For an education system to function effectively it is important that its planning
functions are executed effectively and efficiently. Among others this implies that the
system must know what the teacher supply and demand is and how it will change in
time. If the teacher supply and demand is known it could result in sound intervention
strategies being developed and implemented. Education planners will be able to plan
for the number of bursaries to be awarded and in which subject fields; it will be known
how many foreign teachers to employ and for which subjects. This is the basic
rationale that underpins this study. This study explored the problem of teacher
demand and supply in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase
(Grades 10 to 12) in South Africa and offers a critical analysis of strategies adopted
by Provincial Education Departments in an endeavour to diminish the demand for
teachers, specifically for Mathematics and Science, in rural and poor schools.
Initially the study involved a secondary data analysis to extrapolate the demand and
supply of teachers in Mathematics and Science over the next ten years. The first key
finding of the study was that the data needed for such an analysis does not exist in
any reliable form that would facilitate the development of such a projection. What the
study had to rely on was anecdotal evidence that suggests that a shortage of
Mathematics and Science teachers does exist and that posts are often filled by
unqualified and under-qualified staff.
In the second phase of the research in which the study explored the effectiveness of
strategies developed to address the shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers,
a qualitative research approach was adopted within a descriptive interpretive design.
The views and opinions of human resource managers responsible for post
provisioning in schools were explored through in-depth interviews to understand the
types of strategy adopted by the provinces, their potential to alleviate the problem of
Mathematics and Science teacher shortage in Grades 10 to 12, their success,
challenges and factors internal to the Department of Education that may deter
Provincial Education Departments from achieving their objectives. The findings revealed that Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) do take heed of
strategies developed by the national Department of Basic Education (DBE). However
implementation is far removed from the original intention and no significant impact
results. Although the reasons are not always obvious from this study, a few important
aspects did emerge. First, the strategy developed may not be popular with a
particular province - employing foreign teachers is a case in point. Secondly, focusing
on just a number of schools to improve their results (e.g. as with the Dinaledi schools)
may meet with resistance from educators and teachers’ unions. Thirdly, creating
bursaries for initial teacher education in certain key areas can only be successful if
the number of teachers in need is known. Finally, even the best strategies are
doomed if post provisioning and appointment of staff are dealt with by different
stakeholders.
Based on the findings, it is recommended that both the DBE and PEDs ensure that
quality education management information is collected and maintained. Information
that is reliable and accurate will inform planning and key decisions to ensure that the
supply of teachers is based on a specific need. As such, deficiencies in skills that are
in short supply such as Science and Mathematics can be averted and better
opportunities can be created for new teacher graduates. While an improved
performance of learners in these subjects is requisite for related study fields at
universities, the Dinaledi schools must be adequately supported and such a model
applied to other schools. The employment of foreign teachers on short-term contracts
does not create stability in schools, therefore, their employment must be
standardised.
Significantly, retention in rural and poor schools is a problem since they struggle to
attract quality teachers; for that reason teacher incentives are indispensable. Making
a declaration for unqualified and under-qualified teachers to acquire professional
teaching qualifications and subsequently discontinue such appointments, will raise
the standard of teaching and learning in schools. Rather, databases of unemployed
qualified teachers could be maintained and such information made accessible to
school principals. In the absence of reliable data that can indicate teacher
qualification and specialisation versus subject taught, the extent to which
Mathematics and Science are taught by unqualified and under-qualified teachers as well as out-of-specialisation teaching, is not known. However, poor pass rates in
these subjects at the exit point of the schooling system (Grade 12) attest to the lack
of appropriately skilled teacher workforce. Therefore, if Mathematics and Science
specialisation is required, then strategies being implemented by the DBE and PEDs
must have a clear purpose to address this shortage. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/43155 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Magano, Florence Lesedi |
| Contributors | Nieuwenhuis, F.J., magano.l@dbe.gov.za |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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