Abstract
This quantitative study concentrated on evaluating the effectiveness of the Ministry of Education Mentorship and Beginning Teacher Induction Programme in selected primary schools in region one. The sample consisted of fifty-two beginning teachers from nine schools in Region One for the period 2009 - 2010 of which the females were the dominant gender. The study focused on beginning teachers’ awareness and involvement in the mentorship programme, beginning teachers’ needs and professional support provided for them as well as how they perceive the value of the programme. A thirty-five-item questionnaire was used to collect the relevant data over a two-week period. Data were stored, retrieved and analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS for Windows Version 20.0). Descriptive statistics were used to examine the socio-demographic characteristics for the sample; box-plots were used to present awareness, meeting needs, use of strategies, attendance, value of mentorship and overall mentorship index by gender; and multivariate analysis of variance examine awareness, meeting needs and use of strategies index by selected variables socio-demographic variables. The findings indicated that 1) the programme aids in professional development and that the strategies for improving performance are being employed; 2) the majority of the sample indicate that the mentorship programme improve professional development and performance, and 3) the majority of sample reported that the mentorship programme meet their needs in term of dealing with and maintaining conflict, assisting lesson plan, developing strategies and classroom atmosphere. This study provides an insight into effectiveness of the Ministry of Education’s Mentorship programme and recommend that 1) the programme be compulsory for beginning teachers, and 2).