ETDP SETA SCHOOLING SECTOR SKILLS PLAN 2013/2014

ETDP SETA

SCHOOLING

SECTOR SKILLS PLAN

2013/2014 UPDATE

FINAL SUBMISSION DATE: 15/11/2012

Acknowledgements The Education Moving Up was commissioned by the ETDP SETA to conduct the Schooling Sector Skills Plan

external research. The ETDP SETA wishes to extend sincere gratitude to the researchers including C.L.A.S.S.

Consulting, Creative Consulting and Henry Badenhorst & Associates who compiled this report.

The full version of this report will be available on the ETDP SETA Website: www.etdpseta.org.za

Content

No. Description Page

List of acronyms 5

List of tables 8

List of figures 10

Chapter 1 1. Overview of schooling sector 11

1.2 Research Design 12

1.2.1 Introduction 12

1.2.2 Stakeholder interview 14

1.3 Limitations 14

Chapter 2 2. Schooling sector profile 17

2.1 Institutional profile of schooling 17

2.1.1 Introduction 17

2.1.2 Overall data view of schooling sector in South Africa 17

2.1.3 Learners in the schooling sector 20

2.1.3.1 Public school learners 20

2.1.3.2 Independent school learners 20

2.1.3.3 Public and independent school learners 21

2.1.4 Educator in the schooling sector 22

2.1.4.1 Public school educators 22

2.1.4.2 Independent school educators 23

2.1.4.3 Public and independent school educators 23

2.1.5 Schools in the schooling sector 23

2.1.5.1 Public schools 24

2.1.5.2 Independent schools 25

2.1.5.3 Public and independent schools 30

2.1.6 Integration of learner, educator and school data in schooling 30

2.1.6.1 School governing body educators and the learner educator ratio (LER) 31

2.1.6.2 Learner school ratio (LSR) and the educator school ratio (ESR) 32

2.2 Policy framework 33

2.2.1 Legislative framework 33

2.2.2 Political framework 36

2.3 Socio-Economic profile 38

Chapter 3 3.1 Drivers of change for the ETD and schooling sector 42

3.1.1 External drivers of change in the ETD sector 42

3.1.1.1 Globalisation 42

3.1.1.2 Global recession 42

3.1.1.3 Changes in technology 42

3.1.2 Internal drivers of change 43

3.1.2.1 Legislation 43

3.1.2.2 Social drivers 43

3.1.2.3 Economic drivers 44

3.1.2.4 Technological drivers 45

3.1.2.5 Human resource development strategy for South Africa as a driver 45

3.1.2.6 Schooling specific drivers 46

3.2 Overview of current challenges in the schooling sector 49

3.2.1 Department of Education 49

3.2.2 Schooling challenges 50

3.2.2.1 Orphan learners and attendance of learners 50

3.2.2.2 Reasons for not attending and educational institution 54

3.2.2.3 Corporal punishment 54

3.2.2.4 School infrastructure backlogs 55

3.2.2.5 Growth in independent schools 57

3.3 Employment profile of schooling 57

3.3.1 Distribution of staff types 57

3.3.2 Employee demographic profile 59

3.3.3 Employment patterns and trends 62

3.3.3.1 Educator termination rates 62

3.3.3.2 Educator attrition rates 62

3.4 Skills supply 67

3.4.1 Occupational routes into schooling 67

3.4.1.1 Pathways in teacher education 67

3.4.1.2 Educator qualifications 67

3.4.2 Skills supply analysis 73

3.5 Skills demand 78

3.5.1 Factors impacting on demand 78

3.5.1.1 Demand in Department of Education in public schools 78

3.5.1.2 Demands in independent schools 79

3.5.1.3 Crucial monitoring and evaluation as well as support and development questions 79

3.5.2 Scarce and critical skills priorities 81

3.5.3 Demand and supply analysis 83

3.6 Findings of the research project 86

3.6.1 Western Cape schools 86

3.6.2 KwaZulu-Natal schools 100

3.6.3 Direct and indirect ideas from the data from the two provinces 111

Chapter 4 4. Sector strategy 115

4.1 Priority areas and alignment with national strategies/imperatives 115

4.1.1 Medium term strategic framework (MTSF) 115

4.1.2 New growth plan (NGP) 116

4.1.3 National skills development strategy III (NSDS III) 118

4.1.4 Industrial policy action plan (IPAP) 120

4.1.5 National Development Plan (NDP 2030) 121

4.1.6 Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Development in SA (2011-25) 122

4.2 New and emerging sector challenges regarding skills development 123

4.3 Proposed ETDP Seta intervention 125

Chapter 5 5. Way forward regarding SSP research 128

5.1 Challenges regarding research process 128

5.2 Gaps regarding research update 130

5.3 Recommendations in terms of gaps 134

Reference 136

Appendix 1: Key informants and provincial participants 140

List of Acronyms

ABET Adult Basic Education and Training

ACE Advanced Certificate in Education

ANA Annual National Assessments

ATR Annual Training Report

B.Ed Bachelor of Education

BEE Black Economic Empowerment

CAPS Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement

CDE Centre for Development and Enterprise

CHE Council on Higher Education

CHEC Cape Higher Education Consortium

CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology

CUT Central University of Techology

DBE Department of Basic Education

DHET Department of Higher Education and Training

DoE Department of Education

DoL Department of Labour

DPs Deputy Principals

EC Eastern Cape

ECD Early Childhood Development

EEA Employment of Educators Act

EFA Education For All

ELRC Education Labour Relations Council

ELSEN Education for learners with special needs

EMIS Education Information System

EMU Education Moving Up Cc.

ESR Educator-School Ratio

ETD Education Training and Development

ETDP Education and Training Development Practices

ETDP SETA Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority

FET Further Education and Training

FS Free State

FTE Full-Time Equivalent

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GET General Education and Training

GP Gauteng Province

HEI Higher Education Institution

HESA Higher Education South Africa

HIV/AIDS Human Immune Immunodeficiency/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

HoD Head of Department

HR Human Resources

HRD-SA Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa, 2010-2030

HRDS Human Resources Development Strategy

HRDSSA Human Resources Development Strategy of South Africa

HSRC Human Sciences Research Council

ICT Information Computer Technology

ILO International Labour Organisation

IND Independent Schools

IPAP Industrial Policy Action Plan

ISASA Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa

ISPFTED Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa

ITDS Integrated Teacher Development Strategy

KZN Kwa-Zulu Natal

LER Learner-Educator Ratio

LP Limpopo Province

LSR Learner-School Ratio

LTSM Learner Teacher Support Material

MCTE Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education

MLA Monitoring Learning Achievement

MP Mpumalanga Province

MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework

MTSF Medium-Term Strategic Framework

NC Northern Cape

NCS National Curriculum Statements

NCV National Certificate (Vocational)

NEIMS National Education Information Management System

NEPA National Education Policy Act (No. 27 of 1996)

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

NGP New Growth Path

NIP National Integrated Plan

NMMU Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

NPDE National Professional Diploma in Education

NQF National Qualifications Framework

NSC National Senior Certificate

NSDS National Skills Development Strategy

NSDS III National Skills Development Strategy 3

NW North West

NWU North West University

O-O-S Out-of-School

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PAM Personnel Administrative Measures

PDE Provincial Department of Education

PERSAL Personnel Salary system

PGCE Post Graduate Certificate in Education

PGDS Provincial Growth and Development Strategies

PIRLS Progress in International Reading Literacy Study

PoA Programme of Action

Q1 Quarter 1

QCTO Quality Council for Trades and Occupations

REQV Relative Education Qualifications Value

RPL Recognition of Prior Learning

RU Rhodes University

SACE South African Council for Educators

SACMEQ Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality

SAHRC South African Human Rights Commission

SAQA South African Qualifications Authority

SASA The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 (as amended)

SDA Skills Development Act

SDL Skills Development Levy

SETA Sector Education and Training Authority

SGB School Governing Body

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

SNE Special Needs Education

SSP Sector Skills Plan

StatsSA Statistics South Africa

SUN Stellenbosch University

TALIS Teaching and Learning International Survey

TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study

TUT Tshwane University of Technology

UCT University of Cape Town

UFH University of Fort Hare

UFS University of the Free State

UJ University of Johannesburg

UKZN University of Kwa-Zulu Natal

UL University of Limpopo

UMALUSI Council for Quality Assurance of General and Further Education

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

UNISA University of South Africa

UP University of Pretoria

UWC University of the Western Cape

UZ University of Zululand

VUT Vaal University of Technology

WC Western Cape

WITS University of the Witwatersrand

WSU Walter Sisulu University

WSP Workplace Skills Plan

A. LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 2.1: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2012 18

Table 2.2: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2011 19

Table 2.3: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province,

from 2012, as a percentage of the total number in the country

Table 2.4: Number of Public Learners in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 20

Table 2.5: Number of Independent Learners in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 21

Table 2.6: Number of Public and Independent Learners in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Table 2.7: Number of Public Educators in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 22

Table 2.8: Number of Independent Educators in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 23

Table 2.9: Number of Public and Independent Educators in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Table 2.10: Number of Public Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 25

Table 2.11: Number of Independent Schools in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 25

Table 2.12: Independent School Fee Categories by Province, 2009 26

Table 2.13: Annual Fee and Highest Annual Boarding Fee per Learner, 2009 27

Table 2.14: Low fee private schools in Limpopo, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, 2010 28

Table 2.15: Low fee private schools Learners as percentage of total, 2010 29

Table 2.16: Number of Public and Independent Schools in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Table 2.17: Learner-educator ratio (LER) in Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012 31

Table 2.18: Learner school ratio (LSR) and educator school ratio (ESR) in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Table 2.19: Programmes of Strategic Plan 2010-2013 of DBE 36

Table 2.20: MTEF Budgets by Province 2010-2013 37

Table 2.21: Education Vote as a Percentage of Total Budgets by Province 37

Table 2.22: Salary Increases in the Public Schooling Sub-sector 41

Table 3.1: No-fee schools for 2008 and 2010 49

Table 3.2: Percentage of orphans by orphanhood status, province and population group, 2010 51

Table 3.3: Percentage distribution of orphans by province, 2010 52

Table 3.4: Percentage of children living with only their mothers, only their fathers, with both their parents, or with neither parents by province and population group, 2010

Table 3.5: Percentage of children living in child-headed households by province, 2002 - 2010 53

Table 3.6: Backlogs: Basic service and mud structures 55

Table 3.7: Ordinary schools space backlog 56

Table 3.8: Number of educators by PDE: 2004-2011 57

Table 3.9: Number of staff in ordinary schools, by province and staff type, in 2009 and 2010 58

Table 3.10: Number of educators by age group: 2004 – 2008 and 2011 60

Table 3.11: National gender composition: 2004-2008 and 2011 61

Table 3.12: Number of educators by REQV: 2005-2008 and 2011 62

Table 3.13: Number of educator termination rate from financial year, 2006 to 2011 63

Table 3.14: Number of educator attrition rate by financial year, 2006 – 2011 63

Table 3.15: Number of educator vacancies per province 2008, 2010 and 2011 74

Table 3.16: Profile of 2010 – 2011 bursary recipients by phase specialisation 76

Table 3.17: Bursars expected to qualify at end of 2012 76

Table 3.18: FET Bursars expected to qualify at the end of 2012 in the following subject specialisation 77

Table 3.19: Areas of focus for Funza Lushaka 78

Table 3.20: Scarce Skills identified by Independent schools – WSP Submissions for 2012-2013 82

Table 3.21: Type of education institution – WC 86

Table 3.22: Permanent staff currently in employment – WC 87

Table 3.23: Number of teaching staff – WC 88

Table 3.24: Number of employees who have left employment for the year 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2011 - WC 88

Table 3.25: Training process and/or activity – WC 89

Table 3.26: Factors that drive employment trends and patterns - WC 90

Table 3.27: Main factors influencing or impacting on current skills demands - WC 90

Table 3.28: Main factors influencing or impacting on future skills demands - WC 91

Table 3.29: Top scarce skills in schooling, and the reason for the need - WC 91

Table 3.30: Interventions most appropriate to address scarce skills – WC 94

Table 3.31: Top critical skills in schooling, and how to address it – WC 95

Table 3.32: Ranking of the ETDP SETA strategic interventions in order of importance – WC 96

Table 3.33: Organisational strategies to attract scarce skills – WC 97

Table 3.34: The organisation has strategies to retain critical skills – WC 98

Table 3.35: Type of education institution – KZN 99

Table 3.36: Permanent staff currently in employment – KZN 100

Table 3.37: Number of teaching staff – KZN 101

Table 3.38: Number of new recruits – KZN 101

Table 3.39: Number of employees who have left employment for the year 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2011 - KZN 102

Table 3.40: Training process and/or activity – KZN 103

Table 3.41: Factors that drive employment trends and patterns - KZN 104

Table 3.42: Main factors influencing or impacting on current skills demands - KZN 105

Table 3.43: Main factors influencing or impacting on future skills demands - KZN 105

Table 3.44: Interventions most appropriate to address scarce skills – KZN 107

Table 3.45: Interventions most appropriate to address critical skills – KZN 108

Table 3.46: Ranking of the ETDP SETA strategic interventions in order of importance – KZN 109

Table 3.47: Organisational strategies to attract scarce skills – KZN 111

Table 3.48: The organisation has strategies to retain critical skills – KZN 111

Table 4.1: Top scarce and critical skills in the schools sector 125

B. LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

Figure 2.1: ISASA Schools by Fee Category, 2000 27

Figure 2.2: Total Employment Q1: 2008 to Q2:2010 38

Figure 2.3: Total Employment Q1: 2008 to Q1:2012 39

Figure 2.4: Quarter-to-quarter change in employment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012 39

Figure 2.5: Year-on-year change in employment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012 40

Figure 2.6: Unemployment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012 40

Figure 3.1: Unemployment per race Q1: 2011 to Q1: 2012 44

Figure 3.2: Percentage of persons 7 to 24 years who attend education institutions, 2002 and 2011 53

Figure 3.3: Reasons for not attending an educational institution 54

Figure 3.4: Corporal punishment of 2009 to 2011 55

Figure 3.5: Percentage Distribution of Staff in Ordinary Schools, by Staff Type, in 2009 and 2010 59

Figure 3.6: National educator race composition 2011 61

Figure 3.7: Improvements in teacher qualifications 1990 to 2010 67

Figure 3.8: Impact of the lack of qualified science and mathematics teachers 71

Figure 3.9: Reasons teachers give for turnover 84

Figure 5.1: Systems flow model of teacher supply and demand 132

Figure 5.2: A two to five years project of the size and shape of public educators from 2013 - 2017 133

Chapter 1: Overview of Schooling Sector

1.1 Introduction

Given our South African context, and history, there exists a need for an experiential learning system which

encompasses the formal processes for better learning and skills, as provided by the full and part qualifications

on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The nation’s learning and development process acknowledges

that Education and Training policy and provision has always been a contentious area. Public policy measures

have resulted in strong expectations from the education system. Symbolically, this change of ethos became the

dominant modus operandi soon after the democratic elections of 1994. Practically, the implications of the shift

are still unravelling. It is not only the implications of the new dispensation which will secure attention, but the

full spectrum of school workplace demands which will occupy attention in the broader considerations of skills

development.

It is evident that the pre-1994 South African scenario of deliberate institutional and human fragmentation and

separation is being addressed in all its complex manifestations. Since Apartheid hegemony was so pervasive,

redress is slow. Change is also made more difficult because of the unique nature of our society and the intricate

webs of statutory oppressions. A kind of constructed (albeit unreal) reality has been inserted into the social

fabric of what remains a very “strange” society, resulting in a submerged “othering” which remains a potent

and negative force. This has resulted in a society described as 'African in spirit, Eastern by insertion and

European by design'. And each of these powerful cultural impetuses has contributed to a vast crucible of

contradictory and often warring nation builders, subtended generally by a European power structure and, of

more recent origin, by the sweep of globalisation.

The fact that our country has at times experienced relative workplace peace is not a symptom of a meeting of

minds and cultures, but rather a response to the spectre of poverty which haunts an overwhelming percentage

of South Africans, especially those who live below subsistence level. In a country which has been subjected to

one of the most systematic historical skewing in recent history, it is clear that history itself would be set adrift in

the kind of political technology which is built on specially nuanced and selected signifieds. This results in

continuing subscriptions to the wrong referents, in the relocation of wrong or misleading referents by

bedevilling the referential map with all kinds of prejudices, submersions, silences, marginalisations,

estrangements, and even persecution.

The conceptual blind-spot in some research work, dealing with skills auditing and acquisition, is either the

marginal or even non-existent reference to development and support systems, especially in the South African

context. A concomitant result of this, without devaluing the role of procedures in the education and service

industries, is the grafting on of the industrial metaphor of product and machine output as eminently human

activities, intentions and processes. The globalisation of the world economy undoubtedly impacts on the way

our fledgling post-Apartheid democracy interfaces with the world. This is expressed in how we develop our

human resources to mediate, at best, or manage, at least, the so-called Big Capital. What needs reclaiming in

the education, training and service industries, however, is the empowerment of the individual as a voluntary

change agent, capable of using intentionality (will) and reciprocity (response to change) in order to

operationalise or realise the vision and mission of skills development in the South African context.

There have been and continue to be many government interventions to reverse the massive negative impact of

Apartheid. One of them has been the establishing of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) whose

list of functions is outlined in Chapter 3 Section 10 of the Skills Development Act (1998). One of the functions is

to develop and implement a sector skills plan which forms the delivery vehicle of the framework of the national

skills development strategy.

According to the Framework for the National Skills Development Strategy 2011/12 – 2015/16, Sector Skills Plans

are five-year Sector Education and Training Skills Development reports prepared by Sector Education and

Training Authorities (SETAs), aimed at identifying:

The skills needs of industry / economic sectors (skills shortages, skills gaps and skills supply) based on the

standard industrial classification codes allocated to each individual SETA by the Minister in the SETA

establishment and re-certification process;

Possibilities and constraints in the effective utilisation and development of skills in relation to government’s

priorities and the objectives of the Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS), the National Skills

Development Strategy (NSDS), Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (including major projects)

and relevant industry / economic strategies.

This report will therefore respond to some of the issues mentioned above and will continue to project a

contemporary picture of the state of schooling within the education systems. But more precisely in the

conceptual sections, propose a future methodology that allows the sector the ability to make future projections

and scenario building in order to be proactive in responding to challenges in the education system.

1.2 Research Design

1.2.1 Introduction

It is well known, from numerous research reports, what we are in desperate need of a comprehensive and

cross-sectoral grade R-12 vision, mission and action plan, built on the foundation of a legitimate education data

system. The overall intent of this data system should be to provide stakeholders with information that

addresses critical questions about teacher supply and demand and therefore the skills development gaps

among teachers, as well as learner progress in relation to teacher competence and the delivery of quality

education in South Africa. This report therefore incorporates data that allows the SETA to address the research

questions identified in the literature for teacher up-skilling, re-skilling, supply and demand; through the study

conducted in this project.

The following steps were identified:

1. The identification of a priority list of research questions the DBE data system should provide SETA with the

capacity to address;

2. A gap analysis comparing the current status of the DBE’s data system with the information needs associated

with the research questions; and

3. A technical capabilities gap analysis at the classroom level to help ensure that data from the DBE’s

longitudinal data system is accessible to key stakeholders including principals, teachers, and other district

leaders.

The methodology for identifying critical research questions included:

1. A review of ETDP SETA documentation describing the vision for the data system, with its primary

objectives to have information on the quality and number of the educator workforce in all its different

dimensions, as well as the ability to monitor and analyse training costs; provide for financial integrity and

accountability; and have the capability to link across these various data components by class, by phase, by

teacher, by school, by district, and comprehensively at the national level.

2. A review of the literature on longitudinal data systems that included the publications and policy briefs

produced by the SETA and the national and parastatal departments over the past few years, as well as other

pertinent resources on data use at multiple levels of the education system. The national literature also

highlighted the types of questions that high quality state data systems should enable multiple stakeholders

to address.

3. Interviews with two provincial (Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces) as well as national

(Department of Basic Education) stakeholder group representatives identified by the lead researcher. The

interview process provided an overall indication of stakeholders’ beliefs and understanding about the most

important types of data the system should provide. Frequently cited areas focused on measuring learner

progress, longitudinal learner growth and accurately determining dropout rates, teacher quality and

preparation, teacher impact on learners, funding allocations, and the ability to determine programme

outcomes.

4. A survey of district, school, and provincial representatives through the distribution of a generic

questionnaire, with specific focus on schooling issues and challenges. The survey process represented the

final stage of identifying the high priority research questions for the SETA’s data system. Across the two (2)

sample provinces of the Western Cape (WC) and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), as well as district, and school

surveys, there were a total of forty (40) questionnaires that reflected SETA’s priorities.

The methodology for identifying the data system gaps centered on two primary activities:

1. Interviews and discussions with key stakeholders at strategic, managerial and operational levels at the

Department of Basic Education (DBE), WC and KZN Department of Education (DoE). This activity created a

detailed recording process and transcripts for qualitative ethnographic analysis in order to detect emerging

themes and patterns.

2. Distribution of survey questionnaires and data collection through e-mailing participants who responded to

the cellular phone SMS use to verify their contact details, as well as the uploading of data with a view to

facilitate statistical analysis.

1.2.2 Stakeholder Interviews

At the start of the project, EMU developed a list of internal stakeholders to participate in the interview process.

Interviews were conducted with each of the stakeholders to gather information about their use and need for

data, with particular focus on the need for a teacher supply and demand framework. These interviews were

conducted on 6-7 September 2012 with the WC DoE, on 9-10 September with KZN DoE stakeholders, and on

12-13 September 2012 with the DBE representatives. The eight (8) interviewees consisted primarily of

individuals within the respective provinces and DBE who are members of the Human Resources Division for

managerial and operational responses, and the Heads of Departments (Superintendents) for strategic

responses. As “Data Stewards” and “Data Owners,” this group represented Human Resources (HR) and other

related sectors including student, educator, financial, and cross-sectional reporting. The team also played

critical roles in providing system and data expertise throughout the process. For a complete list of interviewees

from the two provinces and the Department of Basic Education, see Appendix A.

The interview protocol included an explanation of the goals of the project and questions about the

interviewee’s sources and uses of data, with specific focus on the key questions those interviewees were asked

but were unable to address in detail due to lack of data or data connections, and validation of existing

documented metadata. The nature of the questions and the synthesisation of responses and recommendations

will be covered in detail within the teacher supply and demand session, which includes the project description

and interview protocol given to all interviewees.

All interviews were conducted face-to-face. The lead researcher set the context for the interview and led a brief

introduction to the data’s place, value and function at the start of each interview. The interview was video

recorded as the session was in progress, to help ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the information

transcription. The interviews provided a critical opportunity to validate and refine data. Follow-up information

including the incorporation of additional data elements, systems or collections, as well as the synthesis and

integration of the notes, was facilitated following the interview. The lead researcher followed-up with several

individuals to clarify specific points identified as quotations and paraphrasing and gathered additional

information.

Due to the open-ended nature of the interviews, each one was different and focused on the unique aspects of

their context; namely their strategic, managerial and operational intervention role. This allowed the interviewer

to more thoroughly discuss the area of greatest interest or importance to the interviewees. The notes and

metadata from these interviews were captured in the transcript.

1.3 Limitations

This section will cover three domains of limitations, namely (i) those limitations which we announce and

thereafter explain the importance of, (ii) those limitations we intend to reflect on in terms of their nature, and

then subsequently use to justify the choices we made to minimise the impact, and (iii) those limitations we

analysed in order to suggest how they can be minimised or overcome in future research processes.

1.3.1 Announcing limitations

There are many limitations that we faced within this research process. The majority of which are listed in

chapter five, which include both research and content gaps. The limitations that will be discussed within this

section focus on those that had the greatest impact on the quality of the recommendations, as well as our

ability to effectively respond to the research requirements as stated in the contractual agreement.

Some of the limitations are regarded as potential ones, since we do not know the degree to which these

different factors limited our recommendations or our ability to effectively respond to the contractual

agreements. For example, we know that when we adopted a survey research design, a failure to use this

sampling technique significantly limits our ability to make broader generalisations for our results, i.e. our ability

to make statistical inferences from our sample to the population being investigated, let alone what the

response rate among a constituency that has never submitted such data collection reports will be. However,

the degree to which this will reduce the quality of our recommendations is a matter of debate. While the

limitation indicated above is a very obvious research limitation, other limitations are more obscure within the

research process. Therefore, we will focus on those limitations that had the greatest impact on our

recommendations, as well as our ability to respond to the research requirements.

The current data collection process and instruments need to be scrutinised since they are not synthesised with

the data requirements in the report. The majority of data from the survey is historical, and a one-year glimpse

into what happened. To understand the trend and patterns within skills development and the response to the

skills gaps, multiple years must be included in order to allow comparative analyses. Furthermore, if purposeful

sampling is applied, then data from previous years can be utilised, but not in the random process followed in

this year’s report.

1.3.2 Reflecting limitations

The limitations announced above can be reduced or eliminated when the data collection instrument is more

specific in nature, as in relation to the sub-sector under research, i.e. schooling, as well as if we synchronise the

skeleton requirements of the SSP report as captured in the contractual agreement with the data fields

contained in the survey instrument. A big portion of the data fields are qualitative in nature, and therefore it

gives the researchers no opportunity to contrast or compare due to the different responses.

