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File image: Zinqobele Secondary School in KwaZulu-Natal.
Education Expert Prof. Veronica McKay says insufficient teacher support has been identified as one of the key issues that needs to be discussed during the G20 summit to be held in the country later this year.
She was one of the delegates attending the G20 Education Indaba in White River, Mpumalanga.
McKay says they have also noted that the lack of support for teachers is a widespread issue.
She says this has a serious negative impact on teaching and learning.
McKay says, “We’re looking at high attrition rates amongst new teachers because of lack of support and how positive new teachers respond to having a peer mentor in the school, and also to being involved in professional learning communities, and South Africa, in the previous TALIS (The Teaching and Learning International Survey), the international study, we found that only 3% of our teachers participated really regularly against the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average of 21%”
Basic Education Deputy Minister Dr Reginah Mhaule says more focus should also be put on issues affecting Early Childhood Development (ECD).
Mhaule says, “Early learning is very important. Like any structure, when you build a structure, you cannot start by roofing. You start with the foundation and the foundation must be strong. If you want to put a double story, the foundation must fit for that purpose.”
She says, “So that’s why we are focusing on early learning and teacher development on early learning. That we must train our teachers to be able to teach our children at that age, to prepare them. That when they go to the higher grades, they have that strength and they have that knowledge.”
Poor teaching conditions
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Napstosa) in KwaZulu-Natal says far too many teachers are opting to work abroad due to poor teaching conditions and salaries being insufficient.
The organization was reacting to a study that revealed that nearly half of the country’s teachers wish to leave the profession in the next 10 years due to an array of challenges within the education sector.
The study by post-doctoral Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University (SU), Heleen Hofmeyr, showed that 70% of teachers cite excessive administrative duties as the primary cause of their stress.
Last week, the Department of Basic Education said over 200 000 assistant teachers have been deployed to schools across the country to help ease the daily workload.
Naptosa KZN CEO Thirona Moodley says, “With the new curriculum, not so new now, but the CAPS curriculum came a host of administrative responsibilities for educators, so much so they believe they do more admin than teaching, so the workload and mental stress are more.”- Additional reporting by Shanell Daniel and Hoosen Ebrahim.
VIDEO | Survey reveals stressful conditions for teachers:
