophal (2010) personnel professional focused too much on the day-today operations of the organization and did not see the big picture as strategic human resource management.Other writers believe Human Resource Management practice differs somewhat from traditional Personnel Management.They see Personnel Management as being narrower and more clerically oriented than Human Resource Practice.They are of the view that the function of Personnel Management was initially limited largely to hiring, firing and time-keeping was handled by each supervisor as part of his job.As production methods became more complex and the workload of the supervisor increased, work responsibility relation to records keeping and payroll records were assigned to clerks who were in effect 'specialist'.This clerical function, initially, in some instances, was enlarged to include responsibilities for employment and eventually to include other functions that were assigned to the Personnel Department (Sarma, 2009;Grensing-Pophal, 2010 andArmstrong, 2009).
Human Resource Management practice today is concerned with much more than simple filling, house-keeping and record-keeping.According to Armstrong (2009), Human Resource Management practice is regarded as a strategic approach to acquiring, developing, managing, motivating and gaining the commitment of the organization's key resource, that is, the people who work in and for it.Today, undoubtedly, human resource is the most important and unique asset that an organization has.Thus, the importance of managing this invaluable asset is being recognized as the most challenging task of a successful manager.Human Resource is the 'central nervous system of any organizational set-ups and for organizations to develop and attain the desired results or profits, very much depends on the human element.
Employees could be creative, resourceful, enterprising and result oriented if they are content and satisfied with the environment in which they work.Human Resource Management practice is directed not only to top management needs, but to the human resource, that is, the employers and employees in an organization.Human Resource Management practice is proactive and not reactive and greater emphasis is placed on planning, monitoring, supervising, training and development and performance appraisal.In an organization, solving problems does not lie with members of top management alone, but with employees (thus the human resource) or their representatives.
Human resource is a very important input and is regarded as the ultimate basis for the wealth of nations.They are the active agent of production who accumulate capital exploit natural resources, build and develop social, political and economic organizations and who plan and implement national development programmes.Therefore the proper management of the human resource enhances the dignity by satisfying their social needs (Mamoria and Gankar, 2009).
In the corporate world today, the Human Resource Management practice function is recognized as the strategic function that advises on the professional approach to the recruitment, training, compensation and motivation of employees to assure competitive advantage.The scope and practice of Human Resource Management are no more limited to the organization and co-ordination of welfare activities such as employee's funerals, health and safety service, transport and canteen services as was the case during the era of Personnel Management.Human Resource Management practice now refers to orienting and training employees.Management designs and implements development programmes that is, building effective teams within the organizational structure.Management also designs systems for appraising the performance of individual employees, while assisting employees in developing career plans.Compensation packages are designed and benefit system implemented for all employees, thus ensuring they are fair and consistent.
The school as an organization has teachers as the core of its human resource.The teacher therefore is the most indispensable factor in the school.The teacher is the greatest aid to teaching and learning in every educational system and every level of education depends heavily on teachers for the execution of its programmes.Thus, when a nation expands its educational system without adequately planning for supply of its teachers, the system suffers.
The Educational Reform Programme (ERP) in 1987 for instance, increased the demand for qualified teachers in Ghana.To achieve the objective of the reform programme, many short and sandwich training and refresher courses were organized for the exiting teachers.Existing Diploma Awarding Institutions have also been upgraded to tertiary status with the various colleges in Winneba, Asante Mampong and Kumasi operating as university campuses.All these efforts are geared towards providing more and better qualified teachers to feed the educational sector.It is therefore obvious that the teacher stands at a focal point delivering the teaching service without which the school will be non-existent.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) as an organization functions as a result of its human resource capacity, compromising employees in the classrooms and those in the various education offices.To get the desire results therefore depends on how the human element is mobilized, co-ordinate, organized and generally managed.Some important practices of Human Resource Management are recruitment, selection, induction, development, staff appraisal, supervision, employee and human relations.