The strengthening of the sample size among the public and independent schools will assist the researchers to

triangulate the skills gaps submitted by the provincial departments with those from schools within the given

province. However, for the purpose of this report, despite the small sample size, there is a close correlation

between the broad needs identified at national and provincial level, with that of the individual schools.

1.3.3 Forward looking limitations

These limitations are adequately covered in the section of recommendations related to short, medium and long

term improvements in the research process, in chapter five. However, we can state that the response to the

recommendations will only contribute to the improvement in quality of the research at hand. In particular, it

will respond to the internal and external validity of this report, clarify and respond to the extraneous and

confounding variables which are outside the control and possible influence of either and/or both the

researchers and the SETA, such as the availability of data sets and the response time, if any, of those of the data

sets agencies.

The construction validity issues will be covered when we deal with the research process and flow

recommendations also in chapter five.

The convergent and divergent validity will be improved when the sample size representative of the population,

as well as when the availability of data and the analysis of it is cemented in the debates and conversations of

the SETA.

Narratives are mostly driven by ‘opinion-based’ conversations and decision making within committees rather

than ‘data-driven’ conversations and decision making.

Finally the content validity of the report will be strengthened when multiple sources of similar and same data

exists and when data sets are not collected in a way that only respond to single user agencies. Moreover , the

placing of data sets within the public domain could enhance the quality of the data sets when these are open

for scrutiny and verification by external and independent respondents. Our current content is dependent on

the meticulousness of the supplier of the data. Any typographical or interpretation errors is difficult to uncover.

Chapter 2: Schooling Sector Profile

2.1 Institutional Profile of Schooling

This section will report on the size, shape and scope of the schooling sector, with specific focus on the learners,

educators and schools as institutions, demarcated among the nine provinces in the country. All the data

represented in the report comes from secondary data systems within the government institutions, and

therefore the triangulation of data is not possible at this time due to the lack of integration across various

databases in education.

2.1.1 Introduction

The schooling sub-sector includes both public and independent education. School governing bodies form a

sub-sector of public education. The schooling sub-sector also covers about 60% of the total representation of

the ETDP SETA constituencies and therefore constitutes the largest constituency, in comparison to the 16 other

constituencies represented through various Standards Industrial Classifications (SIC). These constituencies

represent six (6) major ETD designations, namely (i) Research, (ii) Education and Training, (iii) Non-

governmental Organisations, (iv) Trade Unions, (v) Political Parties, and (vi) Libraries.

The schooling sub-sector includes both public and independent education, of which school governing bodies

form a sub-sector of both mentioned. Due to the current method and nature of data collection and analysis,

the school governing body educator component within the public and independent schools is not separated in

order to facilitate the understanding, nature, size and shape of this important component.

2.1.2 Overall view of the schooling sector in South Africa

Education is a fundamental right for all citizens. This right is enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the South African

Constitution, which stipulates that “everyone has a right to basic education, including adult basic education and

further education which the state, through reasonable measures must make progressively available and

accessible” (RSA, 1996).

As far as schooling is concerned, it is the joint responsibility of the Department of Basic Education and

Provincial Departments of Education (PDEs). The Department of Basic Education is responsible for national

policy, norms and standards. The Provincial Departments of Education (PDEs) are responsible for the

implementation of the national mandates. The core legislation governing schooling is: the National Education

Policy Act (NEPA) (1996), the South African Schools Act (SASA) (1996), and the National Curriculum Statements

(NCS) which will be replaced by the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) as was phased-in from

2011. Each Provincial Department has Provincial Education Acts and regulations.

The schooling sector is made up of learners who are taught by teachers. These teachers are managed by

departmental officials. The data on learners is detailed, while the data of teachers and officials are combined

within a category called ‘educators’. There is no clear separation of the different levels of educators working

within the sector, i.e. classroom based, heads of departments, deputy principals, principals, subject and

institutional specialist, district, provincial and national officials.

As indicated earlier, there are two types of schools in South Africa; namely public and independent schools.

Public schools are controlled by the government through the education departments, while independent

schools are controlled by privately-owned individuals and/or structures. Although independent schools are

privately controlled, they have to be registered with the relevant provincial departments where they are

located and comply with the various education regulations and policies which are prescribed to all learners,

teachers and schools. There is, however, some flexibility and freedom granted to independent schools.

From the table below, as indicated in the Department of Basic Education report on ‘School Realities’ for 2012,

there are 11 923 674 learners in public schools, and 504 395 learners in independent schools. The public school

system therefore hosts 96% of the total learners in the system. KwaZulu-Natal hosts the largest number of

learners, while the Northern Cape hosts the smallest portion of learners in the system. There are 392 377

educators in public schools and 32 790 educators are in the independent schools. The public system employs

92% of the total number of teachers, while the independent school system employs 8%; which is double when

compared with the percentage of learners in independent schools (4%).

Table 2.1: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2012

Province Public Independent

Learners Educators Schools Learners Educators Schools

Eastern Cape 1 886 982 64 809 5 558 64 541 3 127 196

Free State 646 093 23 854 1 351 15 881 974 68

Gauteng 1 858 745 59 175 2 045 216 642 14 785 566

KwaZulu-Natal 2 812 844 90 251 5 955 65 125 4 681 221

Limpopo 1 665 013 55 277 3 935 50 765 2 393 143

Mpumalanga 1 027 851 33 059 1 807 26 932 1 605 113

Northern Cape 274 189 8 632 560 3 305 232 20

North West 760 272 24 881 1 591 14 870 1 043 54

Western Cape 991 685 32 439 1 453 46 334 3 950 190

South Africa 11 923 674 392 377 24 255 504 395 32 790 1 571

Source: DBE 2012 – School Realities

If the information in Table 2.1 above is compared to School Realities of 2011 in Table 2.2 below, the total

number of learners has increased by 119 608 in the public school system, while the independent school system

has increased by 24 586 learners. The increase in learner growth in the public schools is, therefore, double that

of the independent schools, with a 10% growth. The number of educators employed by the public sector has

increased by 2 303 educators. The independent school sector has increased by 2 256 educators, which is a

higher ratio per learner than the public sector.

Table 2.2: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2011

Province

Public Independent Public and Independent

Eastern Cape 1 910 265 65 861 5 589 53 313 2 638 166 1 963 578 16.0 68 499 16.3 5 755 22.3

Free State 641 219 23 203 1 371 16 791 854 66 658 010 5.4 24 057 5.7 1 437 5.6

Gauteng 1 810 197 57 836 2 040 207 734 13 696 519 2 017 931 16.4 71 532 17.0 2 559 9.9

KwaZulu-Natal 2 781 830 88 710 5 957 65 548 4 556 223 2 847 378 23.2 93 266 22.2 6 180 23.9

Limpopo 1 645 746 55 672 3 931 49 778 2 344 142 1 695 524 13.8 58 016 13.8 4 073 15.8

Mpumalanga 1 021 722 33 126 1 821 24 829 1 497 110 1 046 551 8.5 34 623 8.2 1 931 7.5

Northern Cape 271 474 8 664 591 3 271 235 20 274 745 2.2 8 899 2.1 611 2.4

North West 751 294 24 965 1 614 13 826 932 55 765 120 6.2 25 897 6.2 1 669 6.5

Western Cape 970 319 32 037 1 451 44 719 3 782 185 1 015 038 8.3 35 819 8.5 1 636 6.3

South Africa 11 804 066 390 074 24 365 479 809 30 534 1 486 12 283 875 100 420 608 100 25 851 100

In Table 2.3 below, which is a combination of the public and independent system in 2012 for learners, educators

and schools, KwaZulu-Natal still hosts the largest number of learners and the Northern Cape the smallest. In

percentage, the Eastern Cape has a larger number of schools, if we compare the number of educators in that

province to that of Gauteng (i.e. Eastern Cape’s 67 936 educators in 5 754 schools, compared to Gauteng’s 73

960 educators in 2 611 schools). We can, therefore, assume that the number of learners in schools in the

Eastern Cape will be smaller than those in Gauteng, as well as the Western Cape. It could be that these

particular provinces are primarily urban rather than rural considering their geography. There are 25 fewer

schools than the previous year, and while Gauteng has 52 more schools, the Western Cape increased by seven

(7) schools and Limpopo by five (5). The other six provinces showed a decrease of 89 schools.

Table 2.3: Number of Learners, Educators and Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2012,

as a percentage of the total number in the country

Province Public and Independent

Learners As % Total Educators As % Total Schools As % Total

Eastern Cape 1 951 523 15.7% 67 936 16.0% 5 754 22.3%

Free State 661 974 5.3% 24 828 5.8% 1 419 5.5%

Gauteng 2 075 387 16.7% 73 960 17.4% 2 611 10.1%

KwaZulu-Natal 2 877 969 23.2% 94 932 22.3% 6 176 23.9%

Limpopo 1 715 778 13.8% 57 670 13.6% 4 078 15.8%

Mpumalanga 1 054 783 8.5% 34 664 8.2% 1 920 7.4%

Northern Cape 277 494 2.2% 8 864 2.1% 580 2.2%

North West 775 142 6.2% 25 924 6.1% 1 645 6.4%

Western Cape 1 038 019 8.4% 36 389 8.6% 1 643 6.4%

South Africa 12 428 069 100% 425 167 100% 25 826 100%

2.1.3 Learners in the schooling sector

The schooling sector comprises of public and independent school learners and this report does not include

‘special needs learners’, or more often referred to as ‘special needs education’ (SNE) due to limited data

available in this area.

2.1.3.1 Public school learners

The total number of learners in the public school system over the five-year period is consistently in the region

of 11.8 million learners, as reflected in the average of 11 847 801 learners. There has been a consistent

decrease in the number of learners since 2008 to 2011. However, there is an increase in the total number of

learners for 2012 (11.92 million learners).

Table 2.4: Number of Public Learners in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Public Learners

Learners

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 2 037 777 2 032 198 2 003 129 1 910 265 1 886 982 1 974 070 16.7%

Free State 656 074 642 234 638 756 641 219 646 093 644 875 5.4%

Gauteng 1 716 196 1 720 243 1 776 925 1 810 197 1 858 745 1 776 461 15.0%

KwaZulu-Natal 2 725 855 2 773 336 2 743 979 2 781 830 2 812 844 2 767 569 23.4%

Limpopo 1 735 806 1 671 672 1 660 700 1 645 746 1 665 013 1 675 787 14.1%

Mpumalanga 1 034 719 1 016 479 1 013 760 1 021 722 1 027 851 1 022 906 8.6%

Northern Cape 263 086 264 857 266 296 271 474 274 189 271 041 2.2%

North West 765 762 764 493 746 096 751 294 760 272 771 184 6.3%

Western Cape 937 887 943 235 959 714 970 319 991 685 960 568 8.1%

South Africa 11 873 162 11 828 747 11 809 355 11 804 066 11 923 674 11 847 801 100%

Source: DBE, School realities 2008 – 2012

Table 2.4 indicates that KwaZulu-Natal is responsible for almost a quarter of the learners (average of 23.4%),

followed by the Eastern Cape (16.7%), Gauteng (15%) and Limpopo (14.1%). The other five provinces are all

below 10% of the total number of learners, with Northern Cape being responsible for 2.2% of the learners. The

data of the Western Cape shows a consistent increase since 2008, while the Eastern Cape reflects a consistent

decline since 2008. The Free State also shows a decline in learners from 2008 to 2010, followed by a slow

increase from 2011 to 2012.

2.1.3.2 Independent school learners

The total number of learners in the independent school system is growing consistently, from 366 201 learners in

2008 to 504 395 learners in 2012. The growth represents an increase of 37%. Despite the Western Cape being

the best performing province within the country at matric level, this province has shown the biggest growth in

independent schools (92%) over the five-year period. The most significant growth took place between 2009

and 2010, while the growth since then has levelled-off or plateaued. Limpopo, one of the poorly performing

provinces, has shown an increase of 75% in independent school learners.

Gauteng still has the biggest independent school sector in the country, with 44.9% of the total number of

learners.

Table 2.5: Number of Independent Learners in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province

Independent Learners

Learners As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 42 217 44 202 49 257 53 313 64 541 50 706 11,6%

Free State 14 514 14 520 15 948 16 791 15 881 15 531 3,6%

Gauteng 177 831 183 595 197 141 207 734 216 642 196 589 44,9%

KwaZulu-Natal 45 565 43 638 63 009 65 548 65 125 56 577 12,9%

Limpopo 28 863 35 608 45 701 49 778 50 765 42 143 9,6%

Mpumalanga 16 812 18 990 22 672 24 829 26 932 22 047 5,0%

Northern Cape 2 780 2 852 3 096 3 271 3 305 3 061 0,7%

North West 13 498 12 792 13 018 13 826 14 870 13 601 3,1%

Western Cape 24 121 29 901 40 902 44 719 46 334 37 195 8,5%

South Africa 366 201 386 098 450 744 479 809 504 395 437 449 100%

Source: DBE, School realities 2008 - 2012

2.1.3.3 Public and Independent school learners

Jointly, there are 12.4 million learners in the education system in 2012, which is the highest over the five-year

period. The province that has the most number of learners is still KwaZulu-Natal (23%), followed by the Eastern

Cape (16.5%), Gauteng (16.1%) and Limpopo (14%). The rest of the provinces are all below 10%, with

Mpumalanga at 8.5%, the Western Cape at 8.1%, North West at 6.3%, Free State at 5.4% and the Northern

Cape at 2.2%.

Table 2.6: Number of Public and Independent Learners in Ordinary Schools, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Public and Independent Learners

Learner

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 2 079 994 2 076 400 2 052 386 1 963 578 1 951 523 2 024 776 16,5%

Free State 670 588 656 754 654 704 658 010 661 974 660 406 5,4%

Gauteng 1 894 027 1 903 838 1 974 066 2 017 931 2 075 387 1 973 050 16,1%

KwaZulu-Natal 2 771 420 2 816 974 2 806 988 2 847 378 2 877 969 2 824 146 23,0%

Limpopo 1 764 669 1 707 280 1 706 401 1 695 524 1 715 778 1 717 930 14,0%

Mpumalanga 1 051 531 1 035 469 1 036 432 1 046 551 1 054 783 1 044 953 8,5%

Northern Cape 265 866 267 709 269 392 274 745 277 494 271 041 2,2%

North West 779 260 777 285 759 114 765 120 775 142 771 184 6,3%

Western Cape 962 008 973 136 1 000 616 1 015 038 1 038 019 997 763 8,1%

South Africa 12 239 363 12 214 845 12 260 099 12 283 875 12 428 069 12 285 250 100%

KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape share an average of more than 2 million learners over the past 5 years,

while Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga have over 1 million learners. KwaZulu-Natal has more than 10 times

more learners than the Northern Cape.

2.1.4 Educators in the schooling sector

The schooling sector consists of public and independent school educators, while both of these sectors will

supplement their government-paid educators with additional educators paid for by the School Governing

Bodies (SBGs). The emergence and contributions of SGB-paid educators will be discussed separately.

Furthermore, reference to “public school educators” and “independent school educators” is an indication that

these educators are appointed permanently in substantive posts, for which the school receives a subsidy as in

the case of independent schools, or the educator is on the pay-roll of the government as in the case of public

schools.

2.1.4.1 Public school educators

There are 392 377 educators in the public school system in 2012, which is an increase of 14 317 educators since

2008. This represents a net average increase of more than 3 500 educators per year. The biggest increase in

educator employment in real terms took place in KwaZulu-Natal - 6 491, which is 333 educators more than

what was employed in Gauteng over the same period from 2008 to 2012.

Table 2.7: Number of Public Educators in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province

Public Educators

Educators As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 64 371 67 409 66 626 65 861 64 809 65 815 17,0%

Free State 22 696 23 583 23 016 23 203 23 854 23 270 6,0%

Gauteng 53 017 54 586 57 423 57 836 59 175 56 407 14,6%

KwaZulu-Natal 83 760 85 901 87 466 88 710 90 251 87 218 22,5%

Limpopo 55 647 56 766 55 992 55 672 55 277 55 871 14,4%

Mpumalanga 32 784 33 984 33 245 33 126 33 059 33 240 8,6%

Northern Cape 8 835 8 888 8 617 8 664 8 632 8 727 2,3%

North West 25 736 25 762 25 074 24 965 24 881 25 284 6,5%

Western Cape 31 214 29 708 31 870 32 037 32 439 31 454 8,1%

South Africa 378 060 386 587 389 329 390 074 392 377 387 285 100%

As mentioned earlier, KwaZulu-Natal is the biggest employer of public educators in the country with 90 251

educators, which is 22.5% of the total public sector educators in the country. The next province is the Eastern

Cape with 64 809, Gauteng with 59 175, and Limpopo with 55 277 educators.

The Eastern Cape shows a steady decline in educator employment since 2009; from 67 409 to 64 809 in 2012.

By contrasts, the Western Cape shows a steady increase since 2009 from 29 708 to 32 439 in 2012.

2.1.4.2 Independent school educators

The independent school sector has experienced a steady and consistent increase in educator employment from

22 893 educators in 2008, to 32 790 educators in 2012, an increase of 9 897 educators. This demonstrates a

significantly higher percentage increase than that of the public sector over the same period. Gauteng is the

biggest employer of independent educators, 46.2% of the total independent educator sector. Mpumalanga

experienced the biggest growth over the mentioned period in educator employment of 87%, followed by the

Western Cape with 83%, and then Limpopo with 67%. Although the increase in the growth phenomenon can

be justified in poorly performing provinces, there is a need to investigate and understand the drastic increase in

this sector in provinces like the Western Cape and Gauteng province.

Table 2.8: Number of Independent Educators in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province

Independent Educators

Educators As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 2 165 2 211 2 392 2 638 3 127 2 507 9,0%

Free State 687 781 834 854 974 826 3,0%

Gauteng 11 290 11 765 12 917 13 696 14 785 12 891 46,2%

KwaZulu-Natal 3 223 3 095 4 460 4 556 4 681 4 003 14,3%

Limpopo 1 436 1 797 2 202 2 344 2 393 2 034 7,3%

Mpumalanga 860 1 229 1 330 1 497 1 605 1 304 4,7%

Northern Cape 184 227 229 235 232 221 0,8%

North West 884 935 932 932 1 043 945 3,4%

Western Cape 2 164 2 537 3 484 3 782 3 950 3 183 11,4%

South Africa 22 893 24 577 28 780 30 534 32 790 27 915 100%

2.1.4.3 Public and Independent school educators

The South African education system has seen an increase in educator employment of close to 25 000 educators

over the five-year period. KwaZulu-Natal is the biggest employer of educators at 22% of total educator

employment, with Gauteng at 16.7%, the Eastern Cape at 16.5% and then Limpopo at 13.9%. Among these

provinces, Gauteng is the best performing province in the matric examination.

The biggest real term increase in one year took place in 2009, when 10 211 more educators were employed

within the education system, a number which represents an increase of 2.5% in employees within one year.

The Western Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Free State all show a steady increase over the

mentioned period, while the others show a constant fluctuation in educator employment.

Table 2.9: Number of Public and Independent Educators in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from

2008 to 2012

Province

Public and Independent Educators

Educator As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 66 536 69 620 69 018 68 499 67 936 68 322 16,5%

Free State 23 383 24 364 23 850 24 057 24 828 24 096 5,8%

Gauteng 64 307 66 351 70 340 71 532 73 960 69 298 16,7%

KwaZulu-Natal 86 983 88 996 91 926 93 266 94 932 91 221 22,0%

Limpopo 57 083 58 563 58 194 58 016 57 670 57 905 13,9%

Mpumalanga 33 644 35 213 34 575 34 623 34 664 34 544 8,3%

Northern Cape 9 019 9 115 8 846 8 899 8 864 8 949 2,2%

North West 26 620 26 697 26 006 25 897 25 924 26 229 6,3%

Western Cape 33 378 32 245 35 354 35 819 36 389 34 637 8,3%

South Africa 400 953 411 164 418 109 420 608 425 167 415 200 100%

2.1.5 Schools in the Schooling Sector

The schooling sector consists of public and independent school. Both are referred to as ordinary schools.

For the purpose of this report, special, early childhood development (ECD), public adult basic education and

training (ABET) centres, and public further education and training (FET) institutions are not covered, but they

are often assumed to be included in conversations on schooling.

2.1.5.1 Public schools

There are 24 255 public schools in South Africa, which is 496 fewer than the 24 751 schools in 2008. The

number of schools has consistently been decreasing since 2008; the average number of schools over the five-

year period has been 24 503 schools. Public schools therefore have been reducing at an average rate of 124

schools per year.

Apart from Gauteng (increase of 56 schools), KwaZulu-Natal (increase of 172 schools) and the Western Cape

(increase of 2 schools), the other provinces have recorded a net reduction in the number of schools. The

Eastern Cape shows a net decrease of 128 schools, the Free State a reduction of 263 schools, Limpopo 88

schools, Mpumalanga 67 schools, the Northern Cape 42 schools, and the North West 139 schools. The

reference to ‘net’ indicates that although there will be a reduction as well as the building of new schools in the

provinces, the net result will be either an increase or a decrease.

KwaZulu-Natal hosts the biggest number of schools – 24.1% of the total public schools in the country. The

Eastern Cape hosts 22.9% and Limpopo 16.2% of public schools. All the other provinces are below 10%,

Gauteng with 8.2%, Mpumalanga with 7.5%, North West with 6.8%, Free State with 6%, Western Cape with

5.9% and Northern Cape with 2.4%.

Table 2.10: Number of Public Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Public Schools Ave Schools As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 5 686 5 668 5 588 5 589 5 558 5 618 22,9%

Free State 1 614 1 547 1 422 1 371 1 351 1 461 6,0%

Gauteng 1 989 1 970 2 013 2 040 2 045 2 011 8,2%

KwaZulu-Natal 5 783 5 907 5 927 5 957 5 955 5 906 24,1%

Limpopo 4 023 3 988 3 965 3 931 3 935 3 968 16,2%

Mpumalanga 1 873 1 844 1 838 1 821 1 807 1 837 7,5%

Northern Cape 602 600 597 591 560 590 2,4%

North West 1 730 1 716 1 646 1 614 1 591 1 659 6,8%

Western Cape 1 451 1 453 1 455 1 451 1 453 1 453 5,9%

South Africa 24 751 24 693 24 451 24 365 24 255 24 503 100%

Source: DBE, School Realities from 2008 to 2012

Considering the geographical location of the provinces and the size of the learner and educator populations,

the patterns of reduction regarding the number of schools are not clear. Provinces like Gauteng and Western

Cape are mostly urban in geographical nature and it could therefore be deduced that they are focusing on

schools with larger numbers of learners and educators per school.

2.1.5.2 Independent schools

There are 1 571 independent schools recorded in 2012 as compared to 1 124 schools in 2008. This represents a

steady increase of 447 schools over the past five years. Independent schools have been increasing at an

average of over 110 schools per year, with the Western Cape showing the biggest increase of 92%. Limpopo

shows an increase of 44%, KwaZulu-Natal an increase of 43%, and the Eastern Cape an increase of 41%. The

biggest increase in independent schools took place in 2010 (225 schools), which was an increase of 19% of the

total number of independent schools in one year.

Table 2.11: Number of Independent Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Independent Schools Ave Schools As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 139 140 154 166 196 159 11,8%

Free State 61 64 66 66 68 65 4,8%

Gauteng 416 420 472 519 566 479 35,4%

KwaZulu-Natal 155 159 220 223 221 196 14,5%

Limpopo 99 117 141 142 143 128 9,5%

Mpumalanga 86 89 101 110 113 100 7,4%

Northern Cape 15 17 20 20 20 18 1,4%

North West 54 52 55 55 54 54 4,0%

Western Cape 99 116 170 185 190 152 11,3%

South Africa 1 124 1 174 1 399 1 486 1 571 1 351 100%

Gauteng has the biggest number of independent schools – 35.4% of the total independent schools, KwaZulu-

Natal has 14.5%, the Eastern Cape 11.8% and then the Western Cape hosts 11.3%. All the other provinces have

less than 10%; Limpopo with 9.5%, Mpumalanga with 7.4%, Free State with 4.8%, North West with 4% and

Northern Cape with 1.4%. There is no significant movement in the number of independent schools in the North

West, Free State or Northern Cape. Gauteng and the Western Cape, however, have seen increases of 150 and

91 independent schools respectively over the mentioned period. This trend is continuing, despite these

provinces being the best performing provinces in the exit matric examination.

Research conducted by the Independent Schools of South Africa (ISASA) in 2009, found that most independent

schools in South Africa are low-fee schools (544), followed by middle-fee (330) and high-fee (206) schools. A

small number of schools in the sample, representing 45 schools in the population, did not disclose their school

fee. The largest percentage of low-fee schools (30.5%) is in Gauteng, followed by the Eastern Cape (18.6%),

KwaZulu-Natal (11.9%) and Limpopo (10.2%). The largest percentage of middle-fee schools (27.9%), and by far

the largest percentage of high-fee schools (59.2%) are also in Gauteng. However, the Western Cape also has a

notable percentage of high-fee schools (22.6%) [DoE, EFA Survey report, 2009].

