14 extra teachers needed in every school

11 September 2015

The Democratic Alliance this week became aware that 14% of South Africa's teachers are employed by school governing bodies (SGBs) and not by the state. This means that for every 6 teachers employed by the state, an additional one is employed by an SGB.

It has taken many months to obtain this information, via parliamentary questions, regarding the number of teachers employed by SGBs. These teachers are additional to those the state has allocated, that schools have felt compelled to pay to employ to ensure quality education of the children in their care.

It is concerning that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) did not have this information, stating, in a June response to our initial questions, that the information was still being gathered. The information was finally received this week.

The number of teachers employed by the state in ordinary schools in SA in 2014 was 390 608. The number of SGB-employed teachers is given by the DBE as 62 343. This equates to approximately 13,8% of all teachers in our ordinary schools in SA. 

The number is inordinately high.

It is critical to note that 81% of our schools are non-fee-paying and, for the most part, certainly cannot afford to pay extra teachers. Only 19% of schools of our schools can charge fees and can potentially employ additional teachers. 

This means that our fee-paying schools are employing an average of 14 SGB teachers each. (We are aware that many of our fee-paying schools are also employing teacher assistants, in addition to the qualified teachers they see the need to appoint.)

The most concerning aspect of this scenario is that our poorer non-fee-paying schools also NEED additional teachers, but cannot afford them. They probably also need them at the same average level, given that their access to other resources, such as libraries and laboratories, is very limited. And so they sit with oversized classes, and the concomitant ill-discipline, poor performance and high dropout rates.

The Minister must take serious notice of her own figures and the story they tell. We have two systems of education in our country - a performing system for the more affluent, and a largely dysfunctional system for the poor. 

This is simply unfair. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach their potential through the provision of a quality education which requires enough teachers.

I will write to the Minister, detailing our concerns. The DA believes that it is quite possible that the government has funding to employ enough teachers for all children. The DBE cannot afford to incur the massive irregular expenditure that it does - R779 million in during the last financial year. Further, every ghost teacher the payroll must be removed. 

The lack of sufficient teachers, the resultant large classes and inability to offer the additional assistance that so many of our children need will, without doubt, be a factor contributing to the dysfunctionality of education for the poor. The DA will continue to fight for the quality education that all our children deserve.

Statement issued by Annette Lovemore, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, September 11 2015