Problem statement:
The Educational Reform Programmes (ERP) of 1987 aims at increasing access and reducing gender gap, improving quality of education and improving management efficiency.Teachers play a vital or crucial role in the achievement of quality education.The important input in any organization or educational enterprise is its human resource.
Thus, many reasons could be assigned for the failure of public organizations or educational enterprises to achieve their objectives.Some of these reasons could be lack of equipment or logistics, financial constraints, political interference, lack of clearly defined objectives of the organizations.Among the common personnel problems are lack of adequate salaries and incentives, low morale of staff, weak and incompetent management staff, indiscipline, shortage of skilled and experience personnel and supervisors.A proper understanding of the Human Resource Management practice in the Akwapim North District will help design appropriate strategies if necessary, to enhance Human Resource Management practices so as to enable teachers to give off their best in the district.
The study aims primarily at examining the Human Resource Management practice as in the Senior High Schools in the Akwapim North District A number of research questions were designed to guide the researcher in the study.This includes: The study will assist school management or education practitioners to improve upon strategies towards meeting the needs of the human resource at all levels in the service.

LITERATURE REVIEW
There exists a wealth of literature from several textbooks, journal and other publications on human resource management practices.The research would discuss a few.Educational planners and administrators are becoming more and more interested in finding ways of improving and enhancing teacher (s) morale on the job and consequently improving quality of education.This makes it necessary to examine literature on human resource management practices.
Human resource management is a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to employment, development and well-being of people working in organizations.As people work together there is always the need for the organization to seek the welfare of the members to make sure that they are well developed to be able to function effectively.This can be done through the help of the Human Resource Department.The purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people (Armstrong, 2010).
Matthis and Jackson (2010) also see human resource management as the strategic and operational management of activities focusing on the human resource in an organization.From the above; it is clear that human resource management is seen in terms of two principal functions, namely; the operational and strategic forms which the former focus refers to the personnel activities which include checking attendance to work, lateness, absenteeism, ensuring employee health and safety ergonomics (psychological and environmental factors), administering laws and regulations.Personnel function constitutes everyday activities, which tends to be characteristically administrative, short-term oriented and maintenance oriented.The strategic focus involves human resource planning, forecasting, growth, perspectives contracting possibilities and thinking ahead for recruiting more people, downsizing, employing people with new skills and competencies.
Human capital is a recognition that employees are an agency's most important organizational asset (Pynes, 2009).Asset here does not mean the company owns the human being therefore the organization should give the employees the necessary recognition and respect to work to produce the best result.Employees in every organization must be seen as an important asset to the organization and should be treated with all due respect and provided with the needed tools to work with to enhance organizational effectiveness.
Matthis and Jackson (2010) stipulated that human resource management has moved from the traditional role of personnel management into a strategic management position where all employees should be involved in problem solving and there should be change in corporate culture, leadership styles and human resource policies aimed at fulfilling the mission and objective of the organization and making it competitive in the global environment.
Other writers like (Noe et al., 2011;Snell and Bohiander, 2010;Berman et al., 2010) state that for employee effective performance there is the need for compensation in the form of pay, incentives and benefits which reward people to perform in an organization.When the organization is providing these incentives for employees then the organization must get the most of its workers.This can be done when the organization creates a climate where employees can be trained and developed which will lead to low staff turnover and absenteeism (Senyucel, 2009).According to Martin (2010) training and development is intended to improve effectiveness in the area of productivity, quality, output and customer relations.Human resource practitioners in organizations should make sure that employees are assessed and the necessary training programme designed and conducted for both newly employed and the existing employees.Snell and Bohlander (2010) are of the view that management and staff should formulate policies that are consistent with overall organizational objectives.They posit that challenges to human resource management include compensation, labour relations, management development and comparable pay for comparable work and cost of health benefits.
According to Werner and Desimone (2012) human resource development is a set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the opportunity to learn necessary skills to meet current and future demand.When employees are given the necessary training then there will be human development and empowerment which will lead to organizational performance.
Staffing emphasizes the recruitment and selection of the human resources for an organization (Sarma, 2009).When staffing is done through the correct procedures and the right people are recruited to perform the right function most of the human resource problems that are experienced in most Ghanaian public organizations will be minimized.
Performance appraisal is an essential part of human resource management.Appraisal ensures organizational effectiveness through correcting the employee for standard and improved performance and suggesting the change in employee behavior (Rao, 2009).There is the need for regular appraisal of all employees in an organization so that standards could be maintained and improved upon.It beholds educational authorities to conduct regular appraisal so that there will be quality education.