Table 2.12: Independent School Fee Categories by Province, 2009

School Fee Categories

Low (R0-6350)

Middle (R6351-18250)

High (R18250+) Unknown Combined

# % # % # % # % # %

Eastern Cape 101 18.6 38 11.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 139 12.4

Free State 45 8.3 11 3.4 0 0.0 5 11.2 61 5.4

Gauteng 166 30.5 92 27.9 122 59.2 36 81.7 416 37.0

KwaZulu-Natal 65 11.9 74 22.5 16 7.9 0 0.0 155 13.8

Limpopo 55 10.2 44 13.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 99 8.8

Mpumalanga 53 9.7 21 6.4 12 5.8 0 0.0 86 7.7

Northern Cape 15 2.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 15 1.3

North West 19 3.5 23 6.8 9 4.4 3 7.0 54 4.8

Western Cape 25 4.5 28 8.4 47 22.6 0 0.0 99 8.8

TOTAL 544 100 330 100 206 100 45 100 1 124 100

Source: EFA Survey Report 2009

There is a close correlation between the economic status of the provinces and the fee category dominant

within the provinces. As indicated, Gauteng and the Western Cape host the majority of high-fee schools, and

between them they have more than 82% of this specific category. Despite Gauteng being the dominant high-

fee province, it is also the dominant province regarding the number of low-fee schools.

Figure 2.1: ISASA Schools by Fee

Source: ISASA Census 2009

Figure 2.1 above shows the numerical distribution of schools and schools by fee category. The Independent

Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA) manages 642 of the independent schools in the country (Hofmeyr,

2008). Although Table 2.12 above indicates a spread of schools dominant to the left, that is, toward the low-

fee schools, the ISASA table below shows dominance to the right in 2009.

The Human Science Research Council (HSRC) research provides the most startling evidence of the changing face

of independent schooling since 1990. In 2002 the majority of independent schools charged fees below R6 000

per annum; adjusting to inflation rate, this was less than R8 000 per annum in 2007. Data collected from ISASA

in 2009 census (see Table 2.13 below) indicates how wide the fee range of independent schools can be.

Table 2.13: Annual Fee and Highest Annual Boarding Fee per Learner, 2009

School Fee Categories

Low (R0-6350)

Middle (R6351-18250)

High (R18250+)

Combined

Average annual fee per learner

Average R3,214 R10,955 R33,338 R11,329

Maximum R6,050 R18,100 R117,660 R117,660

Minimum R43 R6,500 R18,300 R43

Highest annual boarding fee per learner

Average R10,595 R12,751 R37,780 R20,149

Maximum R23,100 R20,000 R58,830 R58,830

Minimum R300 R2,500 R18,140 R300

Source: ISASA Census 2009

The average annual fee for a learner in an independent school in South Africa was approximately R11 300 in

2008. However, fees differed considerably across schools in the different fee categories, with an average annual

fee per learner of R3 200 in low-fee schools compared to R33 300 in high-fee schools. There was also

considerable variation even within the different school fee categories, with the maximum fee amount in the

high-fee category recorded at R117 660 and the lowest at R18 300. In general, the annual boarding fee per

learner was also higher than the annual fee per learner in each of the school fee categories.

School fees constitute the largest proportion of income of the independent schools. Government subsidies

remain a very small proportion of their income, even of low-fee schools. Some schools have identified debt

recovery as a challenge. The most critical impact of the financial status of independent schools is that schools

have particular difficulty in paying competitive market-related salaries to teachers and in expanding their

infrastructure (DoE, EFA Survey report, 2009). In the long-term, government may have to consider financial and

technical support to independent schools that are (1) low-fee schools, (2) township or rural schools, or (3) any

school willing to leverage such support regardless of its school fee category or socio-economic background.

Although there are numerous independent schools which are not registered, for reasons such as (i) avoidance,

or (ii) failure to comply with the regulations and requirements, they are regarded as illegal and are thus not

included in this report. Based on research done by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE 2010,

p.28) within limited geographical areas in Limpopo, Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces, a high percentage of

low-fee independent schools are currently operating within rural townships.

Table 2.14: Low fee private schools in Limpopo, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, 2010

All schools Public Public as % of total Private Private as % of total

Limpopo

Giyana 48 40 83.33 8 16.67

Malamulele 42 37 88.10 5 11.90

Sub-Total 90 77 85.56 13 14.44

Gauteng

Daveyton/Benoni 67 51 76.12 16 23.88

Braamfontein 35 6 17.14 29 82.86

Sub-Total 102 57 55.88 45 44.12

Eastern Cape

Butterworth 41 22 53.66 19 46.34

Cofimvaba/Tsomo 36 30 83.33 6 16.67

Sub-Total 77 52 67.53 25 32.47

Total 269 186 69.14 83 30.86

Source: CDE – Hidden Assets: South Africa’s low-fee private schools, 2010, p.28.

Unlike the data on independent schools, as presented in this report, and what was taken from the School

Realities reports published by the Department of Basic Education, the above-mentioned report from the Centre

for Development and Enterprise (2010) is showing a significant increase in the growth of independent schools.

Within this particular study, the ratio of public to independent schools range from as low as 11.9% to as high as

82.9%, with an average of 30.9%, within the given six geographical areas across the three provinces.

Table 2.15: Low fee private schools Learners as percentage of total, 2010

Name Learners Public Private Private as % of total

Giyani 22 456 20 516 1 940 8.6

Malamulele 21 754 18 862 2 892 13.3

Daveyton/Benoni 27 325 23 055 4 270 15.6

Braamfontein 4 832 3 804 1 028 21.3

Butterworth 13 297 10 089 3 208 24.1

Cofimvaba/Tsomo 10 919 9 695 1 224 11.2

Total 100 583 86 021 14 562 14.5

Source: CDE – Hidden Assets: South Africa’s low-fee private schools, 2010, p.29.

The table above indicates learners who are catered for by these schools. Although the ratio of public to

independent schools is higher than expected, the learner ratio across these schools are significantly lower,

ranging from 8.6% to 24.1%, with an average of 14.5% of total learners accommodated by the independent

schools. This lower ratio could be a reflection of the smaller size and thus fewer learners typical of independent

schools. As indicated in the CDE report (2010, p.30), the comparative learner to teacher ratio in the public and

independent schools was lower in all the independent schools, ranging from fewer than 5.5 learners, and in

some cases less than 16.3 learners. The learner to classroom ratio showed a similar difference; ranging from

fewer than 10.4 learners to 28.3 learners when the same geographical areas were compared.

The most glaring data presented in the CDE report indicates a zero percent “teacher absent or not teaching”

(2010, p.31) in unregistered independent schools, compared to absenteeism and no teaching and engaging

(“reading the newspapers, eating, making cell phone calls, chatting to friends, etc.”) in public schools, which

range from 7.61% to 19.51%.

Despite the growing number of unregistered independent schools, significant numbers of learners are still

managed by the public and registered independents schools. Based on the ‘School Realities 2012’ report (DBE

2012), of the total number of 12 428 069 learners who are in the system, 504 395 learners are in independent

schools, with 257 661 of the learners being female, while 246 734 male. Of the 11 923 674 learners who are in

public schools, 5 915 317 learners are female, while 5 944 298 learners are male. Evidently, there is no

significant difference in the percentage of learners who are female or male, from primary to secondary school.

This insignificant difference in percentage of female and male learners is apparent throughout all nine

provinces.

2.1.5.3 Public and Independent schools

There is a net reduction of 49 schools in South Africa in 2012, which is the difference between the increase of

447 independent and the decrease of 496 public schools. As discussed earlier, this is not just a phenomenon in

physical school structures, but also in educator and learner populations. KwaZulu-Natal is hosting 23.6% of all

schools, while the Eastern Cape is close with 22.3% of the total schools in the country. This means that

KwaZulu-Natal has to plan and cater for a maintenance budget for 6 101 schools, the Eastern Cape for 5 777

schools and Limpopo for 4 097 schools. All other provinces have less than 2 500 schools. This results in reduced

recurring maintenance budgets, and the savings could potentially be spent on other intervention strategies and

plans. There is, however, a leveling-off in the growth related to the number of schools in these three provinces.

Table 2.16: Number of Public and Independent Schools in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008

to 2012

Province Public and Independent Schools

Schools As % Total

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 08-'12 08-'12

Eastern Cape 5 825 5 808 5 742 5 755 5 754 5 777 22,3%

Free State 1 675 1 611 1 488 1 437 1 419 1 526 5,9%

Gauteng 2 405 2 390 2 485 2 559 2 611 2 490 9,6%

KwaZulu-Natal 5 938 6 066 6 147 6 180 6 176 6 101 23,6%

Limpopo 4 122 4 105 4 106 4 073 4 078 4 097 15,8%

Mpumalanga 1 959 1 933 1 939 1 931 1 920 1 936 7,5%

Northern Cape 656 617 617 611 580 616 2,4%

North West 1 745 1 768 1 701 1 669 1 645 1 706 6,6%

Western Cape 1 550 1 569 1 625 1 636 1 643 1 605 6,2%

South Africa 25 875 25 867 25 850 25 851 25 826 25 854 100%

Overall, if we take the size and shape of the education system into account, there is saturation in growth in the

number of learners and schools, with a steady increase in the number of educators. This is obviously an

attempt to improve the quality of education in the country, but we are not able to explain the possible increase

in the quality of education unless we take a deeper look at the quality of teachers in terms of their

qualifications, skills and attitude when they join the educator corps.

2.1.6 Integration of learner, educator and school data in schooling

The sections above discussed the data sets on learners, educators and schools in a disconnected way and

therefore the attempt in this section is to show the inter-connection of the data sets and how education

systems can be designed and managed to benefit the success of all learners in the system. We will discuss the

combining of state-paid and school governing body paid educators into the system and how it can improve the

learner educator ratio (LER). This last group of educators is known in the education system to be “SGB-paid”

educators, and will include all educators who are employed either on a temporary basis or in a permanent

capacity at the school The next two integration ratios to be discussed will be the learner school ratio (LSR) and

the education school ratio (ESR), both of which were briefly discussed in the preceding section.

2.1.6.1 School Governing Body educators and the learner educator ratio (LER)

In relation to the learner to educator ratio (LER), the data sets from 2011 and 2012 show that the appointment

of SGB-paid educators in the system makes a significant difference to the workload of educators. As a result of

the appointment of SGB-paid educators in 2011, the LER as a whole decreased by 1.9 percentage points, which

is the same margin of benefit for 2012. The Western Cape is the province that is benefitting the most among

the provinces, with an improvement of 5.6 points in 2011 and 5.9 points in 2012. Gauteng is the next

beneficiary of the appointment of SGB-paid educators, with an improvement of 3.5 points in both 2011 and

2012 and the Northern Cape improved its LER in 2011 by 2.1 and 1.7 points in 2012.

Table 2.17: Learner-educator ratio (LER) in the Ordinary School Sector, by Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Learner Educator Ratio (LER)

State-paid and SGB-paid 2011

State-paid 2011

SGB Benefit

State-paid and SGB-paid

State-paid 2012

SGB Benefit

Difference 2011-2012

Eastern Cape 29,0 30,4 -1,4 29,1 30,5 -1,4 0,1

Free State 27,6 29,4 -1,8 27,1 28,9 -1,8 -0,5

Gauteng 31,3 34,8 -3,5 31,4 34,9 -3,5 0,1

KwaZulu-Natal 31,4 32,9 -1,5 31,2 32,6 -1,4 -0,2

Limpopo 29,6 30,1 -0,5 30,1 30,5 -0,4 0,5

Mpumalanga 30,8 32,1 -1,3 31,1 32,0 -0,9 0,3

Northern Cape 31,3 33,4 -2,1 31,8 33,5 -1,7 0,5

North West 30,1 31,8 -1,7 30,6 32,3 -1,7 0,5

Western Cape 30,3 35,9 -5,6 30,6 36,5 -5,9 0,3

South Africa 30,3 32,2 -1,9 30,4 32,3 -1,9 0,1 Source: DBE 2011 and 2012 – School Realities

Limpopo is the province that has benefitted the least from the appointment of SGB-paid educators; which is 0.5

in 2011 and 0.4 in 2012. The benefit of the development can clearly be linked to the economic status of

provinces. Limpopo (0.5), Mpumalanga (1.3), Eastern Cape (1.4), North West (1.7) and Free State (1.8) are all

benefitting below the country average of 1.9 LER. Although an improved LER should yield benefits for the

quality of education in the province, it will not automatically result in learner benefits. In South Africa, the LER

has improved in secondary and primary schools from an average of 35 and 38 respectively in 1994, to the

ratios in the table above, which are far lower in 2012, but our international learner achievement rating has

continued to drop.

2.1.6.2 Learner school ratio (LSR) and the educator school ratio (ESR)

The learner school ratio (LSR) is an integration of the number of learners within a particular province with the

number of schools in the province. If there are many learners in a province, and the number of schools are

limited, then it will result in a higher LSR. The ratio must be read in context, meaning that a lower LSR cannot

be automatically viewed as beneficial, and vice-versa, although the benefits of school size of around 500

learners and less is well-documented in the research debate called “small schools”. Most of the foci of benefits

of researchers within this discipline are educational and pedagogical, and not financial.

On the one hand, smaller schools will allow principals and educators the opportunity to personalise their

teaching and learning support around individual learners. On the other hand, the individual and personal

attention given to learners disappears when the learner is one out of a thousand or more learners.

Although the issue of disconnectedness of learners is linked to the decision making at school application level

when learners are accepted or rejected, research by Gallie (2006) shows clear benefits when principals and

educators know their learners (learner information), which is one of eight of the school readiness components

(SRC).

When we compare the LSR of 2011 with that of 2012, then an average increase of 7.5% is recorded at national

level. This average increase is represented in the average increase in the Northern Cape of 30.7 more learners

per school, 21.6 more in Gauteng, 14.3 more in the Western Cape, 12.5 more in North West, 10.3 more in Free

State, 7.9 more in Mpumalanga, 5.0 more in KwaZulu-Natal and 4.3 more in Limpopo province. The Eastern

Cape is the only province that recorded a reduction in the average number of learners per school from 2011 to

2012 (Table 2.18).

Table 2.18: Learner school ratio (LSR) and educator school ratio (ESR) in the Ordinary School Sector, by

Province, from 2008 to 2012

Province Learner School Ratio (LSR) Educator School Ratio (ESR)

LSR 2011 LSR 2012 Difference 2011-2012 ERS 2011 ERS 2012 Difference 2011-2012

Eastern Cape 342 340 -1,8 11,8 11,7 -0,1

Free State 468 478 10,3 16,9 17,7 0,8

Gauteng 887 909 21,6 28,4 28,9 0,5

KwaZulu-Natal 467 472 5,0 14,9 15,2 0,3

Limpopo 419 423 4,3 14,2 14,0 -0,2

Mpumalanga 561 569 7,9 18,2 18,3 0,1

Northern Cape 459 490 30,7 14,7 15,4 0,7

North West 466 478 12,5 15,5 15,6 0,1

Western Cape 669 683 14,3 22,1 22,3 0,2

South Africa 485 492 7,5 16,0 16,2 0,2 Source: DBE 2011 and 2012 – School Realities

The educator school ratio (ESR) is an integration of the number of schools with the number of educators in the

province. This ratio reflects the average number of educators that would be present and available per school in

specific provinces.

If the number of schools is high, and the number of educators is low, then the ESR will be high and vice-versa.

As discussed earlier in the educator and school section, the overall trend in the country is the levelling-off of

the number of schools, while we see a steady increase in the number of educators employed in the system.

The average ERS countrywide has increased from 16.0 to 16.2 (0.2) educators per school. The biggest increase

is recorded in the Free State with 0.8, with the Northern Cape showing an increase of 0.7 and Gauteng with an

increase of 0.5 educators per school. All other provinces, except the Eastern Cape, recorded an increase less

than 0.5 (KwaZulu-Natal with 0.3, Western Cape with 0.2, and both Mpumalanga and North West with 0.1

increase in educators per school. The Eastern Cape recorded a decrease of 0.1 educators per school (see Table

2.18 above).

2.2. Policy Framework

Education is the responsibility of the national and provincial spheres of government. The national sphere has

exclusive legislative responsibility for tertiary education and shares responsibility with the provincial spheres for

all other levels of education. Through the National Education Policy Act of 1996, the Minister of Education,

working with the provinces, sets the political agenda and determines the national norms and standards for

education planning, provision, governance, monitoring and evaluation. The nine provincial departments of

education are responsible for implementing education policy and programmes aligned with the national goals.

They make funding decisions and exercise executive responsibility for all General Education and Training (GET) –

from grade R (or grade 0, the reception year) to grades 1-3 (the Foundation Phase of GET), grades 4-6 (the

Intermediate Phase), grades 7-9 (the Senior Phase), as well as for Further Education and Training (FET) from

grades 10-12.

2.2.1 Legislative framework

The South African Schools Act (Act 80 of 1996) (SASA) as amended promotes access, quality and democratic

governance in the schooling system. Its purpose is to ensure that all learners have the right of access to quality

education without discrimination and makes schooling compulsory for children aged 7 to 15. It provides for two

types of schools, namely independent schools and public schools. The school funding norms, outlined in SASA,

prioritise redress and target poverty with regard to the allocation of funds for the public schooling system. The

SASA has been amended by the Education Laws Amendment Act (Act 24 of 2005), which authorises the

declaration of schools in poverty-stricken areas as “no-fee schools”, and also by the Education Laws

Amendment Act (Act 31 of 2007).

The SASA also regulates the provision of public schools and education by province. The democratic governance

of schools through school governing bodies is now effected in public schools countrywide (in particular the

establishment and operation of school governing bodies), the funding of schools and the establishment and

funding of independent schools. With regard to school governing bodies, the intention was to create a model of

governance that devolved powers to SGBs which comprise of the school principal and elected representatives

of parents, educators, non-teaching staff and (in secondary schools) learners. They may also co-opt non-voting

members onto the SGB. Parents have a majority stake in order to ensure that previously marginalised

constituencies have a greater voice (OECD, 2009).

The Further Education and Training Colleges Act of 2006 supersedes the Further Education and Training Act of

1998 and its aim is to regulate further education and training, which is defined as “all learning and training

programmes leading to qualifications at levels 2 to 4 of the National Qualifications Framework or such levels

determined by SAQA … which levels are above general education but below higher education” (Republic of

South Africa, 2006). Further education and training, therefore, comprises the senior secondary component of

schooling (grades 10-12) as well as further education and training colleges. The final three years of secondary

school are not compulsory, but government is constitutionally obliged to make further education and training

available. Learners can acquire a FET qualification by completing grade 12 in the schooling system, or by

attaining equivalent certification from one of 50 public FET colleges or through opportunities offered by the

private college sector.

The South African Schools Act 1996, as amended, also deals with the establishment and funding of

independent schools and FET colleges. From a policy perspective, the right of any person to establish and

operate an independent/private institution at his or her own cost is entrenched within the South African

Constitution. However, an institution may not operate without being registered by the head of the provincial

Department of Education. An independent institution’s standards may also not be inferior to standards at

comparable public institutions, and it must not discriminate on the grounds of race.

The National Norms and Standards for School Funding provides a framework for the subsidisation of

independent schools, which has contributed to the growth of the sector (Hofmeyr and Lee, 2004). The funding

norms have encouraged the growth of lower-fee independent schools able to serve black communities by

awarding higher subsides to lower-fee schools. They also promote the growth of not-for-profit schools by

denying for-profit schools a subsidy and contribute to curtailing the number of unregistered schools as the

benefits of registering in relation to subsidy is an incentive (Du Toit, 2004).

The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act amends specific provisions of the following legislation:

South African Schools Act (Act 80 of 1996)

National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996)

Employment of Educators Act (Act 76 of 1998)

South African Council for Educators Act (Act 31 of 2000)

General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001)

The Act contains technical and substantive amendments and aims to align the above legislative framework with

the new education dispensation that came about during 2009 when the Department of Education was split into

two distinct yet interrelated departments. Among others, the Act amends sections of the above laws regarding

the prohibition of political activities during school time, the extended financial responsibility of principals, non-

discrimination in respect of official languages at schools and the provision of distinct categories of public

schools.

Independent schools are exposed to a wide range of legislation on many fronts: registration, reporting,

funding, curriculum and assessment, quality assurance, labour relations, rates and taxation, human rights and

other legislative demands placed on private institutions. The reporting requirements vary across provinces in

terms of the administrative burden placed on the schools. Due to this variation in the reporting structures on

specifically skills development and human capital development, it has a negative impact on the ETDPSETA to

effectively access the skills development assessments for the entire independent schools sub-sector (ETDP SETA

Report: August 2010). The regulations also assume the existence of a school governing body, which

independent schools are not required to establish, as good governance in the sector is regulated by company

law and common law, not by education legislation.

The South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act 58 of 1995) provides for the establishment of the National

Qualifications Framework (NQF), which forms the scaffolding for a national learning system that integrates

education and training at all levels. The joint launch of the Human Resources Development Strategy by the

Minister of Labour and the Minister of Education, on 23 April 2001, reinforced the resolve to establish an

integrated education, training and development strategy that would harness the potential of our adult learners.

The design of the NQF has been refined with the publication of the Higher Education Qualifications Framework

in the Government Gazette (No 928, 5 October 2007) to provide ten levels of the NQF. The school and college

level qualifications occupy Levels 1 to 4 as in the original formulation, with plans to accommodate some of the

college level qualifications at Level 5. Higher education qualifications in the new formulation of the NQF occupy

six levels, Levels 5 to 10. Levels 5 to 7 are undergraduate and Levels 8 to 10 are postgraduate (DBE Annual

Report 2010/11).

The promulgation of the SAQA Act in 1995 gave an integrative impetus to a fractured education and training

system in formal institutions, workplaces and the development sector. The SAQA Act has been repealed and

replaced by the National Qualifications Framework Act 67 of 2008 as amended by the Higher Education Laws

Amendment Act 26 of 2010. It discusses, inter alia, framework levels, the three sub-frameworks (General and

Further Education and Training, Higher Education and Training and Trades and Occupations), qualifications and

part-qualifications, professional bodies and the three Quality Councils (Umalusi, Council on Higher Education

and the QCTO).

In November 2009, the Department of Higher Education and Training announced that it would assume

responsibility for skills development that had previously been controlled by the Department of Labour. In April

2010 the proposed new SETA landscape and a draft framework for a new National Skills Development Strategy

to be implemented between March 2011 and March 2016 (http://www.vocational.co.za) was announced.

The new SETA landscape involves the following:

Fifteen of the existing SETAs being recertified with minor changes.

Six new SETAs being formed as a result of the amalgamation of existing SETAs or sub-sectors of existing

SETAs.

A reduction in the total number of SETAs from 23 to 21.

2.2.2 Political framework

The Department of Basic Education’s Strategic Plan (2010-2013) explains the key strategic objectives of the

Department in the current Medium Term Expenditure Framework. They relate to areas over which the national

department has direct control in the provision of education in the country. Some of the priority areas that the

national department has identified to improve quality of education are curriculum support for teachers,

teacher development and education, school infrastructure, quality assessment, learners' well-being and

inclusive education. There will be greater involvement in respect of planning and managing these priorities

from national level.

The most recent budget speech in February 2012 reflected a continuing growth in education budget allocation

of R207 billion for 2012/13, with a projection of increase up to R236 billion over the next three years towards

education in 2014/15. At provincial level, education spending was expected to grow by 5.9% over the next

three years, from R169.9 billion for 2013 to R183.8 billion in 2015. An additional R18 billion was allocated to

learner subsidies for no-fee schools and the expansion of access to Grade R. A further R235 million was set

aside for tailored interventions aimed at improving literacy and numeracy in grades 3 and 6.

Table 2.19: Programmes of Strategic Plan 2010-2013 of DBE

Programmed Budget (million)

Curriculum Policy, Support and

Monitoring

R80.874 (curriculum implementation and monitoring and schooling

including inclusive education)

R43.981 with EPEWP (Kha Ri Gude)

R3.951 (National Curriculum Institute)

R762.278 (curriculum quality and enhancement)

Teacher Education Human

Resources Development and

Management

R80.768 (education and human resource management)

R432.949 (teacher education and development)

Planning, Quality Assessment

and Monitoring and Evaluation

R42.169 (information monitoring and evaluation)

R11.301 (financial and physical planning and analysis)

R95.228 (education measurement, assessment and public examinations)

Social Responsibility R15.997 (social inclusion)

R3 872.938 (health in education)

R7.785 (gender equity, rural education, race and values in education)

Source: DBE 2010 – Strategic Plan 2012-2013

One area of particular interest is the amount of money allocated for learner and teacher support materials

(LTSM). LTSM represent a core component of a successful education, in that many learners still do not have the

necessary textbooks or receive them too late. The recent non-delivery of textbooks to learners in Limpopo and

other provinces is likely to impact very significantly in learner performance. It also highlights the kind of

administrative blunders that defeat government’s commitment to invest large amounts in LTSMs.

Government allocations to education have historically been the largest element of the national budget. Taking

into account the three medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) financial years running from 2010/11.

2011/12 to 2012/13 education spending remains the largest item of national spending (National Treasury,

2010), giving meaning to the commitment toward education as a priority. The total budget for Provincial

Departments of Education now stands at R154.868 billion (Minister of Basic Education Budget Vote May 2011).

Table 2.20: MTEF Budgets by Province 2010-2013

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-013

Provinces Medium Term Medium Term Medium Term

Eastern Cape 1 150 014 1 399 631 1 469 612

Free State 362 540 478 918 497 000

Gauteng 1 374 733 1 469 194 1 565 529

KwaZulu-Natal 2 031 369 2 401 442 2 521 514

Limpopo 1 022 500 1 379 935 1 540 920

Mpumalanga 480 119 448 500 569 729

Northern Cape 135 996 187 914 203 007

North West 407 333 508 181 53 359

Western Cape 444 329 506 457 560 092

Total 7 082 647 8 336 157 8 484 259

Source: National Treasury 2010 - MTEF

The table below shows that, when looking at education as a percentage of the total provincial budgets, it

continues to get the largest share.

Table 2.21: Education Vote as a Percentage of Total Budgets by Province

Source: Estimates of Provincial Expenditure 2010 for all provinces

The percentage ranges from 36% in Western Cape to 47% in Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The fact that the

percentages are lowest in the provinces that generally produce the best Grade 12 results is interesting. The

percentage is affected by the overall wealth of the province so that provinces such as Gauteng and Western

Province R000s Education budget as

Education budget Total budget % of total budget

Eastern Cape 22 679 785 48 223 794 47%

Free State 8 539 463 21 381 014 40%

Gauteng 22 485 539 60 856 646 37%

KwaZulu-Natal 29 034 762 69 077 363 42%

Limpopo 18 814 610 39 652 691 47%

Mpumalanga 11 530 252 26 100 585 44%

Northern Cape 3 457 789 9 162 506 38%

North West 9 050 790 22 114 377 41%

Western Cape 11 845 691 33 241 492 36%

Cape can still be left with a relatively high absolute amount of education even while allocating more than

average to other areas that poorer provinces are less able to prioritise.

2.3 Socio-Economic Profile

In 2009 South Africa suffered its first recession in 17 years as a result of the global financial crisis. While the

economy has been recovering, data from Statistics SA showed that the country’s annualised, adjusted gross

domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 3.2% in the second quarter from 4.6% in the previous quarter.

Despite the years of economic growth, it has not been sufficient to fully address the country’s economic and

social challenges. The number of jobs created has lagged behind the demand for jobs (ETDP SETA Report:

August, 2010).

Unemployment in South Africa is among the highest in the world, with a high proportion of working poor.

According to the Labour Force Survey compared to quarter two of 2009, there was an annual decrease of 4,7%

(627 000) in employment, an increase of 4,5% (187 000) in the number of unemployed persons, and an

increase of 5,6% (761 000) in the number of persons who are not economically active – 390 000 being

discouraged work-seekers.

Figure 2.2: Total Employment Q1: 2008 to Q2: 2010

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2010

When we compare the down turn in total employment from 2008 to 2010 above, and that of the 2012 report,

the growth in employment is visible up to the end of 2011, with a slight reduction in employment during the

first quarter of 2012 (see figure 2.3 below).

Figure 2.3: Total Employment Q1: 2008 to Q1:2012

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2012 (p.vii)

When we take a look at a quarter-to-quarter change in employment of the period, first quarter of 2008 to first

quarter of 2012, the figure below shows a three quarter successive increase in employment in 2011, with a

decline in employment during the first quarter in 2012.

Figure 2.4: Quarter-to-quarter change in employment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2012 (p.vii)

The current estimations put the economic growth target at 7% growth per year over the next 20-30 year

period in order for the country to achieve its development ambitions. Poverty in South Africa is pervasive,

Speech by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan at the launch of the Land Bank’s Annual Report 19 August 2010

particularly in rural areas but also among the urban poor. The rural and urban working poor and the

unemployed expect a change for the better. Income inequalities remain large and have a negative impact on

both social cohesion and economic development. But with the year-on-year change in employment from 2008

to 2012, the significant growth from the first quarter of 2011 up to the first quarter of 2012 is observed in the

figure 2.5 below.

Figure 2.5: Year-on-year change in employment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2012 (p.viii)

The total number of unemployed South Africans however is still seriously high (and growing) in the region of

3,9 million during the fourth quarter of 2008. Due to the financial and economic crisis, this figure climbed to

4,5 million in the first quarter of 2010, and remained steady at that level during 2010. Unemployment has since

increased to 4,5 million in 2011 (second quarter). Although there was a decline during the second half of 2011,

unemployment has reached the same level during the first quarter of 2012, as observed in the second quarter

of 2011, which was 4,5 million.

Figure 2.6: Unemployment Q1: 2008 to Q1: 2012

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2012 (p.xiv)

According to the National Department of Basic Education (DBE), since 2007 the salary of the average qualified

teacher (matric plus four years of professional training) has increased by around 40%, yet both the employer

and employee organisations agree that the structure of the salary system is not ideal (Table below).

Table 2.22: Salary Increases in the Public Schooling Sub-sector

EXPERIENCE

IN YRS

2007 2008 2009 2010 2010 TOTAL

PACKAGE

% INCREASE

SINCE 2007

1 R107 007 R129 948 R150 105 R160 614 R229 790 50.1%

5 R111 357 R131 256 R153 129 R163 851 R233 718 47.1%

10 R117 042 R153 228 R160 920 R172 185 R243 830 47.1%

20 R136 923 R158 569 R194 421 R208 032 R287 324 51.9%

30 R151 257 R175 152 R220 278 R235 698 R320 892 55.8%

Source: DBE Sunday Time Press Release 22 August 2010

The Sunday Times survey came out during the protracted teacher strike in 2010 to illustrate the payment based

on the level of experience and years in the profession. Schooling receives adequate funding in South Africa on

the whole. In 2009 a comprehensive study of funding of schools was completed. The report from the study

indicated that several aspects of the school funding system work well. The real challenge is whether there is a

return on investment given the low learner achievement rates throughout the system. The picture emerging is

that the provision of resources does not necessarily lead to quality learner achievements.

Chapter 3: ETD Skills Supply and Demand

3.1 Drivers of Change for the ETD and schooling sector

This discussion will examine external and internal drivers of change in the ETD sector, with specific reference to

the schooling sector, where appropriate.

3.1.1 External drivers of change in the ETD sector

3.1.1.1 Globalisation

Perhaps the most powerful and influential external driver of change is globalisation. This is arguably the most

important phenomenon in today’s economic and educational environment. Globalisation means that

geographical boundaries are rapidly losing their influence and that more and more businesses and institutions

are competing in respect of product and service delivery worldwide.

An outcome of globalisation is a “brain drain”, and the underdeveloped countries are fast losing a large part of

their highly-skilled workers. The ETDP SETA (2010) report shows that there is a worldwide shortage of

professionals in key economic sectors in both developed and developing countries. This shortage is giving rise

to a global “war on talent”. According to Mentornet, globalisation leads to an increase in the competition for

skills and talent so that qualified ETD practitioners (teachers, lecturers, researchers, assessors, moderators)

emigrate to countries where they are paid more and where they receive better intellectual stimulation. On the

positive side globalisation makes information more readily available so that people can learn from other

countries and share ideas on new developments.

Globalisation is also opening up the global market. South Africa, like many other countries, is moving from

product based economies to service economies. The influence of the market crisis impacts on education supply

and demands in terms of skilling and re-skilling processes which are brought in by the implementation of new

technology. This leads to the shedding of jobs. The demand for new skills in the sector impacts on teacher

training and teacher development.

According to Mentornet’s website, the following external factors require consideration when discussing

education and training:

3.1.1.2 The global recession

This has a negative impact on employment and funds available for ETD related projects. Less money is available

to spend on education and community development projects.

3.1.1.3 Changes in technology

Changes in technology lead to educators rapidly becoming redundant, if they do not keep pace with the latest

technology. Changes in technology are primarily responsible for an escalation in skills shortages and mismatch

and for the decline in the need for unskilled labour. On the positive side, changes in technology enable us to

offer education and training much more efficiently than in the past.

3.1.2 Internal drivers of change

The following are important internal drivers of change within the ETD sector:

3.1.2.1 Legislation

Legislation is a powerful driver of change as discussed in the legislative framework section above. It sets the

tone for some compliance requirements as well as acting as stabilising tools in any organisational setup.

3.1.2.2 Social drivers

At least four main sets of social challenges impact dramatically on education and training provision in SA:

a. HIV/AIDS (Human Immune Immunodeficiency/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) pandemic

The HIV and AIDS pandemic has dramatic implications for education and training. With regards to learners, by

2015 there will be almost 200 000 school-going children living with AIDS. There will be 3.5 million AIDS orphans

of school-going age. Teachers will face significant challenges should these learners be in school. Learners may

also encounter difficulty in accessing schools. The number of teachers who are HIV positive or who are living

with AIDS is expected to result in major attrition of teachers, increased absenteeism from schools and early

retirement or mortality. The above information paints a grim picture of the potential impact of HIV and Aids on

education and training.

b. Violence in South African society

Forms of violence include gang-related violence, violence against women and violence linked to racism or

xenophobia. All these forms of violence impact on schooling, in particular and education and training in

general. Violence affects learners’ transit to or from school, their performance at school and their homes and

communities. Educators are called upon to respond to learners’ lack of motivation and their ability to learn. Job

satisfaction amongst educators who are confronted daily with such challenges is undermined. Possession of

weapons by learners, sexual abuse, the use of alcohol and drugs on school premises and burglaries all have a

debilitating effect on the morale of school managers, educators, and governing bodies. Gang-related violence at

school is a huge source of concern. In one of the secondary schools in Gauteng, a grade 11 learner “shot dead

the grade 10 pupil”(News 24, 20 November 2012) for repeatedly being bullied.

c. Refugees or migrants from other countries

It is estimated that there are up to 8 million refugees or migrants living illegally in South Africa (Palmary,

2002:4). Data released by the Home Affairs director-general, Mkuseli Apleni, in May 2012, indicates that it is

estimated that there are almost 30 000 people formally registered as asylum seekers in South Africa, the

highest number in the world (Sowetan 2012). The scale and depth of prejudice affects learners and has

implications for educators who are required to handle diversity in their classes.

d. Poverty and Unemployment

It is estimated that at present there are about 13 million working South Africans. Those currently not working in

South Africa are predominantly black, women, young and poorly educated. In fact, while over 85 percent of

those with a university degree are working, fewer than 35 percent of those without a matric qualification have

jobs. While employment among men is about 50 percent, it is only 34 percent among women. While 60 percent

of those between the ages of 35 and 50 are working, fewer than 25 percent of those between 20 and 25 are

working. While the unemployment rate of whites is below 6 percent, it is above 30 percent for Africans (OECD

Economic Assessment, 2007).

Figure 3.1: Unemployment per race Q1: 2011 to Q1: 2012

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2012 (p.xvii)

From the above table, between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, the unemployment

rate increased among Coloured people with 2.8 percentage points, black African with 1.4 percentage points and

in the Indian population with 0.8 percentage point. A decrease among whites of 0.6 percentage point was

recorded.

Unemployment impacts on the ETD sector. This was confirmed by widespread anecdotal evidence from

educators. Unemployment has a detrimental effect on lifelong learning, especially because graduates cannot

find employment; in the process people are not motivated to learn.

3.1.2.3 Economic drivers

The South African economy has averaged about 3 percent growth annually, since 2009. Against the background

of the slowdown in the global economy, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is likely to fall to about 2.7

percent in 2012. There was a welcome recovery in job creation during 2011, but employment has not returned

to its peak and the unemployment rate remains high (23.9 %). In his 2012 budget speech, Finance Minister

Pravin Gordon indicated that improvements in further education and skills development are among the levers

of economic change.

According to the National Treasury’s abridged version of National Expenditure for 2012, the Department of

Basic Education receives the largest additional allocation within education, labour and related functions over

the medium term. It receives: R75 million and R160 million in 2013/14 and 2014/15, for the annual national

assessments (discussed in detail below), to strengthen the assessments system and to expand assessments to

include grade 9; and R450.4 million and R839.3 million in 2013/14 and 2014/15 is directed towards equalising

the subsidy per learner to all no-fee schools. The department is allocated a further R666.3 million in 2013/14

and R1.1 billion in 2014/15 to increase the provincial equitable share, to progressively equalise funding for

grade R learners to be in line with learners in grades 1 to 12 (Budget Speech 2012).

3.1.2.4 Technological drivers

Rapid developments in technology challenge South Africa to produce people with cutting edge knowledge to

innovate and maintain new technologies. They also challenge ETD practitioners to utilise technology in their

classrooms, smart boards or computer software. Given the extremely uneven internal distribution of access to

technology, it is a major challenge is to avoid the possibility of the majority of the South African learner

population to be excluded from participating in the local and global information revolution.

3.1.2.5 Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa (HRDS-SA) (2010-2030) as a driver

South Africa’s growth and development trajectory continues to be driven by a pursuit for increased equity,

access and quality across race, gender, geographic locality and disability. These issues continue to drive

transformation across sectors and form the basis for planning in various arenas, including:

Black Economic Empowerment

Human Resource Development

Job Creation, Poverty Alleviation and Social Development

The frameworks for addressing the areas of development take various forms which have traditionally operated

in isolation from one another.

Government has adopted a national planning framework which seeks to drive coherence and impact

throughout the education and training system. This Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa

(HRDS-SA) (2010-2030) is purposefully located within an expansive conception of HRD; a conception that

accounts for the imperatives that derive from our economic, social and wider development agendas. The

Strategy acknowledges that the contribution of each individual to South Africa’s development agenda is a

function of both ability and agency. The productivity of each individual is determined by, among others, her/his

technical skills; the extent to which her/his basic needs are met; values and orientation; social inclusion and a

commitment to advancing the public good.

The primary goal of the HRDS-SA is to contribute to human development. The strategic priorities and

interventions that make up the Strategy are explicitly designed to respond to economic, social and wider

development imperatives. The HRDS-SA is a macro-strategy which seeks to locate education and training within

the broader developmental agenda of the country and therefore ensure common alignment of various

government programmes in addressing human development challenges. The HRD-SA establishes broad

outcomes for equitable access to education and training and the development of skilled people.

Here are some select education and training related issues addressed by the Human Resource Development

Strategy for South Africa (HRDSSA):

To ensure universal access to quality early childhood development, from birth up to age four;

To eradicate adult illiteracy;

To ensure that all people remain in education and training up to age 18;

To ensure that all new entrants to the labour market have access to employment-focused education and

training opportunities;

To ensure that levels of investment are above global averages for all areas of education and training;

To ensure that inequality in education and training is significantly less than the prevailing income inequality;

To ensure that education and training are equitable in terms of race, gender, disability and geographic

location;

To ensure that the balance between emigration and immigration reflects a net positive inflow of people

with skills that are a priority for economic development;

To ensure that all adults in the labour market have access to education and training opportunities that will

enable them to achieve a minimum NQF level 4 qualification;

To ensure progressive improvements in the external efficiency and effectiveness of higher education,

further education and the occupational learning system.

This Sector Skills Plan seeks alignment with this broad national planning framework.

3.1.2.6 Schooling specific drivers

The Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) outlines government’s key strategic priorities for economic

growth and social development for the period 2009-2014. The MTSF provides a guide for planning and resource

allocation across all spheres of government. The MTSF has “strengthening the skills and human resource base”

as one of its strategic objectives and this manifests a Programme of Action (PoA) which forms the basis for a

delivery agreement for each of the ministers. The PoA represents the state’s shift to an outcome-driven

planning framework. The 12 outcomes expressed in the PoA are an expression of the key priorities that

government seeks to address. There are two outcomes that inform the agenda for the education and training

system over the next few years:

Outcome 1: Improved Quality of Basic Education, which incorporates the following outputs:

o improvement in quality of teaching and learning,

o improvement in quality of assessment, and

o improved planning and accountability.

Outcome 2: A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path, which incorporates the

following outputs:

o a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning,

o access to programmes leading to intermediate and high level learning,

o access to occupationally directed programmes in needed areas and thereby expand the availability

of intermediate level skills (with a special focus on artisan skills),

o access to high level occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas, and

o research, development and innovation in human development for a growing knowledge economy.

These outcomes cut across the education and training system and have important implications for planning, in

that they link inputs to performance. Therefore, investment in infrastructure, capacity building or resources

should be done in such a way as to contribute in an integrated manner to the expected outcomes of the system.

The National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS III) gives expression to the HRDS-SA and government’s strategic

objectives and provides an overarching framework for sector skills planning and the implementation of skills

development. Sector skills plans should be aligned to government. Industry development initiatives should

address the needs of unemployed youth, provide for new occupational qualifications, thereby addressing the

challenges within FET Colleges and building strong partnership to deliver on the strategy.

a. Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)

CAPS is a key driver of change for the schooling sector and its implementation poses professional and

managerial implications for skills in the sector. Last year alone it was anticipated that 105 000 teachers will be

trained by 350 departmental officials in an effort to introduce CAPS. CAPS is discussed in detail later in this

document.

b. Annual National Assessment (ANA)

The Department of Basic Education will be conducting the Annual National Assessment (ANA) in September

2012 in grades 1 to 6 and 9 in all public schools and grade 3 or 6 in all independent primary schools that are

eligible for government subsidy. Over 7 million learners will write tests in languages and mathematics. The ANA

is discussed later in this document.

c. Natural attrition

Natural attrition is also one of the drivers of the change in the sector, the current rate is 3% according to

recently conducted studies. It will be important to model need projections based on what the attrition rates tell

us in combination with the other factors.

d. Skills shortage and mismatch

The shortage of skills in mathematics, science, computer science and accounting science is arguably one of the

most important challenges of the ETD Sector. People still tend to follow learning programmes for which there

are no or very little skill needs in industry.

e. Change from unskilled to skilled labour as employment expectation

Structural changes in the South African economy from intensive use of unskilled labour to an increased demand

for technology-based skills is partially responsible for the changing demand for skills, which results in higher

unemployment.

f. Social development issues

It is especially in rural areas where communities have a desperate need for almost any ETD, although the need

for education in social issues, such as HIV/AIDS (discussed), literacy and ECD is the most severe.

g. Performance by learners

The need for better quality ETD is indisputable if the current poor performance of learners at school and

students at universities and colleges is to be turned around. This is especially important in the case of

mathematics, science and accounting.

h. Educator supply

High turnover in educators due to poor remuneration, inadequate benefits and lowered job satisfaction is

responsible for a decrease in the number of available qualified ETD practitioners, which increases the demand

for such people. Teacher attrition is signalled to be restrained by recruitment programmes that will ensure that

vacancies are filled in the near future.

i. Shortages of mathematics and science teachers

One of the major stumbling blocks in the education and training system relates to weak mathematics and

science learner performance at all levels in the system. Students cannot perform if their educators are unable

to offer them good quality ETD. Over the past several years the overall grade 12 pass rate has shown a steady

decline, even though the end of 2010 statistics showed a promising positive trend. This development has

placed undue pressure on universities who have to work with students with a poor academic background.

Mathematics and science investment in schools is gravely needed. Poor performance in these subjects and

learner aversion to the selection of mathematics and science courses and careers will have a serious impact on

the economy.

j. Education quality

The challenge brought about by poor education quality is demonstrated by the findings of a presidential review

into education highlighting a teaching practice where books were not being used as a teaching aid. It was noted

that, although books were available for both language and mathematics in all but two of the schools reviewed,

no books were seen being used in 43% of language classes and 69% of mathematics classes. The most common

form of reading in these classes consisted of teachers writing 3 or 4 sentences on the board and then leading

the reading of these, with children following in chorus. There are many other examples of poor teaching

practice. The detrimental impact of this on lifelong learning and economic growth is obvious.

k. Rural areas

The poor schooling system in the townships and rural areas contributes to the high level of unemployment This

situation is exacerbated by the job losses and retrenchments in the industry which in turn produce dropouts

due to lack of funds for school fees and transport. Many learners especially in the rural areas and township

schools do not have enough resources to acquire quality education. Many factors contribute to the

deterioration of education in historically disadvantaged schools.

A number of drivers and challenges that impact on the ETD sector (and more specifically on the schooling sub-

sector) have been identified above. For the ETDPSETA, the challenge is to ensure that there is an adequate

knowledge base from which to fully understand the challenges in the education and training system that impact

on its performance against the two key outcomes outlined above and then to understand the role of different

stakeholders in addressing these challenges towards achieving these outcomes. This will ensure optimal

allocation of resources and effectiveness of interventions.

3.2 Overview of current challenges in the schooling sector

There are many challenges facing the schooling sector. These are discussed below.

3.2.1 Department of Education (DoE)

The DBE has undertaken a wide range of initiatives over the past few years aimed at improving access to

education as well as the quality of provision, especially for the poor and disadvantaged. Some of the most

important are:

The declaration of “no-fee schools” by the Minister for all schools in the lowest two quintiles. It has been

extended to third quintile schools in 2009. “In addition, new regulations regarding exemption from school

fees have strengthened the obligations of fee-paying schools to grant fee exemptions to parents who

qualify (DoE, 2008).

According the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) press release of 23 July 2012, the number

of no-fee schools has increased from 13 643 (55%) in 2008, to 14 597 (60%) in 2010. In particular, the

Western Cape was the greatest beneficiary of the increase, with 258 schools, 60% more schools than in

2008. The Free State with an increase of 235 schools was next, 34% more schools than in 2008.

Table 3.1: No-Fee Schools for 2008 and 2010

Province 2008 2010 C h a n g e

2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 0

Eastern Cape 3 668 5 617 65% 3 721 5 590 67% 3%

Free State 1 119 1 814 62% 1 354 1 636 83% 34%

Gauteng 425 1 989 21% 449 2 012 22% 5%

KwaZulu-Natal 3 024 5 751 53% 3 119 5 645 53% 0%

Limpopo 2 827 4 009 71% 3 052 3 942 77% 8%

Mpumalanga 923 1 849 50% 952 1 828 52% 4%

Northern Cape 393 603 65% 398 597 67% 3%

North West 859 1 730 50% 889 1 626 55% 10%

Western Cape 405 1 452 28% 663 1 456 46% 64%

South Africa 13 643 24 814 55% 14 597 24 532 60% 9%

Source: DBE Report on the 2008-2009 Annual Survey for Ordinary Schools, p.18; Report on the 2009-2010 Annual

Surveys for Ordinary Schools, pp. 10-11.

Despite the good intention of the no-fee policy, it is crucial that we find out “whether it would be appropriate

to obtain empirical evidence to the effect that allocating a certain minimum amount would result in learners

meeting a certain minimum standard” (Gallie 2012, p.182).

The Directorate of Rural Education was established to address the inequalities between urban and rural

schooling. A National Framework for Quality Education in Rural Areas (DoE, 2006)has been formulated and

focuses on, amongst others, attracting and retaining learners in rural schools, restructuring and improving

infrastructure, rationalising schools, and signing agreements between Provincial Departments of Education

(PDEs) and land-owners who are mainly commercial farmers.

In a recent article in South African Rural Educator (Volume 1, 7 February 2012), the Deputy Minister Surty

outlined the challenges of rural education as (i) the socio-economic realities of rural areas, (ii) rural areas are

not attractive for teachers, (iii) inappropriate teaching methods, and (iv) a correlation between language and

performance. His advice is an integrated and holistic approach in tackling the problems by focusing on the

following areas:

Supporting cognitive development pre-Grade R

Increasing the uptake of Grade Rs

Improving literacy and numeracy in the foundation phase

Providing the right combination of languages for learning

Supporting multi-grade schools through infrastructure, teacher training, curriculum, importance of playing,

connectivity and a rural incentive for teachers

He affirmed these goals by quoting Mbilwe Secondary and Dendron High, both in Limpopo as schools that

are rural and excellent; producing 40 distinctions in Mathematics and Science at matric level in 2011.

The most prominent current driver of the public school sector – especially schools serving the poor – is the

concern about the quality of education in these schools. A number of assessment studies in recent years have

shown that the educational achievements of learners in SA schools are unacceptably poor. This has been

confirmed by four international studies, namely the Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) Project, the

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring

Educational Quality (SACMEQ) study and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). All these

studies show South African learners having exceptionally low levels of basic literacy and numeracy skills

compared to learners in other countries.

3.2.2 Schooling challenges

The greatest challenges that the schooling system has to contend and grapple with, is the participation of

children who are orphaned and those who are not attending educational institutions. The children below are

defined as those people under the age of 18. Child-headed households are interpreted as households with only

children as members, while a mixed-generation household will be seen as having both adults and children as

members of the household.

3.2.2.1 Orphan learners and attendance of learners

Some of the significant challenges faced by the schooling system are the participation of orphans and the

attendance of learners. The challenges which learners face when they are orphaned, either through maternal,

paternal or double orphanage, are enormous.

Table 3.2: Percentage of orphans by orphanhood status, province and population group, 2010

Category Province Orphanhood status (%)

Maternal Paternal Double Not orphaned

% Total (thousands)

Province Western Cape 1.7 6.3 1.1 90.9 100% 1 753

Eastern Cape 4.3 14.3 6.1 75.4 100% 2 635

Northern Cape 3.8 9.6 3.4 83.3 100% 426

Free State 3.9 11.6 6.4 78.1 100% 1 041

KwaZulu-Natal 5.2 15.2 6.5 73.2 100% 4 224

North West 3.4 9.2 4.2 83.2 100% 1 215

Gauteng 2.1 9.1 2.6 86.2 100% 3 256

Mpumalanga 4.5 11.0 5.0 79.5 100% 1 440

Limpopo 2.2 12.1 2.8 83.0 100% 2 193

Population group

Black African 3.9 13.0 5.1 78.0 100% 15 389

Coloured 2.5 6.2 0.9 90.4 100% 1 467

Indian/Asian 0.6 2.7 0.9 95.8 100% 356

White 0.2 2.2 0.1 97.5 100% 971

South Africa 3.5 11.7 4.4 80.4 100% 18 182

Source: General Household Survey 2011

As displayed in Table 3.2 above, of the over 18 million learners who are between the school going age of 7 – 17

years in 2010, 19.6% of them are orphaned through the three levels mentioned before. The majority of

learners are orphaned through the loss of fathers, which is 11.7%, while a significant number of 4.4% of

learners have lost both parents. When looking at the data per population group, we see that the percentage of

orphans in the Black African population is 78%, with a significant number of 5.1% learners who lost both

parents.

