Teacher absenteeism on the rise

Bunking, high stress levels cited as some of the reasons

PRIMARY school teachers in KZN are leading the pack when to comes to signing off for future sick days. Secondary school teachers come in a close second.

According to the recently released 2017/2018 school monitoring survey, a relatively large percentage of signing off for future sick days was observed in the province, at 42%. The Western Cape had a low 9%.

For secondary schools, there was a high percentage of signing for future days in Free State schools (34%) and KZN (32%), while Mpumalanga schools displayed a low of 11%.

A total of 239 schools were polled in KZN.

The survey also found that the number of teachers, who were absent from school daily had increased from 8% to 10% since the last survey in 2011.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said the hike in teacher absenteeism was “deeply troubling” and that school principals should micromanage teachers and enforce good leadership to make sure they were not missing work.

A Chatsworth teacher, who declined to be named, said some colleagues had signed off on sick leave for weeks when she believed they were not ill.

“We then have to teach their classes and it is added stress on us. People should not become teachers if they are not serious about their jobs.”

An Umbilo teacher added: “We get stress from parents, from our superiors, and have to deal with delinquent children who have no respect for us. We also take work home almost every day and sit for hours trying to finish assessments. No one understands what we go through. Sometimes we just need a break.”

A Chatsworth principal said teachers used to be rewarded for good attendance, and that could be introduced again as one solution to prevent the system from being abused.

He said doctors, who handed out medical certificates, had also enticed teachers to freely use their leave.

SA Democratic Teachers Union spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said while the union did not condone absenteeism, it knew teachers had valid reasons.

She said 66.6% of absenteeism was due to sick leave, which predominately had to do with oppression at schools.

“Teachers are being bullied by unruly pupils and they’re frustrated. Teachers won’t attend school for no reason.”

Speaking on the research, Motshekga said: “We also note with apprehension that the 2017 survey found no discernible change in the rate of teacher absence since 2011. We must do more to support our teachers.

“There is a need to drill deeper into the statistics to understand this leave of absence phenomenon.”

She said the survey highlighted that the national absentee figures were roughly in line with international norms and that the small change compared to what was measured in 2011 should not be interpreted as evidence of a systematic or substantial increase in teacher absence.

The survey found that having a qualified teacher in a class regularly was an important factor that impacted on learning and teaching, and on the efficient functioning of schools.

Teacher absenteeism was obtained from the school register regarding the number of teachers present on the day of the data-collection visit.

This figure was corrected by allowing for the teachers who had not yet signed in to do so.

The survey found the absence rate to be slightly higher in secondary schools (11%) than in primary schools (9%). There were no large differences between the quintiles.

It was also found that teachers were tasked to sign the register only on arriving at school and not for future days, yet in 22% of schools, such signing for future days was noted on the registers.

The survey was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 1 000 schools offering Grade 6, as well as in a nationally representative sample of 1 000 schools offering Grade 12.