METHODOLOGY
This session discussed the research design, population, sample and sampling procedure, research instruments, data collection procedure and the methods of data analysis.
The descriptive survey design was used for the study.A descriptive survey permits asking the same sets of questions often in the form of written questionnaires to a large number of respondents either by mail, telephone, or in person.The information gathered is directed towards the determination of the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of study.Responses are tabulated and reported, usually in the  The researchers went round all the Ten Senior High Schools in the district to collect the completed copies of the questionnaire to ensure that most questionnaires were returned The target population of the study consisted of all the teachers in the district, who numbered three Hundred Ten headmasters/mistresses, 6 assistant headmasters and 4 front-line Assistant Directors of Education from the District Education Office (Table 1).
For the purpose of the study, the purposive and random sampling techniques were employed.The four front-line Assistant Directors who worked in the District Office were purposively selected, because they dealt with human resource.Next, all the Ten Senior High Schools, which are day and boarding mixed schools, were also selected.The Ten headmasters and headmistresses in the Senior High Schools were purposively selected.The Assistant Headmasters and Mistresses were randomly selected.Numbers one to six were written on pieces of paper and at each school the researcher visited, they were asked to pick pieces of papers on which these numbers were written then those who picked one to six were given the questionnaire to answer.The same procedure was used for both the Assistant Heads and Teachers.
The Combach's alpha co-efficient measure of internal consistency was used in determining the reliability of the questionnaire used for the study.Pretesting was done because it helps the researcher to decide whether the study is feasible and worthwhile to continue.It also provides an opportunity to assess the appropriateness and practicality of the data collection instrument.The 'pretest' of the questionnaire and interview schedule could reveal ambiguities and poorly worded questions that are hard to understand and indicate whether the instructions to the respondents were clear.
The Akwapim South District with its capital town as Nsawam has similar cultural, ethnic and occupational characteristics, as that of the Akwapim North District.
The social, cultural, economic and educational lives of the people in the two districts are almost the same.The school environments in the two districts are almost the same.The caliber of teachers, headmaster/mistresses and officials from the District Offices in term of their qualifications, teaching experience and the management of its human resource are similar.
The researchers used the lorry method in selecting three schools in the Akwapim South District with similar problems on Human Resource Management practice.No changes were made in the instrument after the pre-testing.The reliability of the instrument was computed by using the Cronbach co-efficient alpha.The results of the pre-testing for the various sections were as follows: Alpha for section B = 0.7016 Alpha for section C = 0.7980 Alpha for section D = 7872 The overall average of .7872was considered good.The instrument was therefore used for the main study.
The data collected from respondents were carefully checked and edited.Individual items on the questionnaires were edited as regards the responses given by the respondents.The data analysis of the study was aided by the use of the data analysis programme known as the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) version 17.The data were subjected to frequency counts to check and correct coding error where necessary.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A brief study of the biographical data of the respondents indicates that male teachers were 70.3% as against 29.7% female teachers.The administrators (heads, assistant heads and district education officials) numbered 20.Male administrators were 13, representing 65% and the female administrators, 7, representing 35%.This shows that there are more males in the population than females (Table 2).