When looking at the data as a percentage of distribution across provinces in Table 3.3, KwaZulu-Natal is carrying

the biggest portion of orphans across all three levels, namely 34.1% of the more than 644 thousand learners

who have lost their mothers, 30.2% of the more than 2.12 million learners who have lost their fathers, and

34.1% of the more than 800 thousand learners who have lost both parents.

Table 3.3: Percentage distribution of orphans by province, 2010

Province Orphanhood status (%)

Maternal Paternal Double Not orphaned

Western Cape 4.7 5.2 2.4 10.9

Eastern Cape 17.7 17.7 20.0 13.6

Northern Cape 2.5 1.9 1.8 2.4

Free State 6.3 5.7 8.4 5.6

KwaZulu-Natal 34.2 30.2 34.1 21.1

North West 6.4 5.3 6.3 6.9

Gauteng 10.7 14.0 10.5 19.2

Mpumalanga 10.1 7.5 9.0 7.8

Limpopo 7.5 12.5 7.6 12.5

Percentage 100 100 100 100

Total (thousands) 644 2 120 800 14 618 Source: General Household Survey 2011

The table below cited the significant number of children who are not living with any of their parents, which is

23.9 % at a national level, but which is higher among African families at 26.7%. The amount of children who

live with both parents is alarmingly low among African families at 28.0%, while very high among Indian and

white families at 80.9% and 77.5% respectively.

Table 3.4: Percentage of children living with only their mothers, only their fathers, with both their parents, or with neither their parents by province and population group, 2010

Category Province Orphanhood status (%)

Mother Father Both Neither % Total (thousands)

Province Western Cape 31.9 3.5 54.1 10.6 100% 1 708

Eastern Cape 40.8 3.0 22.1 34.1 100% 2 641

Northern Cape 41.1 2.9 31.1 25.0 100% 415

Free State 39.1 3.1 33.2 24.5 100% 1 039

KwaZulu-Natal 40.5 4.7 25.9 29.0 100% 4 125

North West 39.3 3.0 31.5 26.3 100% 1 250

Gauteng 34.4 3.0 50.4 12.2 100% 3 160

Mpumalanga 42.0 4.0 29.5 24.6 100% 1 422

Limpopo 46.4 1.4 25.3 26.9 100% 2 193

Population group

Black African 41.9 3.3 28.0 26.7 100% 15 235

Coloured 34.0 3.4 50.8 11.8 100% 1 417

Indian/Asian 11.2 2.1 80.9 5.8 100% 342

White 0.2 3.3 77.5 3.1 100% 958

South Africa 39.3 3.3 33.5 23.9 100% 17 952 Source: General Household Survey 2011

Given the high amount of children who are double orphaned, more than 10% of them are therefore subjected

to taking on the responsibility of running the household. Although the numbers are higher in the specific

category in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape are emerging in the Table 3.5 below as

having a higher percentage of children living in child-headed households.

Table 3.5: Percentage of children living in child-headed households by province, 2002 – 2010

Province Year (%)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Western Cape 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0

Eastern Cape 1.7 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.1 0.4 0.8

Northern Cape 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3

Free State 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.8 0.4 0.3 0.4

KwaZulu-Natal 0.4 0.8 0.6 0.4 1.0 0.8 0.3 0.6 0.6

North West 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.8 0.2 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.1

Gauteng 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1

Mpumalanga 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.7 1.1 0.8 0.8

Limpopo 1.4 0.9 1.1 1.6 1.6 2.4 1.6 1.9 1.2

South Africa 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.5

Total (thousands) 128 105 95 123 146 157 120 103 99 Source: General Household Survey 2011

Due to the high number of orphaned children in South Africa, this will play itself out in the data related to the

percentage of persons who are attending educational institutions. The newly released statistics in 2012

displays that 73.6% of persons aged 7 to 24 years are attending education institutions.

Figure 3.2: Percentage of persons aged 7 to 24 years who attend educational institutions, 2002 and 2011

This number is down on the figures of 2002, which is due to the drop in attendance in the Eastern Cape (from

77.4% to 74.9%), Gauteng (from 70.6% to 70.3%), Mpumalanga (from 78.7% to 75.5%) and Limpopo (from

80.5% to 79.3%).

3.2.2.2 Reasons for not attending an educational institution

The biggest reasons given by those in the age group of 7 to 24 years who are not attending educational

institution are displayed below. More specifically, 35.9% cited at a national level that the lack of money caused

them not to attend an educational institution. This data must concern policy makers since the introduction of

no-fee schools was intended to reduce or even eradicate this number. Linked to the high level of child-headed

households, it should be understandable that the reason of working at home should carry a significant

percentage of 16.9% at national level.

Figure 3.3: Main reasons given by persons aged 7 to 24 years for not attending education institutions, 2011

3.2.2.3 Corporal punishment

In total, 17.2% of learners experienced corporal punishment during 2011, which is higher than the 2009 and

2010 data. Generally, there is a growth from 2009 to 2011 in the experience of corporal punishment across

provinces, except in Gauteng, where there is a definite decrease in the experience. Corporal punishment was

most common in the Eastern Cape in all three years, peaking in 2011 at 30.2%. KwaZulu-Natal follows the

Eastern Cape with all three years in the 20%, with 2001 being 22.5%, and then Free State with 22.1% in 2011.

The Western Cape is the province where the least likely occurrence related to corporal punishment will take

place, at a reported rate of 3.7% in 2011. Despite declines in Northern Cape, North West and Gauteng, the

percentage of learners who are experiencing corporal punishment at school is increasing at a national level.

Sharp increases from 2010 to 2011 are particularly concerning in Limpopo (8.6% to 19.3%) and the Eastern

Cape (23.3% to 30.2%).

Given the fact that corporal punishment is illegal, and that all educators are guided by a code of conduct, under

the jurisdiction of the South African Council for Educators (SACE), this should be a worrying statistic to the

professional council.

Figure 3.4: Corporal punishment of 2009 to 2011

Source: Statistics South Africa – General household statistics 2011

3.2.2.4 School infrastructure backlogs

The National Education Information Management System (NEIMS) estimates the backlog at being R153 billion

for capital expenses and R30 billion (DBSA, 2009) for maintenance versus the R23. 9 billion budgeted over the

next three years.

Table 3.6: Backlogs: Basic service and mud structures

Province Water Sanitation Electricity Fencing Entire Mud Structures

Eastern Cape 944 470 879 1 153 395

Free State 193 48 221 126 1

Gauteng 0 4 12 64 0

KwaZulu-Natal 288 71 1 155 458 15

Limpopo 237 43 237 341 0

Mpumalanga 34 14 207 364 0

North West 6 28 68 23 0

Northern Cape 25 6 18 116 0

Western Cape 0 22 2 108 1

Total 1 727 706 2 790 2 753 412

Source: Presentation to Portfolio Committee 2025, 4 May 2010

There are over 2 799 schools in the public schooling system without access to basic electricity, 1 727 without

water and 706 without sanitation. The specific service levels required by schools is unclear, and that make the

meshing with the National Sanitation Policy difficult, it is unclear if the schools in question have absolutely no

service or are below the service level requirements for basic services. The vast majority of backlogs are to be

found in the Eastern Cape.

Table 3.7: Ordinary schools space backlog

Province Classrooms Multipurpose General

Library Laboratory Computer

Centre

Eastern Cape 16 946 6 707 3 958 3 767 4 077 4 062

Free State 1 259 1 153 495 425 598 699

Gauteng 3 605 2 570 1 075 809 1 382 797

KwaZulu Natal 18 606 6 983 4 518 3 942 4 890 3 161

Limpopo 11 360 4 675 3 266 3 124 3 541 2 157

Mpumalanga 5 797 2 307 1 241 1 222 1 560 1 268

North West 3 259 1 531 1 016 969 1 113 784

North Cape 861 565 274 257 276 208

West Cape 1 402 1 436 673 474 821 481

Total 63 095 27 927 16 516 14 989 18 258 13 617

Source: Presentation to Portfolio Committee 2025, 4 May 2010

Assuming an average public school learner to teacher ratio of 30/1 i.e. the average class size in the public sector

is 30 learners in a class, therefore a 63 095 backlog will impact on an estimated 1.8 million learners i.e. 30

learners per classroom. This is an exceptionally high number of learners and teachers who do not have access

to basic teaching infrastructure, emphasising the compound effect of legacy issues.

In a recent keynote address by the Minister of Basic Education (10 April 2012), she indicated that the

mentioned backlogs above have been reduced to the following: 446 replacement of mud, wood, prefabricated

and metal structures; 514 schools to be provided with sanitation; 714 schools to be electrified; 1 069 schools to

be provided with water; 4 050 sports facilities; 13 617 computer centres; 14 989 libraries; 15 368 multipurpose

rooms; 15 435 nutrition centres; 16 516 administration blocks and 18 258 laboratories. It is estimated that

removing these backlogs - which lead to a lack of optimal functionality – needs R66.6 billion. An additional R20

billion is needed for maintenance and repairs to existing infrastructure.

In essence, the concerning issues are:

A significant proportion of children who suffer from disabilities are not succeeding in accessing education.

The will create pressure in the system in terms of financial and social support.

The main area of concern is that these fairly high participation rates do not manifest in high learner

performance. This may indicate that the issue of quality provision remains a major challenge.

Infrastructural backlogs are a major concern as they impact on educational delivery and on the lives of

educators confronted by these circumstances.

In conclusion, participation rates are high and show fairly high levels of retention. The 2009 figures in the

proportion of learners in the ordinary schools at GET phase to the FET phase showed a decrease of 10.1%. This

is a cause for concern if the system intends to ensure access throughout schooling and a foundation for post-

school education and training and skilled human capital.

The rates showed strong gender equity and, where small differences did exist, they were in the favour of female

learners. Except in the North West province gender parity has been achieved even in the rural provinces.

3.2.2.5 Growth in independent schools

This constituency experienced rapid growth since 1994, mostly attributable to growth in low-fee schools, as

discussed earlier. These schools generally serve as an alternative to the apartheid legacy of poor performing

African schools for the African middle and lower socio-economic households.

3.3 Employment Profile: Schooling

This section analyses employment and occupational profile of educators in the public education system

between 2004 and 2010 (Department of Education, 2010). The focus is on the following aspects: educator

numbers according to race, age group and the national gender composition in the nine provinces, based on

information provided by the Personnel Salary (PERSAL) system from the Department of Education. The analysis

also concentrates on the rank and gender of educators based on their different post levels and Relative

Education Qualifications Value (REQV) level in the nine provinces in the public schooling system and provides

information on educator attrition.

3.3.1 Distribution of staff types

The educators are the biggest portion of the employee workforce in education, as displayed earlier, and in Table

3.8 below.

Table 3.8: Number of educators by PDE: 2004-2011

Province 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Eastern Cape 65 413 64 800 65 314 62 167 64 565 64 371 62 737 66 662

Free State 22 930 22 956 23 275 22 734 23 295 22 696 23 669 24 090

Gauteng 45 653 45 319 46 370 49 916 50 715 53 017 59 381 56 310

KwaZulu-Natal 78 046 79 034 81 548 84 100 84 977 83 760 85 441 89 434

Limpopo 57 901 58 936 55 128 56 546 56 432 55 647 55 795 56 606

Mpumalanga 26 398 26 720 30 922 31 485 32 087 32 784 31 489 32 454

North West 29 471 29 016 31 346 26 117 25 428 25 736 24 489 24 933

Northern Cape 6 656 6 589 6 562 8 193 8 428 8 835 8 691 8 763

Western Cape 28 478 28 281 28 654 24 895 25 522 32 214 29 462 29 896

Totals 360 946 361 651 369 119 366 153 371 449 379 060 381 154 389 148

Source: PERSAL

PERSAL data for August 2010 in Table 3.8 above indicates that:

There were 381 154 state-employed teachers (including relief, permanent, probationary and temporary

College-school (CS) teachers and part-time teachers) in public ordinary schools. These were school based

state-paid educators.

The figures reflect an increase in the number of educators employed by the state from 2004 to 2010. A

slight increase of 705 educators is noted from 2004 to 2005 whilst a marked 7 468 more educators were

employed in 2006. The increase can be largely attributed to the 6 706 additional educators employed in

Gauteng and 6 318 in the Western Cape, 2 061 in the Eastern Cape, and 2 489 employed in KZN.

From 2008 to 2010 a further 17 880 educators were appointed into the system. This represents a growth

rate of about 4.6% in the number of school-based educators employed by the state.

Table 3.9 below reflects the staff complement in ordinary schools in 2009 and 2010. It shows the percentage

distribution of the various staff types in the country for the same period. The figure indicates that the

percentage distributions stayed almost the same for 2009 and 2010. It further shows that educators comprised

approximately 80% of all staff members, and support staff approximately 12%.

Table 3.9: Number of staff in ordinary schools, by Province and staff type, in 2009 and 2010

Province Year Staff Type

Administrative Educator Hostel Professional non-teaching

Support Total

Eastern Cape 2009 2010

2 340 3 135

69 620 69 018

1 189 1 402

479 436

7 820 7 266

81 448 81 257

Free State 2009 2010

1 715 1 793

23 741 23 850

587 619

196 197

2 281 2 609

28 520 29 068

Gauteng 2009 2010

7 463 7 896

66 351 70 340

363 435

1 676 1 620

13 959 14 939

89 812 95 230

KwaZulu-Natal 2009 2010

4 990 5 506

89 377 91 926

907 907

445 494

10 737 11 707

106 456 110 540

Limpopo 2009 2010

1 419 1 480

58 563 58 194

580 606

165 91

10 248 11 615

70 975 71 986

Mpumalanga 2009 2010

2 790 2 848

35 221 34 575

354 376

216 144

5 703 5 767

44 284 43 710

Northern Cape 2009 2010

819 683

9 115 8 846

571 518

1 806 1 556

12 388 11 683

North West 2009 2010

1 567 1 692

26 697 26 006

586 679

130 71

2 506 2 504

31 486 30 952

Western Cape 2009 2010

3 323 3 431

34 382 35 354

1 043 1 064

667 287

5 709 6 007

45 124 46 143

South Africa 2009 2010

26 426 28 464

413 067 418 109

6 180 6 606

4 051 3 420

60 769 63 970

510 493 520 569

Source: 2009 and 2010 SNAP Surveys; Note: These data exclude substitute staff

Figure 3.5 below displays the synthesis of the data above in a way that shows the percentage of staff as part of

the total staff type in ordinary schools in 2009 and 2010. The biggest portion of the workforce and therefore

the salary bill, is covered by educators (more than 80%), with support staff showing a gradual increase

compared to the previous year. This phenomenon is the same for administrative staff, with an increase from

5.2% to 5.5%. The hostel and professional non-teaching staff are still very marginal in numbers as well as their

possible affect on the education system as a whole.

Figure 3.5: Percentage Distribution of Staff in Ordinary Schools, by Staff Type, in 2009 and 2010

Source: Education statistics in South Africa, 2010, p.20

In particular, it is not clear, and therefore requires some investigation, how an increase in the professional non-

teaching, administrative and support staff will have an effect on the quality of teaching and learning delivery by

educators, if there is a reduction in the educator force.

3.3.2 Employee Demographic Profile

The following statistics are important to note, as deduced from Table 3.10 below:

An average of 89.1% of educators fell in the 30-54 year old age group. This makes up the largest

proportion of educators in the profession.

The age group 55 – 59 is almost half of the age group 50-54. This may be attributed to the fact that about

67% of educators are female and their retirement age is 55. So this sudden drop in numbers may be due

to the lessening of female educators due to retirement.

A significant drop of about 47 044 is noted for the age group 25-39. The 30-34 years old cohort has also

declined steadily from 2004-2008. These groups of educators were employed in KwaZulu-Natal as

temporary or relief-educators having only an REQV 10. The age indicates that these may be young people

(18/19 year olds) who have recently completed matriculation and have been employed as educators.

Educators in the 65-79 age group are mostly temporary appointments. These educators are supposed to

be retired but may have been retained or re-employed because they may be offering education in

learning areas where skilled teachers are not sufficient.

Table 3.10: Number of educators by age group: 2004 – 2008 and 2011

Age group 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2011

10-19 12 27 50 72 49 11

20- 24 1 214 1 539 2 516 3 166 3 862 5 585

25-29 15 181 11 618 10 283 9 171 10 256 17 287

30-34 61 486 53 348 47 641 37 539 30 782 19 750

35-39 90 942 90 283 88 636 85 111 79 527 62 553

40-44 76 189 79 009 84 333 86 692 90 804 95 076

45-49 59 668 63 281 64 991 67 363 69 847 80 919

50-54 36 201 39 782 45 051 47 857 52 462 61 981

55-59 15 581 17 934 20 058 23 173 26 767 36 740

60-64 4 301 4 624 5 376 5 851 6 918 9 030

65-69 162 193 170 155 171 204

70-74 8 11 11 2 3 11

75-79 1 2 3 1 1 1

TOTAL 360 946 361 651 369 119 366 153 371 449 389 148

Source: PERSAL

The following statistics/aspects from national gender composition are important to note:

The gender composition for the period 2004 to 2008 shows that the workforce of school-based educators

consists of 67% female and 33% male. A marked gender disparity of 34% is noted.

Female educators from 2004 to 2008 constituted the highest proportion (72%) of post-level one educators.

The majority of Heads of Department were female at 61% and males at 39%.

Deputy Principals (DPs) were predominantly male with an average of 59.0% for the period 2004-2008.

Female Deputy Principals averaged about 41.0%. There was a slight decrease in the proportion of male

Deputy Principals and a corresponding increase in the percentage distribution of their female counterparts

in 2009.

The majority of Principals were male at 64% compared to female Principals who accounted for only 36%.

This situation has remained steady for the period 2004-2007 until an increase of about 2% was recorded by

the end of the year 2008.

Gender representation in senior management (DPs and Principals) is skewed when compared to the gender

proportions amongst ordinary educators and Heads of Department (HoDs).

Table 3.11: National gender composition: 2004-2008 and 2011

Year Male % Female % Total

2004 121 693 34 239 253 66 360 946

2005 120 959 33 240 692 67 361 651

2006 122 227 33 246 892 67 369 119

2007 120 467 33 245 686 67 366 153

2008 121 208 33 250 241 67 371 449

2011 125048 32 264100 68 389 148 Source: PERSAL

In terms of gender parity, the gender composition indicates that the schooling sub-sector has more females

(67%) than males (33%) in the years (2005-2008). If this trend, which appears to be consistent for four years,

continues this can perpetuate gender stereotypes that the teaching profession is more for females than males.

What is interesting though is that even though males are in the minority, the majority of management positions

were still occupied by males. This might be viewed as gender discrimination in terms of appointments of

females to senior management level in the schooling system. As a consequence, female educators might be

demotivated and do not see a career path to management positions within the schooling sub-sector.

Figure 3.6: National educator race composition 2011

Source: PERSAL

The race composition of educators is: 81.0% African, 9.0% White, 7.0% Coloured and 3.0% Indian/Asian. This is

a fair reflection of the total population of the country. Table 3.12 below provides a more comprehensive picture

and reflects that the majority of educators are female with a total of 252 834, compared to males at 140 758.

AFRICAN, 81%

ASIAN, 3%

COLOURED, 7%

WHITE, 9%

National Educator Race Composition 2011

The table above reflects the proportion of educators by REQV.

The majority of educators fall in REQV 13 and 14.

There is a steady increase of educators in REQV 10 from 2005 to 2011. A large number of these educators

are employed as temporary educators.

A significant increase in the number of REQV 14 and above is noted.

There is a significant decrease in the number of REQV 11 and 12 educators from 2005-2011.

With regard to educator qualifications, indications are that more than 22 000 educators in 2008 were between

REQV 10-12. This means that they were unqualified and under-qualified. As indicated above in Table 3.12, the

number of unqualified and under-qualified educators at REQV 10 has increased since 2008 to 10 718. A large

number of the REQV 10 educators are employed in KwaZulu-Natal. The implications of this for learning

achievement are serious. This trend is also reinforced by the fact that KwaZulu-Natal had the largest number of

temporary educators (4 617) in 2010, which has a negative impact for schooling.

Responses from the sample with regards to disabled employees were not as detailed as was required by the

research team. Historically the sub-sector has not been able to provide detailed information on disabled

employees because:

the systems being used are built on top of legacy systems that did not allow for these variables to be stored,

departments have not got around to updating their databases e.g. in the instance of Gauteng province there

are no disabled employees identified.

3.3.3 Employment Patterns and Trends

3.3.3.1 Educator termination rates

Before discussing teacher attrition it would be instructive to discuss teacher termination rates (Table 3.13) as

these impact significantly on the capacity of the DBE to deliver on its mandate.

Table 3.12: Number of educators by REQV: 2005-2008 and 2011

YEAR 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

2005 5 882 5 330 20 162 134 965 132 993 45 161 15 374 1 784

2006 7 077 4 309 16 116 129 243 143 619 49 743 17 015 1 997

2007 8 106 3 469 11 924 120 390 148 858 53 075 18 226 2 105

2008 9 201 3 326 10 492 113 294 158 689 55 347 18 981 2 119

2011 10 718 658 4 443 102 620 18 7304 60 500 20 750 2 155

Source: PERSAL

Table 3.13: Number of educator termination rate from financial year, 2006 to 2011

Province 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Eastern Cape 1 701 1 560 1 676 2 102 2 193 2 731

Free State 781 741 878 1 001 969 952

Gauteng 1 891 2 142 2 428 2 792 2 359 3 417

KwaZulu-Natal 1 881 2 095 2 153 2 906 3 029 3 640

Limpopo 893 1 098 783 1 107 1 337 1 463

Mpumalanga 657 643 618 1 210 1 064 552

North West 566 718 584 575 454 916

Northern Cape 330 311 381 385 491 386

Western Cape 2 680 2 717 1 823 1 560 1 195 931

National 11 380 12 025 11 324 13 638 13 091 14 988 Source: PERSAL

The rate of terminations has been increasing yearly according to the table 3.13 above, with a slight decrease in

2008. The terminations may be attributed to various factors and transgressions that warrant drastic measures,

and these terminations have a bearing in the supply and demand of teachers. KZN seems to be leading in

terminations followed by Gauteng and Eastern Cape. This may be attributed to number of learners, teachers

and schools in the affected areas.

3.3.3.2 Educator attrition rates

Educator attrition rates refer to the percentages of teachers who leave the profession each year, excluding

retirees. This concept could be a useful indicator of the relative status of teachers compared to other

occupational groups, but reliable, internationally comparable data on teacher attrition rates do not exist and

even national data are very scarce.

Table 3.14: Number of educator attrition rate by financial year, 2006 – 2011

Province 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Eastern Cape 2.6% 2.5% 2.6% 3.3% 3.5% 4.1%

Free State 3.4% 3.3% 3.8% 4.4% 4.1% 4.0%

Gauteng 3.7% 4.3% 4.6% 5.3% 4.0% 6.1%

KwaZulu-Natal 2.4% 2.5% 2.5% 3.5% 3.5% 4.1%

Limpopo 1.6% 2.1% 1.5% 2.0% 2.4% 2.6%

Mpumalanga 2.5% 2.1% 2.0% 3.7% 3.4% 1.7%

North West 2.1% 2.8% 2.3% 2.2% 1.9% 3.7%

Northern Cape 5.1% 3.6% 4.5% 4.4% 5.6% 4.4%

Western Cape 8.9% 8.9% 6.0% 4.8% 4.1% 3.1%

National 3.1% 3.3% 3.0% 3.6% 3.4% 3.9%

Source: PERSAL

The following points are pertinent in relation to the table 3.14 above:

Attrition rates peak at two points in the age profile of teachers: one among educators aged 55 and above

and another among educators aged 25 to 34. According to the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC),

it would seem that younger educators are “simply giving the profession a try or joining while awaiting

better prospects, leaving quickly upon finding them” (ELRC 2005, p.6, citing Crouch & Perry 2003, p.489).

However, the largest proportion of teachers have not thought about and do not intend leaving the

profession: 46% of teachers in the ELRC sample had not thought about leaving the profession (ELRC 2005:

xvi), and 52% of the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) sample indicated they intended remaining

in the profession {(CHEC 2009, p.209).

Another trend is the rate of termination of service of educators. Between 2007 and 2009, the total of 9 175

educators - the highest number being African - left the teaching profession. African teachers leaving the

profession could have a negative impact for learner performance in African areas which have been

disadvantaged and where experienced and skilled teachers are most required to raise the quality of

education.

In most countries, a certain amount of teacher attrition is accounted for by transfer and/or promotion to

administrative and managerial positions within the education system itself. Because of this, teacher

attrition rates may tend to be higher in the less developed regions of the world, where education systems

are rapidly expanding, than in the more developed regions with low birth rates and slowly growing student

enrolments.

