Report stresses poor working conditions of teachers

The basic education portfolio committee has expressed its concern with the working conditions of teachers and principals in South Africa.

This after the Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) presented to the committee indicated that issues regarding the lack of safety at schools, gender disparities between teachers and principals and the low pay received by teachers were becoming great concerns.

The survey, conducted internationally with South Africa being the only African participant, has indicated that 60% of South African teachers are female, while only 22% of principals are females.

Coupled with low salaries, this is said to be another contributing factor to low morale among teachers.

The picture seems to be more gloomy in the Northern Cape, where only 5% of principals are females.

More needs to be done to support the work of teachers and ensure that the gender gap between teachers and principals is closed.

The report has also revealed that South African teachers spent 66% of their time on actual teaching and learning, 17% on keeping order in the classroom and 16% on administrative tasks, which is something the committee said also needs to be looked at.

The department has, meanwhile, confirmed that the survey showed a need for South Africa to support a dynamic workforce and reinforce accessibility to teacher education and training.

The department’s chief education specialist, Mark Chetty, told the committee “Talis is the first and largest international survey involving 260 000 teachers with a major focus on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers in schools”.

He said it was meant to help the department understand factors hampering quality teaching and outcomes.