Research question one: How do teachers in Senior
High Schools in Akwapim North District perceive Human Resource Management practice?To answer research question one on the perception of Human Resource Management practices by teachers, respondents were asked to rank items 1 to 11 on a five point Likert scale; Strongly Agree, Agree, Strongly Disagree, Disagree and Don't know.Teachers were requested to give their perception on the Human Resource Management practices on recruitment and selection (Table 3).
From the data, it was observed that 39.0% of the respondents strongly agreed that professional teachers should be interviewed before they are given teaching appointment while 33% also agreed.Only 10.0% strongly disagreed and 17.0% disagreed that professional teachers should be interviewed before being given teaching appointment.The mean value is 2.05 and the standard deviation is 1.09 indicating a dispersion or divergence in the responses of respondents.This means while a large number strongly agreed to the statements, a sizeable number agreed, another group strongly disagreed and another group disagreed.
Interviewing professional teachers before giving them teaching appointments will help the administration or schools to get the best among the many applications.This will ensure or promote effective teaching in the schools and bring about good examination results.Having the professional qualification alone may not be enough unless one proves to be potentially capable to deliver.
With regard to non-professional teachers, 45.3% and 30.0%strongly agreed and agreed respectively that they should be interviewed before being given teaching appointment.Only 4.3% of the respondents strongly disagreed that non-professional teachers should be interviewed before given teaching appointment.The mean value is 1.81 and standard deviation is 0.95, showing uniformity in respondents' responses.This shows that the majority of the respondents are in favour of pre-appointment interview.
When non-professional teachers are interviewed before they are appointed to teach, it will help the authorities or schools to get better result for the schools.
The findings are consistent with Sarma (2009) assertion that recruitment aims at attracting and retaining the interest of suitable applicants and projects the image of the organization to the outside world.
When teachers' perceptions of Human Resource Management practice on induction/orientation were sought, the data revealed that 150 (50%) of the respondents strongly agreed that teachers should be given a warm welcome on the first day of appointment to the school or district.Fourteen resulting in (4.7%) however, strongly disagreed that teachers should be given a warm welcome on the first day of appointment to the school/district.The mean value is 1.54 and the standard deviation is 0.59.The low standard deviation figure indicates that there was uniformity in the responses.When teachers are given a warm welcome on the first day of appointment to the school/district, it will help to settle them and let them feel at home and develop a positive attitude towards the new environment.
More than half (50.3%) of the respondents agreed that teachers should have information about the school where they have been given appointment.Eighteen resulting in (6.0%) however disagreed with the statement.The mean value is 1.76 and the standard deviation is 0.79 again indicating uniformity in respondents' responses.
This majority view, two hundred and seventy (90%) who strongly agreed and agreed showed that as part of the recruitment process, applicants should be supplied with information about the community, school and churches, recreational facilities, people and teachers' living accommodation with the view to helping teachers understand the community.This is a good idea since it will help teachers to adjust and adapt to the new environment quickly.
As many as 188 (62.7%) of the respondents strongly agreed that orientation should be organized for teachers when appointed to teach in a school/district.Only four respondents disagreed and three said they did not know.The standard deviation shows uniform responses among the respondents, as indicated by 0.98.Teachers were further asked to give their perception on the two statements 'in-service training should be organized for teachers from time to time' and 'training and development of skills and knowledge' and the responses were given.From the data, it can be noted that as many as 68.3% of the respondents strongly agreed that inservice training should be organized for teachers from time to time.The low standard deviation figure of 0.51 shows greater uniformity in the responses.This is evidence by the total of 98% who either strongly agreed and agreed to the statement (Table 4).

Research question two:
The second research question posed in the study was "What is the nature of Human Resource Management practices at the Senior High Schools level"?Respondents under this column were measured on a 5 point Likert scale and coded as: A look at data shows that in-service training programmes are not regularly organized for teachers in the district.More than one-third (34.3%) of the respondents are of the opinion that in-service training are sometimes organized.Only about one-fifth (21.7%) indicated that in-service training are not organized at all for teachers in the district.The mean value is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 1.06, showing dispersion in the respondents' responses.
One of the effective ways to bring improvement in teaching and the professional growth and development of teachers is through well organized in-service training programmes for teachers.
On the question of how often training and development programmes should be organized for teachers, more than half (53.3%) of the respondents are of the view that this should often be done.Almost onethird (32.7%) of the respondents are also of the opinion that training and development programmes should be organized very often.Only 2.7% indicated that they do not know.The mean value is 1.9 and the standard deviation is 1.42, indicating divergent opinions or variations to the statement.The differences in percentage between those who indicated 'often' and those who indicated 'very often' is 20.6 which is large.
Organizations spend money on training and developing their employees and make conscious efforts to retain such employees.The Ghana Education Service, for instance, gives study leave with pay to its teachers as a way of training and developing them.The Service hopes to retain its members who benefit from this package.With regard to respondents' view on appraisal, the data revealed that more than half (52.3%) of the respondents are of the opinion that teachers should often be appraised in their study.Those who think that teachers should be appraised very often are 28.3%.Only 4 (1.4%) feel that Teachers should not be appraised at all.The mean value is 2.03 and the standard deviation is 1.8 which indicates variations in the responses.The difference in responses between those who indicated 'often' and those who indicated 'very often' in percentage is 24.0 which is a large margin.Employees' performance appraisal is a system where management finds out how best it has in the human resource development programmes.It is a systematic evaluation of performance of individuals on the job situation.
More than one-third (37.7%) of the respondents are of the view that teachers should very often receive feedback after their work has been appraised.Those who feel that teachers should often receive feedback after their work has been appraised are 161 (53.7%).The mean value is 1.7 while the standard deviation is 0.68.The standard deviation figure indicates a larger uniformity in the responses of the respondents to the statement.
Feedback is very necessary in any appraisal system.When teachers get feedback about how their work is evaluated, they are able to discuss their strengths and weaknesses as objectively and constructively as possible, thereby making them feel valued by receiving recognition for their efforts as well as achievements.
Teachers' views were sought on Human Resource Management practices on motivation and the responses were given.The data shows that 35.0% of the respondents are of the view that they are very often motivated by incentives (such as best teacher awards, gifts) to work.Those who are sometimes motivated to work by incentives are 19.0%.Forty respondents (13.4%) are however of the view that they are not motivated at all by incentives to work.The mean value is 2.2 and the standard deviation is 1.26 indicating divergent opinions to the question on how often they are motivated by incentives to work.