The attrition rate has been fairly steady at about 3% (Table 3.14). The main causes of attrition are contract

terminations, resignations and mortality. No new studies have investigated the impact of HIV and AIDS on

teacher attrition since 2005. Crouch’s 2001 study projected a 5.5% attrition rate as ‘normal’, to which he

suggested adding a possible AIDS attrition rate of 3.5–4.6% (Crouch 2001, p.32); in this regard, the proportion

of gross attrition due to mortality increased from 7.0% in 1997/98 to 17.7% in 2003/04 (ELRC 2005, p.xiv). The

ELRC report found that ‘12.7% of all educators are HIV-positive’ (ELRC 2005, p.xv) and that their health status

seemed poorer than that of the general population. The report estimated that ‘8.3% of HIV-infected educators,

or 1.1% of the total educator population, died of AIDS in 2004’ (ELRC 2005, p.xvi). At the same time, 8.2% of

third- and fourth-year education students were found to be HIV-positive (ELRC 2005, p.xvii). The 2002/03

attrition rate of 5.9% was characterised by increasing proportions of mortality, medical retirement and

resignation (ELRC 2005, p.xiv; DoE 2005b, p.56).

Updated information on attrition and educator shortage:

Estimates for attrition possibly due to retirement vary from between 5% and 12% of educators who are

likely to retire by 2015.

Estimates for attrition possibly as a result of HIV/AIDS also vary, but the lower estimates are that roughly 18

000 educators will need to be replaced by 2015, as indicated in the ELRC (2005) report.

The pattern is that educators are choosing not to remain in school after retirement.

The ELRC/HSRC 2006 research estimated that the total number of teachers who need to be replaced is

between 18 000 – 22 000 annually. The Department of Education has argued that this is not an unusual

attrition rate.

The current and projected shortages are also subject and phase specific, with mathematics and science

subject areas reporting particularly high shortages. The Minister of Basic Education earlier in 2012

indicated that “a total of 561 schools in KwaZulu-Natal needed additional mathematics teachers, with 557

needing mathematical literacy teachers and 508 requiring more science teachers” (Sunday World, 2012).

While causes of attrition are not always clear, there are also varied claims about why education is failing to

attract interest from potential new entrants.

In a study conducted by the HSRC for the ELRC in 2005, it was found that 55% of teachers would leave teaching

if they could. The reasons cited for this included:

workload stress

low salaries

lack of discipline in schools, and

lack of career advancement.

Attrition rates seem greatest among younger teachers; employment options and pension considerations act

seem to keep many older teachers in the profession. The loss of young teachers from the profession creates a

drain on the strength of the teaching force. The working conditions for teachers vary enormously, depending on

the location and environmental circumstances of schools. Apart from their direct professional responsibilities,

many teachers have to cope with the effects of major socio-economic disadvantage and domestic dysfunction.

The high South African unemployment rate masks a much higher incidence in some areas, with the resultant

social consequences (OECD, 2010). Some of these factors include:

Education of parents - Many parents are unable to give the understanding and active support to their

children to help their progression at school. Many lack formal education themselves. “Parent education

levels are strongly associated with the well-being of children, child survival rates and the capacity to

support children through school. The census of 2001 noted the high illiteracy rate in South Africa,

particularly among women, as problematic with consequences for children because women are most often

the primary caregivers … Many parents lack the knowledge, confidence and material resources to support

their children’s education therefore many children either do not attend school or prop out in the early

grades.” (ELRU, 2007)

Impact of social issues – There are great concern among policy makers and teachers about a growing, but

destructive sub-culture impinging on school life. This include incidences of vandalism, learner violence,

intimidation and rape - which are sometimes fuelled by indulgence in drug-taking - impinge on school life

(DBSA, 2009). In the past, most educational current expenditure went on paying teacher salaries. The

proportion retained for discretionary funding on school resources has improved in recent years – from

However, expenditure on the security needs of some schools has been making inroads into these funds.

Despite the pressure on schools to respond to above mentioned community issues, they also have to cope

with the side effects of family breakdown, increased incidence of single parent families and the migratory

patterns of parents who have to travel far from home in search of work.

Remote areas - Some provinces have been finding it very difficult to recruit teachers for remote rural areas,

while for some subjects, such as mathematics or science, it this has been virtually impossible. Incentives

such as bonuses and transport are being used to encourage teachers to go to such schools. (Christie, et al,

HIV/AIDS- The impact of HIV/AIDS on South African society has been severe and has also taken its toll

among the teaching force. A study on the health of educators, conducted for the ELRC (2005), revealed that

there was a high incidence of HIV among educators, at 12.7%, with the highest prevalence among Africans

at 16%. The highest proportion of affected teachers was in the younger age bracket, those who had been

teaching from 0 to 14 years, who accounted for 55.5% of those affected. Educators residing and working in

rural areas had significantly higher HIV prevalence than those inurban areas (Peltzer, et al, 2005).

Workload- A study on teacher workload for the ELRC reported that many teachers often arrive late to

school and leave early; much of the time spent at school is devoted to administrative tasks, rather than

teaching and learning. Thus, the working conditions for many teachers are not conducive to high-level

performance. Teachers in former whites-only schools teach in class for an average of 6.5 hours a day, while

teachers in schools in disadvantaged communities teach for around 3.5 hours a day. The result is that the

outcomes of learners in these schools are unequal (Presidency, 2009). There is therefore a need to look

beyond the subject skills gap in disadvantaged schools, and also factors in the need for motivational,

commitment and time-on-task skills among teachers in the mentioned schools.

According to a UNESCO Report (1998), in most countries, a certain amount of teacher attrition is accounted for

by transfer and/or promotion to administrative and managerial positions within the education system itself;

because of this, teacher attrition rates may tend to be higher in the less developed regions of the world, where

education systems are rapidly expanding, than in the more developed regions with low birth rates and slowly

growing student enrolments.

In Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, ex-teachers could be found throughout the state administrations of most of

the newly independent countries. However, teacher attrition rates have probably been highest in East and

Central Europe, and the countries of the former Soviet Union, partly because of the difficulties facing all

categories of public sector employees in most of these countries, but also in part because many teachers found

that they had skills (e.g. foreign languages, information technology) which have been in demand in the

burgeoning private industrial and service sectors.

Ingersoll (2002) maintains that OECD countries vary in their experience of the demand for, and supply of

teachers. However, the overall trend is similar to the experience of Australia. The OECD publication Education

Policy Analysis 2002 makes the following observations:

In half of OECD countries, a majority of 15-year olds attend a school whose principal thinks that student

learning is hindered at least a little by a teacher shortage/inadequacy.

In certain countries, although by no means all, it is becoming harder to fill teaching posts.

Attrition rates from the teaching profession vary widely across countries. In some, the majority of people

leaving teaching are retiring; in others only a small minority.

Teaching workforces are ageing across the OECD. In some OECD countries, over 40 percent of teachers are

in their 50s.

In almost all countries, teacher salaries fell relative to national income per head during the late 1990s.

3.4 Skills Supply

3.4.1 Occupational routes into schooling

3.4.1.1 Pathways in Teacher Education

The main pathways for initial teacher education are:

Four year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree and a one-year post-graduate diploma – following an

approved first degree – known as the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), or the Higher Diploma

in Education.

Unqualified or under qualified practising teachers can top up their experience with the National

Professional Diploma in Education (NPDE). These education courses are validated by the Council on Higher

Education (CHE).

3.4.1.2 Educator Qualifications

The Figure 3.7 below indicates the percentage increases of teachers in the system who have achieved a

teachers qualification since 1990 and reflects the improvement in the qualifications of teachers. Since this data

comes from the salary system (PERSAL), and the REQV level of qualifications is 13, this could misrepresent the

percentage of teachers with professional and academic qualifications.

Figure 3.7: Improvements in teacher qualifications 1990 to 2010

Source: 1994 and 2005 – 2008 data from DoE, 2009a:66; Data from PERSAL, August 2009; 2010 data from PERSAL, February 2010

However, the recording of the qualifications of teachers, on the DBE PERSAL system, at an employment level,

as well as a professional level, are only captured as if the profession is a ‘generalist industry’. The first level of

preparation which all teachers go through is to empower them to be able to work with a particular cohort of

people, meaning learners in the case of school teachers. This focus of training is called pedagogy, which means

1990 1994 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

91.60% 92.90% 93.80% 94.40% 93.70% 95.10%

the skills to work with children. The second level of preparation focuses on the particular subject(s) the

teachers will employ to facilitate learning among children. Currently, teachers are only recorded as to whether

they have a teachers qualification, meaning whether they are pedagogues. It means that the focus is on the

generalist capacity and skills for teachers, rather than the specialist skills like mathematics, accounting, etc.

Such generalist skills include building positive relationships between teachers and learners, different learning

styles, listening skills, etc. But the success of learners in any learning area is also dependent on the capacity,

skills and ability of teachers to know the content of their learning areas. Clarity around the above-mentioned

issue and practice is crucial in relation to the definitions within the skills development sector regarding ‘scarce

and critical skills’. As stated by the Department of Labour (DoL, 2006), “scarce skills, as a concept, refers to an

absolute or relative demand for skilled people to fill particular roles/ professions or occupations in the labour

market”, while “critical skills as a concept, refers to the demand for an element of the practical, foundational or

reflexive competence that allows for specialisation within roles/ professions or occupations and includes

specific ‘top-up’ skills”. In the absent of moving the schooling sub-sector to a specialist industry, will nullify the

important distinctions which are contained within these two concepts, with specific reference to the need to

have practical, foundational and reflexive competences to allow teachers to be specialists within their area of

teaching.

The ETDP SETA (2010) reporting on data from the Department of Education (2009), notes that, the majority of

educators in the schooling system is qualified (i.e minimum of 3 years of teacher training qualification). In 1990

53% of educators were qualified compared to 94.4% in 2008. Although the majority of educators is qualified,

performance of learners in terms of throughputs and graduate rates does not reflect a high quality of educator

impact in the schooling system. When comparing the average learners who entered schools in 1999 to 2010,

there is a throughput rate of less than 50%. Gallie (2011) argues that of the average number 1.2 million

learners who enter schooling in grade one every year, about 0.5 million learners end up writing the matric

examination. And according to the Annual National Assessment (ANA) results of 2011 (DBE 2011), the average

learner pass in grade 3 in Literacy was 35%, and 28% in Numeracy, while in grade 6 the average pass was 28% in

Languages and 30% in Mathematics. In terms of racial breakdown of educator qualifications, 93.9% of Blacks,

92.2% of Coloureds, 98.1% of Indians and 99.5% of Whites are qualified. The lack of qualified teachers in the

majority of schools, who are staffed mostly by Black teachers, will therefore have a negative impact on the

qualify of teaching, let alone the quality of facilitating learning and the improvement of learner learning in the

education system.

According to the Criteria for the Recognition of Qualifications for Employment in Education based on the Norms

and Standards for Education a minimum REQV 13 (which equates to a minimum of three-year professional

training) is required in order to be registered with the South African Council for Educators. There are three

criteria that are used in order to identify teachers as unqualified or under-qualified. These are teachers who do

not have (i) a matriculation, or (ii) National Senior Certificate and three years of training as a teacher, or (iii)

who have received training outside the field of education.

The fact that learning outcomes among children and youth remain low as indicated in the ANA results and the

throughput rate above, while the percentage of qualified educators has increased, raises questions about the

value of these qualifications as a measure of the competence of teachers. A discussion on the impact of

educator qualifications on the quality of educational outcomes would be enhanced by also looking at issues

such as educators’ subject matter knowledge, their pedagogical skills, the use of learning material and

curriculum coverage as well as the quality of educator training.

Even though there was a significant improvement in the number of qualified educators between 1990 and 2008

(from 53% to 94.4%) a corresponding improvement in learner performance has not been noted. This has been

described as “a sharp distinction between qualifications and competence”. During the workshop on the Charter

of Basic Education Rights for Children in South Africa, on 19 July 2012, it was argued that there are also

indications that the majority of teachers know little more about the subject they teach than the children they

teach and some teachers know even less (SAHRC: 2012).

It is also imperative that issues related to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) be considered, especially in

relation to the process of verifying the relevance and applicability of learning outcomes. Educators generally

have exposure to formal and informal training. According to SAQA, “Recognition of prior learning means the

comparison of the previous learning and experience of a learner howsoever obtained against the learning

outcomes required for a specified qualification, and the acceptance for purposes of qualification of that which

meets the requirements”.

This definition makes clear a number of principles in the development and execution of RPL:

Learning occurs in all kinds of situations – formal, informal and non-formal

Measurement of the learning takes place against specific learning outcomes required for a specific

qualification and

Credits are awarded for such learning if it meets the requirements of the qualification.

Therefore, the process of recognising prior learning is about:

Identifying what the candidate knows and can do

Matching the candidate’s skills, knowledge and experience to specific standards and the associated

assessment criteria of a qualification

Assessing the candidate against those standards and

Crediting the candidate for skills, knowledge and experience built up through formal, informal and non-

formal learning that occurred in the past.

According to Class Consulting’s research paper (2005), Recognition of Prior Learning occurs where formal or

informal learning experience is suitably assessed, and, where appropriate, is recognised through the provision

of credits. Recognition of Prior Learning needs to be contextualised to incorporate culture, language, race,

gender and class as determinants of access and redress rather than of gate-keeping.

The DoE needs to ensure the development of flexible RPL processes that meet the needs of educators. RPL

facilitators and assessors need to be trained to advance the principle of redress and equity. Their training

programmes should include:

Culturally appropriate and flexible assessment methods

Cultural support during assessment

Cultural awareness on the part of the RPL facilitator and assessor

Appropriate language requirements of the benchmark and

The assessment of language and literacy skills by a language expert.

In order to affirm and continuously empower educators, RPL processes must be instituted to give recognition to

training of any description and experience.

The ultimate responsibility for supplying educator personnel through recruitment, preparation, induction,

development and utilisation of human resources in the public education sector lies with the public authority

and public institutions. This supply is operationalised and coordinated through structures such as the

Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the nine Provincial Education Departments (PDEs) for public

schooling (DBE, 2011-2025).

All efforts to improve educators and their development are vested within the support of the Department of

Basic Education and the PDEs, the DHET, the teacher unions, the South African Council for Educators (SACE) and

the Education, Training and Development Practice Sector Education and Training Authority {(ETDP-Seta) (DBE,

2011-2025)}.

There is both an absolute shortage of teachers and a relative shortage of teachers qualified and competent

enough to teach specific subjects or learning areas (primarily mathematics, the sciences, technology and

languages), especially in specific phases like the Foundation Phase, in Special Needs schools and in rural and

remote areas.

Figure 3.8: Impact of the lack of qualified science and mathematics teachers

Source: OECD, PISA 2009 Database

The International Labour Organisation (ILO)/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the

Recommendations Concerning Teaching Personnel noted in its 2009 report, “Teaching career structures…are

evolving to encourage better teaching practices and incentives for teachers to remain in teaching, but much

more needs to be done to link teacher education and professional development, evaluation and career

progression. Evidence from international surveys…point to a general lack of professional development support

adapted to the needs of teachers and learners.” (Schliecher, 2012)

Given the complexity of teaching and learning, high quality professional development is necessary to ensure

that all teachers are able to meet the needs of diverse student populations, effectively use data to guide

reform, engage parents, and become active agents of their own professional growth.

The development of teachers beyond their initial education can serve a range of purposes, including to:

update individuals’ knowledge of a subject in light of recent advances in the area;

update individuals’ skills and approaches in light of the development of new teaching techniques and

objectives, new circumstances, and new educational research;

enable individuals to apply changes made to curricula or other aspects of teaching practice;

enable schools to develop and apply new strategies concerning the curriculum and other aspects of

teaching practice;

exchange information and expertise among teachers and others, e.g. academics and industrialists; and/or

help weaker teachers become more effective.

Issues of professional development are not just relevant to the overall supply of quality teachers, but also to

address specific issues of teacher shortages. Across the 18 OECD countries participating in the Teaching and

Learning International Survey (TALIS), the aspect of teachers’ work most frequently rated by teachers as an area

of need for development was “Teaching special learning needs students”. This can be especially challenging in

the case of disadvantaged schools, as students in these schools often have a wider range of abilities and needs.

In seeking to meet teachers’ professional development requirements, policy makers and practitioners need to

consider both how to support and encourage participation and how to ensure that opportunities match

teachers’ needs. This needs to be balanced with the cost in terms of both finance and teachers’ time. OECD

research identifies several aspects as central to successfully bridging the gap between the ideal learning

environment and day-to-day practice:

Effective professional development needs to be ongoing, include training, practice and feedback, and

provide adequate time and follow-up support. Successful programs involve teachers in learning activities

that are similar to those they will use with their students and encourage the development of teachers’

learning communities.

Teacher development needs to be linked with wider goals of school and system development, and with

appraisal and feedback practices and school evaluation.

There is often a need to re-examine structures and practices that inhibit inter-disciplinary practice and to

provide more room for teachers to take time to learn deeply, and employ inquiry- and group-based

approaches, especially in the core areas of curriculum and assessment.

In the South African context there has been a decline in teacher graduates for a variety of reasons.

Universities have limited capacity to enroll large numbers of students as compared to the teacher training

colleges.

Financial constraints and restrictive university requirements are said to be possible contributing factors

Other reasons include diminishing interest in teaching, poor public image of the profession, uncertainty

regarding job placement and competition for talented students from other high wage sectors such as

engineering, financial services, mining and medicine and challenging working conditions.

In 2009, 5 942 new educators graduated from public higher education institutions, about 1 275 were

Foundation Phase teachers and about 2 949 were FET-level teachers. Given the particular shortage in the

number of qualifying Foundation Phase teachers there has been a substantial growth in the total number of

Foundation Phase Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) (24.9%) and an even greater growth in the number of first-time

enrolments (52.2%).

3.4.2 Skills Supply Analysis

The Employment of Educators Act (EEA, No. 76 of 1998) allows converting a temporary appointment to a

permanent appointment without recommendation from the School Governing Body (SGB). Therefore

temporary appointments (in vacant substantive posts) of all suitably qualified teachers who match the profile of

the post they are occupying could be converted to permanent. These teachers could also apply either for the

same or other posts once they are advertised in terms of the applicable regulations in the Personnel

Administration Measures (PAM).

The existing legislation provisions and regulations enable permanent appointment of temporary teachers. As a

result the rate of temporary appointments has reduced over the years and there is also no reason why teachers

can be kept in temporary posts for long periods. There are however, also instances why some teachers

employed in temporary positions are not employed permanently. The main reasons include unqualified or

under-qualified teachers who temporarily occupy posts in which suitably qualified candidates could not be

found and qualified teachers who do not suitably match the profile of the post they are temporarily occupying.

The percentage of temporary educators employed was 13 555 in relation to the total educator workforce in the

system (411 164) which is 3.3%. High number of temporary educators were recorded in Eastern Cape (3 588),

KwaZulu-Natal (4 617) and Gauteng (1 964). Although the number of temporary educators seems to be

insignificant, it has an impact in easing the supply and demand of teachers.

Table 3.15 indicates the number of vacancies in the provinces in 2008, 2010 and 2011. It must be noted that the

number of vacancies does not imply a shortage of educators in the labour market. It simply means that

provincial education departments have not filled vacant posts.

Table 3.15: Number of educator vacancies per province 2008, 2010 and 2011

Province Years 2008 and 2010

Number of posts Number of vacancies Proportion (%)

Eastern Cape 2008 70 007 7 330 10.5%

2010 67 553 8 248 12.2%

2011 66 662 8 248 12.4%

Free State 2008 29 644 3 401 11.5%

2010 24 167 2 975 12.3%

2011 24 090 2 462 10.2%

Gauteng 2008 60 035 8 748 14.6%

2010 59 276 2 939 5.0%

2011 56 310 2 939 5.2%

KwaZulu-Natal 2008 93 174 13 550 14.5%

2010 88 091 15 622 17.7%

2011 89 434 15 622 17.5%

Limpopo 2008 66 542 12 560 18.9%

2010 56 483 4 330 7.7%

2011 56 606 4 330 7.6%

Mpumalanga 2008 41 882 7 958 19.0%

2010 32 674 6 325 19.4%

2011 32 454 6 325 19.5%

North West 2008 26 583 1 727 6.5%

2010 25 003 1 758 7.0%

2011 24 933 973 3.9%

Northern Cape 2008 10 718 1 727 16.1%

2010 8 792 973 11.1%

2011 8 763 1 650 18.8%

Western Cape 2008 34 695 5 615 16.2%

2010 30 247 3 366 11.1%

2011 29 896 3 365 11.3%

South Africa 2008 433 280 62 616 14.5%

2010 392 286 45 536 11.9%

2011 389 148 45 914 11.8%

Source: PERSAL

The figures above tell us that:

There were 433 280 educator posts available of which 62 616 remained vacant, implying that as much of

14.5% of all educator posts were unfilled in 2008. The trend in 2010, the system shows 399 286 educator

posts available whilst 45 536 remained vacant, which implies 10.0% of the post were not filled. In 2011

there were 389 148 posts available, of which 11.8% are not filled, resulting in a total of 45 914 vacant posts.

The high percentage of vacancies points to inefficiencies within the schooling system with regard to

recruitment process. The reduction in 2010 compared to earlier on in 2008 could be attributed to

concerted effort by the Provincial Departments to fill the posts. It is worth noting though that vacancy rates

decreased considerably in Gauteng and the Northern Cape.

Provincial education departments do not appear to be working actively to fill vacant posts in their

respective schools.

Existing mechanisms for filling educator posts may need to be reviewed so as to increase the efficiency of

the process.

One issue that should be investigated in the system is that of the over-supply of educators in some provinces

and those who are on the database of some provinces as unemployed teachers. If there is evidence that there

is an over-supply or a number of unemployed teachers it needs to be investigated as to why this is the case and

what measures can be put in place to get them into the system. This applies particularly in cases where seems

to be a decline in the number of educators especially in provinces in need of not only a number of teachers but

of qualified educators. The measures for educator need may not only lie in skills development but also in the

deployment of teachers.

The SASA (South African Schools Act) provides for SGBs to recruit and select teachers who are paid by the state

and also provides for SGBs to recruit teachers who are paid by the SGB. The ETDP SETA reports that there has

been an increase in the employment of SGB educators who are paid entirely out of school fees received from

learners. From the 5 943 SGB educators recorded in 1999, the number of educators increased to 36 559 in

2008, representing a 515.2% increase in the number of teachers employed by SGBs (ETDPSETA, 2010).

The SGB appointments may point to the possibility that there are educators available in the labour market but

are not getting into the mainstream system, and the reasons for this have to be investigated especially given

the vacancy rates, temporary appointments and number of unqualified and under-qualified teachers.

The table below illustrates the challenge with regard to educator supply-demand and shows trends in graduate outputs of educators from the universities. The Advance Certificate in Education (ACE) programmes is an important component in the strategy to up-skill

and to re-skill educators. Higher education institutions have devised a large number of ACE programmes and

enrolment in these has shown considerable growth. The number of FTEs grew by 15.3% from 2008–09, i.e.

from 26 111 FTEs to 30 118 FTEs. The greatest growth was in the Western Cape region (23.3%), while there was

negative growth both in the Central region (-15.7%) and in the KwaZulu-Natal region (-11.6%).

The Department of Education introduced the Funza Lushaka (Teach the Nation) Bursary Programme in 2007

that encourages students to study for the teaching profession and aims to increase the number of newly-

qualified teachers entering the schooling system. The selection favours candidates from rural areas, candidates

who wish to teach in rural areas and candidates whose financial position would otherwise exclude them from

enrolment for a teaching qualification.

In a recent question asked within the National Assembly in Parliament on 7 August 2012, the Minister of Basic

Education responded that the number of Funza Lushaka bursaries allocated for the different phases in primary

and secondary schools were the following:

Table 3.16: Profile of 2010 - 2012 bursary recipients by phase specialisation

Phase specialisation 2010 2011 2012

Foundation Phase (Grade R - 3) 15.2% 17.0% 18.6%

Foundation/Intermediate (Grade R - 6) 2.4% 1.8% 2.3%

Intermediate (Grade 4 - 6) 6.2% 6.9% 6.5%

Intermediate/Senior (R4 - 9) 12.4% 13.4% 14.8%

Senior (Grade 7 - 9) 4.6% 3.7% 3.8%

Senior/FET (Grade 7 - 12) 22.6% 19.8% 18.0%

FET (Grade 10 - 12) 36.5% 37.2% 36.0%

Total 10 073 8 716 11 455

% 100% 100% 100%

Source: DBE 2012, National Assembly Question response, 7 August 2012.

The number of bursars who are expected to qualify at the end of 2012, and who would therefore be eligible for

appointment to a teaching post in January 2013, is:

Table 3.17: Bursars expected to qualify at end of 2012

Phase specialisation Total %

Foundation Phase (Grade R - 3) 427 15.1%

Foundation/Intermediate (Grade R - 6) 133 4.7%

Intermediate (Grade 4 - 6) 188 6.6%

Intermediate/Senior (R4 - 9) 365 12.9%

Senior (Grade 7 - 9) 106 3.7%

Senior/FET (Grade 7 - 12) 647 22.8%

FET (Grade 10 - 12) 971 34.3%

Total 2 837 100%

During the presentation in parliament, the Minister explained that “during the four years of training, high

school teachers normally take two subject specialisations and during the training there is some movement from

one specialisation to another. The most accurate data on high school subject specialisation comes from the

students in their final year of study” (DBE 2012). From the data above, 61% of those who are due to qualify are

eligible to teach in a high school phase, while 39% of the students are eligible to teach in primary school

phases.

