DBE unable to identify teacher shortages in key subjects and grades
22 March 2015
The DA welcomes the release of a Centre for Development Enterprise (CDE) report entitled "Teachers in South Africa - Supply and Demand" which highlights the total lack of any substantial planning for teacher demand and supply by Minister Angie Motshekga and her Department (see here).
The research shows up glaring gaps in the teacher databases maintained by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), which means that it is impossible to identify in precisely what phases and specialist subjects teachers are needed.
I will write to the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, to request details of how she will effectively utilise the research.
The CDE report identifies a serious lack of accurate, reliable and thorough education statistics from the DBE. Critically, there is NO database that shows who teaches what, and therefore the CDE could not "compare the number of teachers teaching subjects or learning areas with the number of teachers required for each subject or learning area". Ultimately this means that it is impossible to identify shortages of teachers by subject or learning area.
The CDE report concludes that South Africa will not, overall, have a shortage of teachers by 2025. The number of teachers in the system will match the number required.
However, it is clear that there will likely be major shortages of teaching professionals qualified to teach Grades R to 3, and those qualified to teach languages.
The DBE is in the process of finalising a profiling exercise, involving determining the qualifications of all teachers in the school system. The next step is to determine the extent of mismatch between qualifications and what is actually being taught.
The final and most difficult step will be ensuring that teachers' skills are matched to the requirements of their posts. This is likely to take at least 5 years to achieve.
It is shocking that this exercise is only now being undertaken. Every child who is taught by a teacher not qualified to teach that grade or subject is being prejudiced.
The issue made its first appearance as a target in the Department's 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan. The plan stated: "In 2013, the Department will develop a supply and demand model to incorporate information about teacher recruitment, attrition, exit, utilisation and migration to inform planning and resourcing of the teaching workforce especially in areas of skills shortage, and to inform a comprehensive national strategy for human resources in the basic education sector that will be finalised in the medium term."
In the 2014/15 Annual Performance Plan, the above commitment was repeated verbatim, with 2015 inserted as the targeted time frame,
The target has disappeared from the 2015/16 Annual Performance Plan.
In order for every child to receive quality education, every child must be taught by a qualified, capable and committed teacher. Planning for sustainable quality education has to be long term, but the achievement of the goal must be targeted in the short term.
The DA has raised the issue of the lack of planning for teacher demand and supply on many occasions, and will continue to do so.
Statement issued by Annette Lovemore MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, March 22 2015
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