Research question three:
The Research Question three was 'The Extent to which Human Resource Management practices in Senior High Schools compare with Human Resource Management practices in the literature'.
On training and development, a total of 98% respondents agreed that training and development is an important feature in upgrading their skills.This confirms the assertions of Martin (2010) that the primary purpose of development is to increase effectiveness and knowledge of employee.This, when done, will thereby increase the potential of the schools in the district to attain its goals and objectives.
With regard to appraisal, 4.4% were of the view that appraisal did not form an important part of the school system.This contradicts what Rao (2009) stated, that performance appraisal concerns itself with setting achievable goals and giving feedback to staff on their work so that some objectives in the organization can be achieved and behaviors of employees could also be changed for the better.

Research question four:
The fourth research question was 'What problems, if any, do Human Resource Management practitioners in Akwapim North encounter in their functions?Information obtained was through an interview guide.
In all, twenty officials were interviewed, ten Heads of Senior High Schools in the District, six Assistant Heads of Schools and four Front-line Assistant Directors from the Akwapim North District Education Office.Officials (administrators) were asked about their views on recruitment and selection.
The data shows that all the administrators (100%) hold the view that contract teachers often satisfy a need in the schools in the district.Contract teachers are teachers who have retired from active service but have been contracted to teach in the district through request made by some heads of school to have these teachers recruited to teach in their schools.The teachers teach specialized subjects like Fine Art, Weaving, Ceramics, Physics and French.
The administrators are also unanimous in their opinion that teachers posted to the district from the universities often perform well on the job.Majority of the administrators (65%) are of the view that teachers are sometimes interviewed before they are appointed to teach.Thirty percent (30%) are however of the view that teachers are very often interviewed before they are appointed to teach.The standard deviation is 0.9 indicating some uniformity in the responses.
The research further revealed that only two (10%) of the respondents hold the view that orientation courses are very often organized for teachers who are posted to the schools/district.Fifty-five percent (55%) of the respondents are however of the opinion that orientation courses are sometimes organized, while 35% think that these are often done.
The data again revealed that 55% of the respondents are of the opinion that refresher courses are not organized at all for teachers wishing to return to the district after study leave, while 30% say these are sometimes done.The standard deviation is 0.93.This shows some uniformity in the respondents' responses.
Administrators were further asked questions on reports, appraisal and decision making and their responses are given that 30% of the respondents share the view that reports and research works on schools and teachers are often effectively used, 35% are of the opinion that these are sometimes effectively used.Twenty-five percent however say that these reports and research works are not used at all.
With regard to feedback on appraisal, 60% hold the view that feedback on appraisal is often given to teachers while 35% say that feedback is sometimes given.Only one respondent say it is very often given.The standard deviation is 0.57.This shows a high level of uniformity in the respondents' responses.
Performance appraisal is a systematic process of evaluating each employee's job-related achievements strengths and weaknesses, as well as determining ways to improve performance.According to Rao (2009) performance appraisal has three main purposes; first, to enhance organizational effectiveness, secondly, to correct employee standard and thirdly, to improve performance.When appraisal is done regularly the education of students in the school will improve leading to students passing their examination and working effectively where ever they find themselves.Feedback is necessary in any appraisal system.
When it came to decision making, 60% of the respondents indicated that teachers are often consulted when decisions are made.Thirty-five percent (35%) however think that this is not often done but sometimes.Only one respondent (5%) said it is done very often.The standard deviation is 0.57 indicating a high uniformity in the responses.
35% of the respondents agreed with the statement that claims such as hospital bills are paid promptly.Twenty-five percent (25%) and 35% of the respondents strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively that claims such as hospital bills are paid promptly.Teachers were entitled to such claims.For as long as government grants are not paid to the schools, such claims would not be paid to the beneficiaries.Grants from government sometimes delay, so teachers' claims are not paid promptly.
Respondents were asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree to challenges facing human resource practitioners bothered on replacement and appraisal of teachers.The research indicated that 35% of the respondents, strongly agreed that getting replacement when teachers leave or go on retirement is a challenge facing human resource practitioners in the district while the majority of them (65%) also agreed to the statement.None of them however, strongly disagree or disagrees.
On appraisal of teachers, 30% strongly agreed that appraising all teachers in a term is a challenge facing human resource practitioners in the district.Twentyfive percent (25%) and 35% however strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively to the statement that appraising all teachers in a term is a challenge facing human resource practitioners in the district.
Respondents were asked to give three reasons why teachers leave the district.As many as nineteen responses representing 31.7% were of the view that teachers leave the district for further studies.Eleven responses representing 18.3% said teachers leave to join their spouses.However, only three responses representing 5.0% said teachers leave the district because they have problems with the administration.
A careful look at the data, respondents were asked about offences committed by teachers that warran disciplinary measures.Thirteen responses, representing 25.5% said sexual harassment by male teachers were the offences that male teachers commit.Twelve responses, representing 22.6% were of the view that teachers do not prepare lesson notes.Ten responses, represented by 18.9% were of the view that teachers absent themselves from schools which warrant disciplinary measures.Two responses which represented 3.8% said teachers do not cooperate with the authorities.