More specifically the Table 3.18 displays the expected FET bursars to qualify by the end of 2012 in the

specialisation subjects:

Table 3.18: FET Bursars expected to qualify at the end of 2012 in the following subject specialisation

FET Subject Specialisation (Grade 10 - 12) Total % of Total % per Subject

Accounting 162 5.6% 11.5%

African Language - isiNdebele 4 0.1% 0.3%

African Language - isiXhosa 78 2.7% 5.5%

African Language - isiZulu 169 5.9% 12.0%

African Language - Sepedi 73 2.5% 5.2%

African Language - Sesotho 24 0.8% 1.7%

African Language - Setswana 6 0.2% 0.4%

African Language - Siswati 4 0.1% 0.3%

African Language - Tshivenda 13 0.5% 0.9%

African Language - Xitsonga 19 0.7% 1.3%

Agricultural Sciences 24 0.8% 1.7%

Civil Technology 14 0.5% 1.0%

Computer Applications Technology 154 5.3% 10.9%

Economics 235 8.1% 16.7%

Electrical Technology 13 0.5% 0.9%

Engineering Graphic and Design 31 1.1% 2.2%

English Languages 489 16.9% 34.7%

Geography 183 6.3% 13.0%

Information Technology 39 1.4% 2.8%

Life Sciences 334 11.6% 23.7%

Mathematical Literacy 159 5.5% 11.3%

Mathematics 413 14.3% 29.3%

Mechanical Technology 16 0.6% 1.1%

Physical Sciences 229 7.9% 16.2%

Total for FET subject specialisation 2 885 100.0% 204.5%

Students 1 411

Note to Table 3.18: The 204% refers to the fact that students are taking 2 or more specialised subjects and therefore the

over-count of subjects compared to students.

Over the past three years, 1 696 students graduated in 2009, 2 588 in 2010 and 2 634 in 2011. Of those who

graduated, 617 students who graduated in 2009 were placed within the first three months of 2010 in schools,

while 1 083 of 2010 were placed in 2011, and 946 of 2011 were placed in 2012. Of the total available Funza

Lushaka bursars still in need of placement, 623 were placed in rural areas in 2010, 874 were placed in rural

areas in 2011, while 407 were placed in rural areas during 2012 (DBE, 2012).

Everything else being equal, selection favours candidates from rural areas, candidates who wish to teach in

rural areas and candidates whose financial position would otherwise exclude them from enrolment for a

teaching qualification.

Table 3.19: Areas of focus for Funza Lushaka

Foundation Phase

(Grades R- 3)

Intermediate Phase

(Grades 4 – 6)

Senior Phase

(Grades 7 – 9)

FET Phase

(Grades 10 –12)

• Foundation phase

specialisation

and design

• African languages

• English language

• Mathematics

• Natural sciences

• Technology

• Mathematics

• Natural sciences

• Technology

• Agricultural sciences

• Agricultural technology

• Civil technology

• Computer applications

technology

• Electrical technology

• Engineering graphics

• Information technology

• Life sciences

• Mathematics

• Mathematical literacy

• Mechanical technology

• Physical sciences

The Funza Lushaka Bursary is only awarded if one of the priority area specialisation subject/s is included as a

teaching subject in a student’s qualification. As Table 3.19 above indicates, these phases include specialisation

in the Foundation Phase, Languages, Mathematics and Physical Science (EFA, 2010:69).

The table 3.19 above lists in summary the areas of scarce and critical skills identified by the ITDS. In another

attempt to address the shortfall of supply evidenced above the Department of Basic Education has plans to

increase the number of foreign teachers in schools where posts cannot be filled with suitably qualified South

Africans, particularly in Mathematics, Science and Technology. The secondary aim of the department will not

only be to have educators in class for delivery of the subject matter, but also to ensure that there is a transfer of

skills from the foreign educators to the local educators and learners and/or vice versa. This drive has resulted in

2 354 of the employed educators not being South Africans.

3.5 Skills Demand

3.5.1 Factors Impacting on Demand

3.5.1.1 Demand in DoE – Public schools

South Africa currently has about 392 000 publicly paid educators, and another almost 33 000 privately-paid

educators.

The attrition rate for public educators with at least three years of post secondary training is around 3% per year,

meaning around 12 000 of educators leave the public system permanently or at least for many years before

they return. If under-qualified educators are considered the attrition rate is different, but the 12 000 figure

provides a good indication of how many qualified educators must be replaced.

3.5.1.2 Demand in Independent Schools

A total of 91% of educators are qualified, 7% unqualified and 2% under-qualified in independent schools

(Hofmeyr, 2005). According to the data from ETDP SETA Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) and Annual Training

Reports (ATRs), top-up skills are needed in several in several occupations. These are listed below:

Accounting teachers grade 10 – 12

Design teachers grade 10 – 12

Mathematical literacy teachers grade 10 – 12

Mathematics teachers

Natural sciences teachers, and

English language teachers.

Many education systems in various countries face a huge challenge in recruiting high-quality graduates as

teachers, particularly in area where a shortage exists and retaining them once they are hired. How countries

have been successful in matching their supply of high quality teachers to their needs should be explored. How

have they prepared teachers for priority subjects or locations? Some of the strategies they adopted to attract

the most talented teaches to the most challenging classrooms have been to offer competitive compensation

and other incentives, career prospects and diversity and affording teachers the responsibility as professionals.

Through active recruitment campaigns that emphasise the fulfilling nature of teaching as a profession, the

authorities seek to attract groups that might not otherwise have considered teaching. Where teaching is seen

as an attractive profession, its status can further be enhanced through selective recruitment that makes

teachers feel that they will be entering into a career that is sought after by accomplished professionals. All this

demands that initial education prepares new teachers to play an active role in designing and delivery of

education, rather than just following standardised practices.

3.5.1.3 Crucial monitoring and evaluation, as well as support and development questions

The following questions require serious thought by those involved in planning and implementing intervention

programmes:

Regarding the production and retention of teachers, consideration must be given to:

Resource implications

Should the training pay less attention to the teacher’s learning as an outcome?

How might it take subject matter into account?

What might it draw from research on teaching and learning and which ideological approach should it

privilege?

Should the training be undifferentiated or as certificated, diploma or graduate level or lumped together

at a fixed level? How productive will this be? Or are these concerns unproductive divides?

How do we bridge traditional separations of pre-service and in-service teacher education to create a

professional continuum of teacher education that includes the induction phase?

What teachers need for both pre-service and In-service courses, most likely should include:

o Practical Teaching Knowledge

o Pedagogical Content Knowledge

o Content Knowledge

Non-traditional delivery methods may include:

o Work experience immersion before placement

o Subsequent in-set courses

o Institutionalised on site staff development through subject committees

o Distance learning or face-to-face accredited short courses

Mentoring of mentors and teachers

What might be the characteristics of effective training courses?

It could include:

o Needs-based design of the program

o Tailored to needs of district or region

o Tailored to needs of participants, backgrounds, etc.

o Entrance standards:

• Screening, appropriate backgrounds, match between program design and background

• Intensive training focusing on professional expertise.

• Subject content, pedagogical knowledge and skill training.

• Pedagogical content knowledge.

• Human rights and inclusive education issues.

What might be the characteristics of effective in-set programmes through subject committees on site?

It includes:

o On-site support during training

o Comprehensive system of support from experienced, trained mentors or lead teachers or Heads of

Departments.

o Candidates go through their training in subject cohorts at school so they have peer support.

o Candidates have the opportunity of guided practice in lesson planning and teaching.

Frequent program evaluation by district officials

o Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of individual and group performance to allow for

program adjustment.

o Schools receive frequent evaluation of their teaching from well-trained mentors and subject advisors or

curriculum implementers.

o School receives continual formal and informal evaluation of their instruction from the subject advisors

or curriculum implementers.

High standards:

o Teaching standards tied to curriculum for teaching.

o Teachers demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in

curriculum standards and can have a positive impact on lifelong learning.

Ongoing support of teachers:

o Structured, well-supervised induction period when the novice receives observation and assistance in

the classroom by an experienced teacher.

o The school supports ongoing professional development and reflection and/or the advisory services

through seminars, workshops, and courses.

How might one go about defining quantity and quality?

Quantity could be said to be:

o The need for enough teachers, particularly in hard to staff schools

o Geographic areas (urban and rural)

o Content areas (science, mathematics, inclusive education, etc.)

Quality – We need to ensure that all teachers are prepared and qualified to provide a high standard of

teaching.

How might one frame the Quantity and Quality Problem? Public policy is concerned with addressing

incentives and standards to ensure that there is a large enough supply of qualified teachers to meet the

demands for quantity and quality:

o Policies of Incentives to increase the quantity of teachers necessary to meet demand.

o Policies of Norms and Standards to increase the quality of teachers.

o Shaping Policy - Sources of Influence on Supply and Demand of teachers.

3.5.2 Scarce and Critical Skills Priorities

The DBE conducted substantial research in preparation for the drafting of the Integrated Teacher Development

Strategy (ITDS), which indicates that there is no certainty regarding the exact number of teachers leaving the

profession annually and that estimates range from 3.8% to 6.0%. In deciding on projections for the ITDS, three

different attrition rates were used (4.0%, 4.5% and 5.0%) to compensate for the uncertainty around this matter.

The estimated number of teachers that need to be replaced has been based on the attrition rate multiplied by

the total number of teachers in the profession – for the purpose of this exercise, the total number of provincial-

employed teachers, SGB-employed teachers and independent school-employed teachers has been taken as

slightly more than 400 000 (ISPFETD, 2011-2025, p.59).

The investigation into attrition rates and educator replacement needs highlights the fact that there is a large

discrepancy between the number of new teachers being produced by public higher education institutions and

the number of existing teachers who, due to resignations, death or retirement, need to be replaced every year.

There is an imbalance between the current registration profile (based on FTEs in all years of study) and the

need profile (based on the number of learners by phase) – for the Foundation Phase in 2009, the registration

profile was 17% and the need profile was 31%; for the Intermediate and Senior Phases the registration profile

was 26% while the need profile was 49%; and for the FET Phase, the registration profile was 56% while the

need profile was 21%. Clearly, as indicated in the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher

Education and Development (ISPFTED) in South Africa, there needs to be a significant increase in the number of

teachers that are being produced for the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior Phases (ISPFTED, 2011-2025).

The sub-sector indicates that the following skills are in the main scarce and critical:

Mathematics (scarce)

Physical Science (scarce)

Information Communication Technology (critical)

Financial Management, Risk and Business Planning (critical)

In the education sector the research indicates that the shortage is skewed by the supply and demand; some

provinces are more affected by this shortage than others due to teacher supply. The rural areas are more

disadvantaged by the supply and demand process than the privileged and affluent schools that can afford to

hire high-calibre teachers and offer them incentives.

There are several reasons for the scarcity:

Relative scarcity because of geographic location

Relative scarcity because of equity issues.

Absolute scarcity because of numbers of persons available in the market.

Salary packages being better in the private sector.

New subject matter being introduced into curriculum.

Studies have shown that Mathematics and Science teachers are scarce because they earn more in other

industries than the teaching sector. This means that they are in demand, hence, their mobility to other

industries or sectors is guaranteed. The colleges and universities are not producing enough of these teachers,

although the Funza Lushaka programme is trying to ease this backlog by supplying more teachers who have

majored in Mathematics and Sciences subjects.

Table 3.20 below reflects the scarce skills identified by the independent schools.

Table 3.20: Scarce Skills Identified by Independent Schools - WSP Submission for 2012-2013

OFO Code Occupation Job Specification Demand

232123 Mathematics Teacher (Grades 10 - 12) Mathematics Teacher, FET Phase 163

233101 Maths Teacher (Grades 4 - 9) Educator, Maths Educator, Maths teacher 217

232126 Physical Science Teacher (Grade 10-12) 165

232119 Language Teacher Main language teacher, Zulu Teacher, Xhosa Teacher, Afrikaans teacher 232

235201 Special Needs Teacher

Remedial teacher, rehabilitation teacher, education therapist, behaviour support teacher, special education teacher, remedial teacher, teacher of gifted students 170

234201 Foundation Phase Teacher Intermediate teacher 154

233102 Natural Science teacher 100

232101 Accounting teacher (Grade 10-12) 96

235301 Teacher of English To Speakers of Other Languages English Teacher, English language teacher 21

232122 Mathematics Literacy

232118 Information Technology Teacher 52

(Grade 10-12)

232107 Computer Applications Teacher (Grade 10-12) 69

234201 Early Childhood Practitioner 122

232120 Life Sciences Teacher (Grade 10-12) 52

134501 School Principal

232105 Business Studies (Grade 10-12)

233103 Economic and Management Sciences ( Grade 10-12)

233104 Life Skills Teacher (Grade 4-9)

233105 Social Sciences Teacher (Grade 10-12) 33

233106 Arts and Culture (Grade 4-9)

263402 Education Psychologist

531104 Out of School hours care worker

262201 Librarian

3.5.3 Demand and Supply Analysis

The audit of the Victorian teachers’ labour market (MCEECDYA, 2003) in Australia, which resonates substantially

with the South African experience, discovered that the overall demand of teachers is driven by demographic

factors, government budget considerations, educational policies and practices, school class sizes, school

retention rates and student-teacher ratios set by the government. The audit suggested that the specific factors

that may affect the supply of qualified teachers include:

Relative financial and non-financial rewards of teaching compared with alternative occupations;

Job opportunities inside and outside of teaching and the ease of obtaining a preferred job;

Limits on the number of teacher education places on offer within universities;

Rate of net migration of teachers;

Costs of acquiring teaching qualifications;

Impact of various leave entitlements; and

Relative working conditions.

The most common supply-side policies mentioned in the literature to improve the supply of teachers include:

More emphasis on the induction of new teachers,

Alternative pathways to teaching,

Increasing the attractiveness of the teaching profession,

Attracting teachers to key subject areas,

Increasing the number of teachers being trained at university, and

Increasing the professional development of teachers.

Demand-side policy tools are not as widely implemented and have been reported to be not as effective as

supply-side policy tools. Examples of these tools include reducing class sizes, tools to decrease teaching loads,

the use of teaching assistants and other support staff and the structure of curriculum and educational

programmes. These policy tools are not as common as their benefits have not been widely evaluated or

studied and the focus of improving teacher supply is largely on supply-side policies.

Reasons for teacher attrition (Figure 3.9):

Ageing teacher workforce,

Increase in student enrolments,

Decline in attractiveness of teaching as a career, and

Problems faced by teachers in rural and remote areas.

Factors that lead to teacher dissatisfaction:

Work load

Status of teaching

Career break

Figure 3.9: Reasons teachers give for turnover

Source: Ingersoll, R.M. (2002)

Supply and demand modelling is complex and a number of assumptions are made regarding the number of

teachers that need to be replaced on an annual basis. This prompted the use of different attrition rates, as

discussed earlier (DBE, 2011-2025, p.59).

During the period 2010/11 - 2014/15, the DBE intends having at least 8 000 principals and deputy principals

completing the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management. For better support to

schools, the DBE wants to strengthen subject advisors knowledge of the school curriculum and their skills for

supporting teachers to implement the curriculum more effectively, through specific programmes (DBE Vote

Budget Speech, 2011).

The trends that emerged from 2008 figures indicate that there are 239 880 educators in age group 40 years to

60 years. Furthermore, 67% of these are females who are set to retire by age 55. This means that by 2023 all

67% of the teachers in this age group will have retired. By 2028 all 239 880 will have retired. The number of

teachers below 40 is currently at 120 000 and has been declining steadily since 2004. If the current number can

be maintained it means the system will need to increase the number of teachers by 119 880 by 2018. At the

rate of less than 10 000 graduates per annum being produced, combined with the decline in the under 40s, and

with the attrition and vacancy rates mentioned above, indications are there will be a catastrophic shortage of

educators in the years ahead.

The DBE has put in place resources for the expansion of the mainstreaming of learners with special needs. This

will have an impact on the skills requirements of educators in order for them to deal with these learners. It will

also have an impact on curriculum management and will require that school management teams acquire the

requisite skills. Furthermore, the low numbers of female principals and deputy principals in spite of the female

dominance at ordinary educator and Head of Department (HoD) levels indicates that there is a need to raise the

number of females at this level.

The one area that needs further investigation is the demand for teachers who can teach at Foundation Phase in

African languages, in order to ensure the successful implementation of the language in education policies and

curriculum. It is believed that there is a shortage of these teachers but this would need to be verified by further

research and the demand correctly quantified. If the need is verified then there will be a demand for not only

teachers who are fluent in African languages but who also have the requisite educator skills to teach in African

languages.

The Foundations for Learning Programme was initiated to address poor learner performance in Literacy and

Numeracy in the system. The programme provides schools and teachers with clear directives through

Government Gazette 30880 on optimum use of allocated time; daily teaching activities; basic recommended

resources and assessment. Resources in the form of Assessment Frameworks that pace teaching and learning

across the school terms for Literacy and Numeracy (Grades R-6) assist teachers to plan teaching and learning

appropriately. Forty weekly lesson plans that give guidance on daily teaching activities and assessment were

provided to all public primary schools. Provincial departments ensure that the necessary support and

development for schools and educators is provided using resources can be effectively (EFA, 2010:65).

Another area of demand is with regard to increasing the quality of current educators by providing them with

teacher qualifications. There are 13 818 under-qualified teachers who require a REQV 13 qualification and a

further 9 201 unqualified educators who need REQV qualifications. The supply system is seemingly unable to

cater for the numbers required and it is a concern as to how these educators will be able to access the

education and training they require.

The shortage of teachers also has a knock on effect on other skills needs of the sub-sector. Curriculum and

materials developers, examiners for matriculation and assessors for the Annual National Assessments (ANAs)

for grades 3 and 6 will have to be recruited from the educator workforce.

3.6 Findings of the research project in two provinces

As part of the extension of the methodology of collection data sets from a wider range of suppliers of

information, with specific reference to publics and independent schools, and how they make up a significant

section of the ETDP SETA, the collection of data from provinces has been identified as a positive move to ensure

triangulation and verification of data sets primary from provincial and national departments. It was argued that

skills development is often a specific school and district challenge, since employees are resistant to frequent

relocation of families and extended travelling to workplaces. Therefore, when skills gaps are identified or

vacancies are announced, job seekers or those who are looking for promotions do not identify these vacancies

outside their ‘zone of comfort’, meaning the distance they are prepared to travel and/or the places they will

consider to relocate. It is crucial for the ETDP SETA to get closer to the decision-making zones which are the

specific schools.

Since we do have over twenty five thousand schools, located in nine provinces, it was decided to limit this first

attempt to collect data from two provinces, namely the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which give us both

the foundation knowledge of urban and rural experiences as well as complexities. It is however intended to

widen the collection of data in a gradual and incremental way in order to reach a stage where data from all nine

provinces will be represented in future SSPs.

Responses were received from independent and public schools in the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. These

responses will be presented as follows:

Response from the Western Cape, both independent and public schools; and

Response from the KwaZulu-Natal, both independent and public schools.

3.6.1 Western Cape schools

From the invitations sent out to schools via the provincial education department, due to their requirement that

schools need to be communicated with through the province, three (3) independent and seventeen (17) public

schools responded, totalling twenty (20) schools. The

majority (16) of respondents where from primary schools.

It was difficult to follow up on schools since we never had

direct contact with them. It is therefore important that

the ETDP SETA sets up arrangements with the provincial

departments in order to facilitate these expectations in

future research activities.

The majority (13) of the schools are within the

organisation size of 10 – 49 employees. There is therefore

the need to look at whether we should demarcate this

interval more deeply in order to allow further analysis

within this category. Furthermore, although the survey

requested the splitting of staff within government and

SGB employed staff, the overwhelming respondents did not separate the data, since they don’t work with this

separation within their developmental and organisational processes. The separation of teachers into

Table 3.21: TYPE OF EDUCATION INSTITUTION

Public Schools

Primary school 15

Secondary school 1

Combined school 1

Intermediate school

Independent Schools

Primary school 1

Secondary school

Combined school 1

Intermediate school 1

government and SGB employees only occurs from an employment and contractual point of view, but has no

significant influence when management do developmental and allocation of workload among staff. Despite a

follow up request to all those who responded, the data did not improve significantly in order to report on this

separation of staff into government and SGB employees phenomena. As reported earlier regarding the

reduction in teacher-learner ratio in the system, solving this data collection challenge is important for future

reports.

Within this sample of schools, they employ a total number of 72 managers, 552 professionals, 6 technicians and

associate professionals, 95 clerical support workers, 50 service and sales workers, 6 skilled agricultural and

other related trades workers, and 164 elementary occupations workers (see table below). This amounts to 977

employees within these 20 schools, which is an average employment of 49.9 workers per school. When

compared with the educator school ratio for this province of 22.3 educators, the average of this group of

schools are significantly higher at 31.5 per educators (managers, professionals and associate professionals).

The reference to educators in the schooling sub-sector includes all three categories of occupations, namely

managers, professionals and associate professionals.

Table 3.22: PERMANENT STAFF CURRENTLY IN EMPLOYMENT

Occupational Group Africans Coloureds

Indians /

Asians Whites Total

M F M F M F M F M F

Managers 4 4 4 7 0 3 19 13 32 40

Professionals 6

5 30 74 2 12 46 273 92 460

Technicians and Associate

Professionals 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 3

Clerical Support Workers 2 4 1 16 0 2 2 54 5 90

Service and Sales Workers 1 3 2 13 0 1 1 7 4 45

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery,

Craft and Related Trades Workers 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 0

Plant and Machine Operators and

Assemblers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Elementary Occupations 27

3 22 38 0 0 7 9 62 102

Source: ETDP SETA Schooling Survey 2012

142 740

As expected and in line with the national data on the various occupations categories, the majority of

employment in table above is within the professional group (552), followed by elementary occupations (1 64),

clerical support workers (95) and then managers (72). Educators are making up more than 80% of the entire

workforce in education. The ratio of managers to rest of employees is 12,6 workers per manager. Due to

historical reasons, the elementary staff group is still represented more to the left, meaning among the Black

employees, while the managers and clerical support workers groupings are represented more to the right,

meaning in favour of White employees. More than 50% of the professional staff group is White. Based on the

demographics of staff (both teaching and non-teaching) distribution within the education sector, it can be

assumed that the sample is representing mainly by those schools labelled as ‘ White community schools’.

When we look at the 627 teaching staff more specifically in table below, most of them will be part of the 630

managers, professionals and associate professionals represented in table above. Just over 51.5% of the

teaching staff are fully qualified, with both professional and academic qualification. This has to be a concern, if

we corroborate the data with that of educators with REQV levels 10 to 12, since the REQV of educators beyond

REQC 13 does not display the full picture of professionalism within teaching. Currently, REQV 13 is seen to be

the acceptable appointment level, while some of those could be teachers who don’t have professional and/or

academic qualifications, as indicated in the table below. It is therefore important to cross reference this data, in

future studies, within data from SACE as to the different levels of registration granted by the Council related to

provisional, conditional and full registration.

Table 3.23: NUMBER OF TEACHING STAFF

Professional (teacher) qualification without academic qualification 101

Academic qualification (diploma, degree, etc.) without professional qualification 163

Both Professional and Academic qualification 323

Without a professional and academic qualification 40

Source: ETDP SETA SSP Schooling Survey, 2012

Although the supplied data on qualification levels was inconsistent, none of the respondent schools employed

staff, both teaching and non-teaching, at a doctoral level. The majority of teaching staff are at first degree and

diploma levels, which is in line within the table data above. The correct completion of this data field becomes

crucial during future data collection processes.

An significant number of newly qualified teachers from teacher training institutions were recruited at the

sample schools during 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011, totalling 63, but they were employed in jobs

other than teaching. Only 38 of the new recruits were employed in teaching related positions, while the others

25 were employed in supportive positions.

Table 3.24: Number of employees who have left the employment of the organisation for the year 1

January 2011 to 31 December 2011

Occupational Group African Coloured Indian/Asian White Total Disabled

M F M F M F M F M F M F

Managers 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0

Professionals 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 0 16 0 0

Professionals 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Clerical Support Workers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Service and Sales Workers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0

Skilled Agricultural,

Forestry, Fishery, Craft and

Related Trades Workers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Plant and Machine

Operators and Assemblers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Elementary Occupations 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0

Not all the respondent schools completed the necessary information related to skills development. Among the

sample schools, 440 employees engaged in Continuous Professional Development programmes at 16 schools,

while 529 attended Short courses at 14 of the schools. Formal study programmes were undertaken by 38

employees of the 12 schools, and 104 employees attended and or presented at conferences at 12 schools.

None of the school employees participated in the ETDP SETA funded internships.

A total of R109 015 was spent at 11 schools on Continuous Professional Development programmes for 401

employees, while 9 schools spent R162,574 on Short courses for 461 employees. A total of 8 schools spent

R155,432 on Formal study programmes for 21 employees and 8 schools spent R119,461 on 88 employees

attending and presenting at conferences.

With reference to the usefulness of training processes and/or activities at school level, 19 respondent schools

either agree or strongly agree that the on-site skills were used; that training lead to upskilling and reskilling; and

that the training is relevant, useful and practical for the workplace. There is however doubt among 3 schools

whether the training is responding to important transformational needs.

