In a written reply to Build One South Africa (BOSA) Leader, Dr Mmusi Maimane’s parliamentary question, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube revealed that more than 32 000 teachers have left the profession in the past five years – an average of over 6 000 a year. Of these departures, 30 992 were resignations and 1 245 were dismissals.
In her response, the Minister attributes the resignations to factors such as retirement eligibility, career changes, migration to other sectors or countries, and overwhelming workload pressures. Dismissals stem from disciplinary action taken under the Employment of Educators Act.
These numbers confirm the extent of the teacher shortage which parents, teachers, and learners experience daily. Classrooms are overcrowded, and our teachers are overworked and underpaid. Burnout, lack of professional support, and deteriorating working conditions are pushing educators out of the system faster than they can be replaced.
The impact means that more than 50% of South Africa’s primary school learners are taught in classes of over 40 children, and about 15% are in classes exceeding 50. This places South Africa behind countries such as Chile, Indonesia, Morocco, and Iran in teacher-to-learner ratios.
Yet, despite this crisis, the Department’s own National Recruitment Database lists at least 12 700 qualified, unemployed educators actively seeking work. It is completely unacceptable that trained teachers are sitting at home while learners are crowded into overstretched classrooms.
BOSA calls on Minister Gwarube to table before Parliament:
- A teacher deployment and absorption plan to immediately employ all qualified educators currently on the national database; and
- A teacher retention strategy to address burnout, poor working conditions, and salary disparities that are driving skilled teachers out of the profession.
Teachers are the unsung heroes of our nation. We thank every educator for the selfless work they do to build South Africa’s future. BOSA stands with our teachers and will continue to fight for smaller class sizes, better working conditions and financial incentives that reward excellence.
Media Enquiries:
Roger Solomons
BOSA Spokesperson
072 299 3551