Lecturer Turnover and Its Effect on the Performance of Students: A Case Study of Accra Polytechnic

Academic performance in institution of higher learning generally is thought to be falling in Ghana. One of the reasons that have been ascribed to the declining performance has been the high turnover rate among lecturers in these higher educational institutions. This study was therefore undertaken in Accra Polytechnic to determine effects of lecturer turnover on students’ performance. The study utilized a descriptive survey research approach, in which a well structured questionnaire was designed, comprising close ended questions was administered by randomly to 100 students in Accra Polytechnic to obtain the primary data, and using secondary data on lecturers and student information obtained from Accra Polytechnic Administration. Data were collected from the respondents, collated and summarized using statistical tools such as tables and figures. The study revealed that lecturer turnover adversely affected students’ preparation towards examination. 90 per cent of the students sampled stated that when lecturers resigned in the middle of the semester their preparation towards exams was adversely affected. The study found that turnover did not always result in the decline of students’ performance. It is therefore recommended that to effectively deal with turnover of lecturers when they occur, educational institutions must always find very efficient lecturers as replacement so the performance of the students is not adversely affected.