Satisfaction with Personal, Professional and Pedagogical Experience and the Japa Syndrome among Nigerian Nursery and Primary School Teachers: A Comparative Study
Keywords:
: japa, teacher satisfaction, teacher migration, early years education, push–pull theoryAbstract
Teacher job satisfaction influences decisions to leave the profession, yet little is known about how satisfied Nigerian nursery and primary school teachers are at home and abroad in the context of the japa syndrome. This cross-sectional, convergent mixed-methods study compared satisfaction with personal, professional and pedagogical experience among Nigerian nursery and primary school teachers in Nigeria (n = 409) and abroad (n = 20). Questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Welch’s t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests and effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals. Semi-structured interviews with eight teachers (four in Nigeria and four in the United Kingdom and Canada) were analysed thematically. Teachers in Nigeria reported overall dissatisfaction (M = 2.67), whereas teachers abroad reported satisfaction (M = 3.67). The difference was large (Hedges’ g = 0.80, 95% CI [0.35, 1.25]) and widest for professional experience. Within Nigeria, satisfaction was lowest among nursery teachers (g = 0.73 relative to primary teachers) and women (g = 0.38), and it did not differ by school type. Interviews linked dissatisfaction to low remuneration, limited recognition and poor working conditions, and passion for working with children sustained some teachers. Teachers abroad described better welfare and conditions alongside family separation and a slow period of settling in. The study recommends improvements in remuneration, recognition, and working conditions, particularly for nursery teachers.
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