CONCLUSION
A number of revelations that came out of the study would add up to knowledge on the subject of Human Resource Management practices.
During the research it was revealed that professional teachers were not interviewed for appointment when they complete their education.For that matter respondents agreed that professional and non-professional teachers should be interviewed before they begin to work this will bring out the best in both the professional and non-professional teachers.
When orientation is organized for teachers who are appointed to teach in the schools/district, it will help them to find their feet and adjust readily to the new environment to work effectively.If in-service training is organized for teachers from time to time it will improve the professional status as teachers and enhance their self-confidence to give off their best.It will also enable teaching personnel to acquire basic skills in teaching administration and record keeping.It also helps to introduce new ideas, policies and new curriculum content to teachers and also to assist teachers to be abreast with new developments and trends in the way children learn and other related issues concerning education.Lack of effective in-service training will make trained and untrained teachers in the schools in the district be found wanting in professional development.Inadequate attention to in-service training is likely to deny teachers the opportunity of being exposed to new methods of teaching and the implementation of some new educational policies, ideas and curriculum content.
The payment of claims such as transportation and hospital bills will motivate teachers to work hard.Nonpayment of such claims demoralizes teachers and prevents them from giving out their best.The contract teachers, who satisfy a need, help to fill some vacancies in the schools.Some of them are very experienced and still strong or energetic to work.This helps in the promotion of teaching and learning in the schools in the district.The observation that teachers posted to the schools/district from the universities often perform well on the job is welcome news.This will promote effective teaching and learning.It is expected that as teachers, after going on study leave to upgrade themselves, they would come out more equipped academically and professionally to deliver or teach very well.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings from the study and the conclusions provide basis for a number of recommendations for consideration.
• The District Directorates should make it a priority or policy in the district to organize orientation for teachers who are posted to the district or schools.
were sought on the nature of Human Resource Management practices on in-service training and development.

Table 1 :
Names of Schools and number of Teachers in the Sample

Table 2 :
Distribution of Respondents by Sex Teachers

Table 3 :
Teachers' perception of recruitment and selection practices

Table 4 :
Views of Teachers on In-service and Training and Development • The District Directorate of Education or heads of schools should organized in-service programmes for teachers.Workshops and seminars should also be organized for heads of schools and administrators to upgrade their knowledge on how to organize in-service training for teachers.• The authorities should try to motivate the teachers by giving them, for instance, free or subsidized accommodation and free breakfast or lunch or both to inspire them to improve performance.• Training and development should be one of the features in the upgrading of skills and knowledge of the teacher.• Staff appraisal should also be a frequent feature in the Akwapim North District at the Senior High Schools level.• Teachers should be given feedback whenever their work is appraised.• Claims such as conference fees, hospital bills, should be paid promptly.• Teachers on contract who are fit and well should be given teaching appointments.