Table 3.25: TRAINING PROCESS AND / OR ACTIVITY

Training process and /or activity

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

Training supports on-site use of skills learnt 9 10

Training leads to up-skilled and re-skilled

accredited staff 7 12

Training is relevant, useful, and practical for

the workplace. 9 10

Training addresses important

transformational needs in the sector 6 9 3

Almost an equal number of respondent schools indicated that they are not aware (Yes is 9 and No is 11) of a

growth or decline in job opportunities in the schooling sector. This could be due to the fact that there is a

growth within the independent schools, while the is stabilisation in schools and learners in the public sector,

but still a growth in the educator employment.

In the table below, the respondent schools have indicated a diverse perspective of what a re the factors that

drive employment trends and patterns in schooling. There is no clear pattern, other than the fact that most

schools are towards the ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ side of the response table. A significant higher scoring was

given to ‘employment contractor working conditions’ which include poor salaries, no pensions, etc. It could be

that some of the respondent schools are employing a significant amount of SGB employees, where the burden

is on the school and the governance structure to negotiate and agree on employment contracts.

Table 3.26: FACTORS THAT DRIVE EMPLOYMENT TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN YOUR SUB-SECTOR OR

CONSTITUENCY OR ORGANISATION

Trend/contributing factor

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

Brain drainage e.g. migration to other subjects,

school phases, move to other sectors, etc 2 4 6 2 4 1

Employment contractor working conditions

e.g. poor salaries, no pensions, no career path,

opportunities from industry, etc 2 5 9 2 1

Economic outlook e.g. poor sustainability of

SGB funding, lack of employment opportunities,

etc 2 5 6 1 4 1

Labour costs (increased site overhead costs

contributes to low wages in SGB posts) 2 3 6 3 3 1

Source: ETDP SETA Schooling Survey, 2012

In table below, respondent schools identified salaries (70%) as the main factor influencing skills demand in a

negative way, while the of job opportunities (58%) was second, the availability of career pathing (42%) was

third and access to training and development for teachers (22%) was fourth. In contract, access to training and

development (78%) was identified by others as the most positive factor in skills demand, and followed by the

career paths (58%) available. The job opportunities (39%) and salaries (30%) were close third and fourth. It is

ironic that salaries was see as the most negative (70%) but also the less positive (30%) factor. It confirms that

the increase in salaries might not flip those who see salaries as negative to a positive factor, but it will only

reduce their negative perception of salaries as a factor.

Table 3.27: MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING OR IMPACTING ON THE CURRENT SKILLS DEMAND IN YOUR

CONSTITUENCY OR SUB SECTOR

Factor Positive Negative

Salaries 6 14

Career paths 11 8

Access to training and development 14 4

Job opportunities 7 11

The main factors what will influence or impact on future skills demands in schooling, are summarised in Table

3.28 below. The listed factors were overwhelmingly identified as positive factors, with negligent negative

effects. The availability of funds was identified as the major factors, while working together between the ETDP

SETA and DBE as well as the need for rigorous support for service providers, the professional council of teachers

and universities were identify as the next crucial factor that will positively affect future skills demands. The

need for government prioritising inservice training with the ETDP SETA involvement was seen as the fourth

factors.

Table 3.28: MAIN FACTORS (MAXIMUM FIVE) THAT WILL INFLEUNCE OR IMPACT ON FUTURE SKILLS

DEMANDS OF YOUR ORGANISATION

Available funding sourced from ETDP SETA 16 2

Scale up of programmes and services by ETDP SETA with DBE involvement 15 1

Government priorities to focus on INSET with ETDP SETA involvement 14 1

Rigorous support from Service Providers, SACE, Universities, etc. 15 1

All the major occupation areas were identified as having a scarce skills challenge except ‘service and sales

workers’, and ‘skilled agricultural and other related trades workers. In particular, the availability of principals

due the fact that our teaching population is aging is a real challenge. Among teachers within the ‘professionals’

category, specialised teachers like Waldorf trained was highlighted, as well as foundation phase English 1st

Language teachers. The non-availability of Mathematics and Science teachers was recorded, as well as highly

specialised teachers such as music teachers. Specific clerical support workers were highlighted as a scarce

supply, with the focus on payroll secretaries, ICT and communication workers. Finally, the category of

elementary workers highlighted the lack of ground staff and supervisors for schools.

Table 3.29: Top scarce skills in schooling, and the reason for the need

Major occupation (As per OFO)

Occupation Specialization or alternative title

Reason for scarcity

MANAGERS (principals, Heads of Departments, etc.)

We are in the fortunate position to address Scarce skills with In Service Training interventions and have no problem in the filling of vacancies with qualified and or skilled people.

Principal Headmaster Existing skilled people nearing retirement

HOD Record keeping skills, IT skills

Existing skilled people nearing retirement

Principals Exiting skilled people are near retirement, lack of good management skills, poor leadership skills

PROFESSIONALS (teachers, school

High School teachers

Waldorf Trained In SA only teacher training facility for Waldorf teachers is the Centre for Creative Education

Reason for scarcity

counsellors, etc.) Technical teachers

Panel-beating, spray-painting, hairdressing; welding, motor vehicle repairing, handyman,etc.

Sub-sector not attractive because of low salaries & working conditions; Difficulty for technical skilled persons to get teacher training – no courses at universities, colleges; Existing skilled teachers nearing retirement age; Little incentives to attract skilled or technical teachers from industry.

TEACHERS FOUNDATION PHASE English 1ST

language

Fewer school leavers attracted to the profession

due to poor salaries and negative perceptions of

the profession

Teachers Subject specialists SGB – pay levels as opposed to salary offered by government Lack the necessary skills, entrance requirements to study set too low, salary not attractive enough Working conditions and environment problematic in certain areas Lack of adequately qualified people. Lack of loyalty to school once appointed.

Computer Skills Not available to compliment staff establishment

Mathematics & Science

Not available. Pay levels much better in the private sector.

Music Difficult to fill part-time vacancy with qualified teacher.

Primary School teachers

Pay levels not high enough to attract potential teachers, especially males. Our school has initiated “PRIVATE” Learnerships in an effort to gain male teachers. We pay their university fees and textbooks and a basic salary. They gain practical experience in the classroom supervised by a qualified teacher and have time off for study and exams.

Supportive workers

Occupational therapist Social worker Psychologist

Not available to compliment staff establishment Low salaries

TECHNICIANS AND ASSOCIATED PROFESSIONALS (ICT staff, etc.)

IT Not available as support service to school administration

Reason for scarcity

SERVICES AND SALES WORKERS (fundraisers, public relations, marketing, etc.)

CLERICAL SUPPORT WORKERS (administrative staff, etc.)

Admin Staff Payroll Secretary Existing skilled people nearing retirement

School secretary

Secretarial skills IT Skills Communication

Skills

Department of Education will not appoint in a permanent capacity

Development Staff

Skills Development Practitioner

Current staff not able to undergo training due to daily workload Poor salaries

SKILLED AGRICULTURAL, FORESTRY, FISHERY, CRAFT AND RELATED TRADES WORKERS (gardeners, etc.)

PLANT AND MACHINE OPERATORS AND ASSEMBLERS (drivers, etc.)

Ground Staff Commitment and Reliability

ELEMENTARY WORKERS (cooks, cleaners, etc.)

Support workers

Supervision skills Conflict resolution skills Communication

skills

The table below indicates the preference of respondent schools in the type of intervention needed to address

the scare skills indicated above. None of the schools believed that there is a need to recruit foreign employees

to solve the scarce skill challenges. Most prefered three modes of intervention, namely (i) incentives and

allowances, (ii) accredited short courses and (iii) coaching/mentoring by current staff. In particular, their

reference to Mathematics teachers needing to be of a better quality is interesting, since they don’t identify the

higher education institution qualification as a solution to the problem. Higher education institutions therefore

need to reflect on the sentiments and opinions of these schools, since they don’t rely on or regard the

qualification highly with which these Mathematics teachers enter schools.

Table 3.30: Interventions most appropriate to address scarce skills

Actual title of occupation/ job title

Types of interventions

Principal 4 2 1 3 2 1

Teacher Assistants 1

Ground Staff Values

Managers 1

Clerical 1

Technical teachers 1 2

Elementary Workers (driving, plumbing, electrical, etc.)

SGB Teacher 1 6 3 4 2 5

Mathematics teachers Quality

Counsellor 1 2 3

Occupation therapist 1 2 3

Social worker 1 2 3

Psychologist 1 2 3

Teachers 3 5 4 1 2

Teacher trainers 1 2

Administrative Clerk 1 2

Foreman 1 2

The critical skills identified by the respondent schools, are captured in Table 3.30 below. Most of the critical

skills are related to teachers (both teaching and management), and specifically, didactical-pedagogical skills (i.e

knowledge acquisition, higher order thinking, problem-solving, application, basic teaching) which could be

linked to the current teacher preparation programmes. Then there is also a list of relationship skills (i.e team

work, communication, change management, decision making, self-development) needed from an

organisational development point of view. It is therefore important that the improvement in education will be

based on individual as well as group and organisational support and development needed by the schools. As

has been the case in most research projects, participants prefer credit bearing to non-credit bearing

programmes. Among the non-teaching staff needs, specific skills related to problem-solving (for both workers

and supervisors), computers and communication skills as well as specialised knowledge in debtors control were

highlighted.

Table 3.31: Top critical skills in schooling, and how to address it

Occupation or Specialization

Critical Skills need List the key skills or competency gaps that need to be addressed for staff employed in these posts

Type of intervention (tick appropriate intervention and state approximate NQF level)

Teachers Top-up skills Managing new curriculum √ √

Language skills First language usage √ √

Mathematics skills

Logical thinking Ability to teach mathematics

Problem-solving Problem-solving independence √

Computer skills Basic computer literacy √

ICT Training on new technology e.g. interactive whiteboards

√ √

Knowledge acquisition Basic teaching skills

Lack of knowledge as pertains to the curriculum, poor teaching skills

√ √ √

Higher order thinking skills

√ √ √

Cleaning staff Problem-solving Problem-solving independence √ √

Admin clerk Computer skills Basic computer literacy √

All staff Team work Working together √

All staff Communication Openness, listening skills √ √

All staff Change management

Adapting to change (e.g. new curriculum)

Technical teachers

Teacher training for qualified/ skilled artisan

Teacher training; official qualification; Teaching skills, methodology, discipline

Trained teacher with no official artisan qualification

Better technical subject knowledge; Official qualification as artisan;

Deputy Principal

Financial Management

Financial and accounting skills √

Management Decision making Able to take responsibility √ √

Table 3.31: Top critical skills in schooling, and how to address it

Principal Public Management

Managing people and organisations, Financial management and sound business practise

√ √ √

Management Skills Teamwork

Computer Literacy & General Business acumen

√ √

Educators Self - Development

Personal Empowerment & Personal Growth

√ √

Administration Clerk

Communication Skills

Computer Knowledge Growth √ √

Debtors Clerk New collection methods for debtors as SA Schools Act changes

√ √

Foreman Problem – Solving Skills

Practical Skills Development √

Most of the respondent schools have ranked the intervention activities, as captured in Table 3.32 below, as high

priority level (rank 1), thus giving limited opportunity for the ETDP SETA to identify the priority areas among this

list of interventions. Among the learning programme development and implementation interventions,

learnerships (9) were ranked the highest, followed internships and credit bearing skills (7 each), then emerging

qualifications (6) and finally, non-credit bearing courses (5). Within the funding interventions, funding for

qualification improvement (13) was rank the highest, followed by bursaries for students (12) and internships

and skills gap training (11 each) were equally ranked. Furthermore, workplace learning support, in-service

initiatives for new developments and work readiness (10 each) were highly ranked among the other

interventions. It is however significant that both universities and private sector-based provider programmes

(both 6 each) were not identified as a high priority among the respondents. Furthermore, the low ranking of

non-governmental organisation (4 on both formalisation and functioning) as a supportive structure to the

schooling sector is indicating a significant trend away from their important before and soon after 1994.

Table 3.32: Ranking of the ETDP SETA strategic interventions in order of importance

Intervention/activity Rank: 1 highest and 4 lowest importance

1 2 3 4

Learning programmes development and implementation

Learnerships for core occupations of constituencies/sub-sectors 9 4 2 2

Internships and other experiential workplace learning interventions

7 4 2 2

Credit bearing skills programmes for core occupations of constituencies/sub-sectors

7 6 1 1

Non-credit bearing short courses and workshops 5 5 1 4

Qualifications for emerging/new fields identified by constituencies/sub-sectors

6 4 2 2

Research, monitoring and evaluation to build labour market intelligence capability of ETDP SETA

6 5 4 2

Workplace learning support (training of mentors and workplace assessors, etc.) 10 6 2

Specific in-service initiatives for the training of staff to manage new developments in learning programmes

10 3 1 1

Working with FET colleges on programmes to improve the work readiness of FET graduates for the ETDP sector

10 2 1 2

Working with Universities on programmes to improve the work readiness of HEI graduates for the ETDP sector

6 6 3 1

Working with private sector-based providers on programmes to improve training relevance and quality

Funding

Bursaries for college and university students intending to work in your sub-sector or constituency

Internships or work experience opportunities for graduates to work in your organisation

Funding for existing workers to engage in training to improve their qualifications levels

Funding for workers/employees to be trained in specific skills gaps (critical skills)

11 5 2

4 6 4 1

Interventions to support increased formalisation of non-government organisations in the sector

4 6 4 1

Interventions to support improved functioning of non-government organisations, cooperatives, community based organisations, trade unions and political parties

4 4 2 2

In the table below, the respondent schools are agreeing or strongly agreeing that their schools have

organisational strategies to attract scarce skills to the school. Of these, the reputation of their school is the

most important strategy, while the availability of learning and development opportunities rate second to that of

the school reputation. Some of the individualising and self-benefit strategies like performance-based pay and

career advancements are rate the least by the respondent schools, therefore their focus on the interest and

core focus of the learners in the school, as well as the maintenance of the good reputation of the school.

Table 3.33: ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGIES TO ATTRACT SCARCE SKILLS

The organisation has strategies to attract scarce

skills

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

Competitive pay/salary and benefits [e.g., scarce

skills allowance] 1 5 4 4 3

Performance-based pays 3 1 7 1 3

Work/life balance [healthy workplace] 7 6 1 2

Prospects for career advancement opportunities 2 5 5 1

Learning and development opportunities 9 7 1

Reputation of the organisation 12 5

From the opinion presenters, which are those responses minus the ‘no responses’, the same items which

schools regarded as important strategies to retain scarce skills, these are the same strategies which assist them

in retaining critical skills in the organisation, as displayed in Table 3.34 below. These include, as a ratio of

positive to negative, the reputation of the school (16:0) and the learning and development opportunities 16:0).

All the others have a positive ratio, which include employee decision-making authority (15:0), fair

compensation and promotions (11:0), competitive pay/salary and benefits (11:2) and competitive retirement

benefits (6:1).

Table 3.34: THE ORGANISATION HAS STRATEGIES TO RETAIN CRITICAL SKILLS

The organisation has strategies to retain

critical skills

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

Learning and development opportunities 1 9 7

Competitive pay/salary and benefits [e.g.,

scarce skills allowance] 1 3 8 3 2

Competitive retirement benefits 5 2 4 4 1

Fair compensation and promotions 2 1 10 3

Employee decision-making authority 4 11 1

Organisation’s reputation as a good

employer 1 9 7

The following are comments for schools how they make their school responsive to the priorities of the country:

“As we are an educational institution, our main focus is the quality of teaching and learning. The skills

development programme is in alignment with aims and objectives of the school, which is reviewed

annually.”

“We are committed to creating opportunities for, and sharing the staff development budget amongst all

categories of staff, especially the Elementary occupations.”

“Difficult to say in our organisation as it has a Waldorf ethos. Training generally undertaken at local,

national and overseas conferences. Non-teaching staff is encouraged to participate in self-improvement

courses, if funding allows.”

“We strive to keep our teachers at the cutting edge of new developments in education. In-service training and upgrading of skills is an ongoing process.”

“We train our staff on site, and promote professional development. Staff development is built into the budget. We employ teachers in training as teacher assistants to promote in service training.”

“It is planned a year in advance following a process of structures quality assessments of individuals and whole school needs. Programs are then budgeted for and effectiveness assessed.”

“Ensure staff members are up to date with current educational requirements. Educator professional and personnel development courses at Cape Town Learning Institute (CTLI).”

“As the opportunities arise, our staff are encouraged to do short courses or attend conferences/seminar

thereby allowing for personal growth and development.” and

“As a school we try to empower our staff by making as many staff development opportunities available. Development sessions are run in-house; others are sourced based on the needs identified in the school. The Staff Development Team is instrumental in this. Performance appraisal is also very important in

determining the developmental needs of staff. It is important to stay abreast with all current trends and development and include these. The staff is held accountable and need to accept responsibility for their professional development as well. The school seeks to go beyond academics and has also looked at social issues experienced in the community.”

The respondent schools therefore engage in the following developmental initiatives and/or partnerships:

Continuous Professional Development - “A needs assessment is done regularly. Continuous In Service Training in areas where training and development is needed e.g. Curriculum training (CAPS document).”

Life Coaching - “At the moment we have employed a life coach with knowledge of staff development to implement a programme at the school. We have also formed a partnership with SACAP (South African College of Applied Psychology) to grow our teachers (wellness) in the many challenges faced in education.”

School Holiday training - “The new curriculum has required that our teacher attend training courses during the school holidays.”

Site-based Staff Development - “We train our staff on site, and promote professional development. Staff development is built into the budget. We employ teachers in training as teacher assistants to promote in service training.”

Intrinsic Motivation - “Developing good work ethics in unskilled labour force by raising expectations and initiating incentives not linked to monetary payments.”

Work-relevant Skills Training – “School is in partnership with Belgotex: Doing a carpet & flooring installation course for learners and the teacher presenting this course, is trained by them. They provide schools with necessary tools and working material. Glasrut & BASF: Use school’s spray-painting facilities for training courses; include some of our learners and also the teacher. Provide training material and donated it to school.”

Area/Circuit-wide Skills Development – “Working with 120 teachers in Athlone, Cape Town, to develop Mathematics teaching skills.”

Mentoring Programme – “Mentorship of PAYE students. Mentorship of CPUT managerial students. Mentorship of CPUT Student Teachers. Mentorship of UCT Social Work Students. Mentorship of College of Cape Town Grade R Student.” and

ELSEN Programmes – “Staff is exposed to courses detailing barriers to learning as inclusive education is practiced. This entails spotting the symptoms, steering the parents in the correct direction and adjusting teaching strategies in order to ensure that all children are able to learn. Remedial/intervention strategies are essential. Partnering with Occupational Therapist to design a programme to develop gross motor muscles- this is underway already. Partnering with other schools to look at best practice is essential to development.”

These are all great initiatives, but apart from one, they are all in isolation and without broader coordination in

order to generate maximum benefits for their successes.

Table 3.35: TYPE OF EDUCATION INSTITUTION

Public Schools

Primary school 7

Secondary school 1

Combined school 1

Intermediate school 1

3.6.2 KwaZulu-Natal schools

KwaZulu-Natal schools were contacted through an SMS system where they were invited to forward their e-mail

addresses in order to facilitate the sending of the survey to their school. Since the public data sets have only

telephone and some cellular numbers, the mentioned process had to be followed in order to ensure an

electronic process of communication. Based on this methodology, nine (9) independent and ten (10) public

schools responded, totalling nineteen (19) schools. Eight (8) of the independent and public responses, were

from primary schools, while the rest (11) were either from a intermediate, combined or secondary school.

Most of the schools are within the 10 – 49 employee range, while there are a few within the 50 – 149 employee

range. These are obviously, as indicated in the educator schools ratio, some of the exceptionally large schools

in the biggest province in the country.

In table below, the province is employing 1 287 employees in the 19 schools. Of these, 820 are from the

managers, professional and associate professional categories, which is 64% of the total number of 1 287

employees in the schools. Among the professionals category, there are twice the amount of female to males,

but among the managers this is almost the opposite.

Table 3.36: PERMANENT STAFF CURRENTLY IN EMPLOYMENT

Occupational Group Africans Coloureds

Indians /

Asians Whites Total

M F M F M F M F M F

Managers 5 5 2 0 4 3 47 31 58 39

Professionals 22 39 3 12 18 41 168 343 211 435

Professionals 12 4 0 3 3 5 22 28 37 40

Clerical Support Workers 2 13 0 3 2 14 8 110 12 140

Service and Sales Workers 9 26 1 1 1 8 12 44 23 79

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry,

Fishery, Craft and Related

Trades Workers 35 7 1 0 0 0 2 1 38 8

Plant and Machine Operators

and Assemblers 15 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 16 0

Elementary Occupations 56 66 0 0 6 16 3 4 65 86

Independent Schools

Primary school 1

Secondary school 4

Combined school 5

Intermediate school

As is the case in the Western Cape, the table is heavy on the right side, with specific reference to White

employees, when it comes to the managers (80%), professionals (79%), associate professionals (65%) and

clerical support workers (78%), up to service workers (55%). On the other hand, table is heavy to the Black

African employees when we look at the left bottom side of the table, therefore representing more among

trades (91%) and elementary workers (81%).

Table 3.37: NUMBER OF TEACHING STAFF

Professional (teacher) qualification without academic qualification 57

Academic qualification (diploma, degree, etc.) without professional qualification 21

Both Professional and Academic qualification 606

Without a professional and academic qualification 10

Among the teaching staff in the table above, the 694 teachers only represent 85% of the 820 managers,

professionals and associate professionals categories in the previous table. Therefore, 15% of the dedicated

positions represented in the 820 sample are not part of the teaching staff, unless they were not all included in

the survey data. And the proportion of teacher with both professional and academic qualifications is

significantly better than the Western Cape data, while it is well known within the sector that KwaZulu-Natal is

struggling to find suitably qualified teachers to fill vacancies.

The majority of permanent appointed staff have either a diploma or first degree within the respondent schools,

while none of the independent schools have a doctoral employee but there are two doctoral employees at only

one of the public schools. The completion of this table has to be improved during future survey processes,

since the data share significant insights into the development and and skills improvement trend in schools.

In table below, a significant amount of new recruits have been employed from 1 January to 31 December 2011,

when comparing the provincial attrition rate of 3.9% in 2011. In total 185 newly qualified teachers were

employed, which represent a more than 10% of the total staff employed at the respondent schools. And a fair

proportion (60%) of these new recruits were employed in managers, professionals and associate professional

categories, which represent educator positions. The majority (88%) of these educator positions were taken up

by White professionals within the system, which represent the same trend as explained in the total permanent

employment trends of the respondent schools. There were more females (53%) employed than males, but the

ratio is significantly lower than the permanent employee ratio of females (64%) to males. Among the

managers, the trend is in favour of males (58%), while among the professionals, the trends is in favour of

females (74%). Significantly more males (95%) are employed within the traditional occupations related to

trades and elementary positions, while the service and support positions are taken up by females (76%). Based

on the data supplied, none of the new recruits included the employment of staff with disabilities, despite the

progressive policy intend in the country.

Table 3.38: NUMBER OF NEW RECRUITS

Managers 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 7 5 0 0

Professionals 3 4 1 1 1 1 18 60 23 66 0 0

Professionals 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 2 8 2 0 0

Table 3.38: NUMBER OF NEW RECRUITS

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry,

Fishery, Craft and Related

Trades Workers 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 23 0 0 0

Plant and Machine Operators

and Assemblers 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0

In table below, less employees left the employment than those who joined the employment. A total number of

89 employees left the employment of respondent schools, which represent 54 females and 35 males. Most of

these were among the managers, professionals and associate professional staff. More White (79%) staff left the

employment than Blacks, while more professional females (73% of the professionals) are leaving the profession.

Table 3.39: NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WHO LEFT THE EMPLOYMENT

Managers 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 3 0 0

Professionals 2 1 2 0 0 1 8 31 12 33 0 0

Professionals 2 1 0 0 0 0 5 3 7 4 0 0

Skilled Agricultural,

Forestry, Fishery, Craft and

Related Trades Workers 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

Plant and Machine

Operators and Assemblers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Regarding the skills development programmes the respondent schools have engaged in, 451 employees of 13

schools have participated in continuous professional development programmes at a cost of R872,123 as

reported by ten schools, while 359 employees from 17 schools have participated in short courses at a cost of

R343,666 as reported by 14 schools. A total number of 46 employees have engaged in formal study

programmes at 12 schools at the cost of R190,701 as indicated by 8 of these schools, while 280 employees from

15 schools have attended and/or presented at conferences at a cost of R427,765 as reported by 13 of these

schools. Finally 19 employees engaged in learnerships from the ETDP SETA from three schools at a cost of

R204,181, and one school reported the involvement of four employees in internship programmes. The

collection of the mentioned data above has the potential to assist the ETDP SETA in triangulating their work

across schools.

Within the respondent schools below in the table, the majority (97%) of schools agree or strongly agree that

the on-site skills were used, when we compare the positive again the negative responses (this will exclude ‘no

response’ and ‘neutral’ responses). In terms of a ratio of positive to negative, the respondents indicated that

the training is relevant, useful and practical for the work at school level 19:0); that the training lead to upskilling

and reskilling of employees (17:0), and that the training address important transformational needs in the

schooling sector (13:1). However, it has to be noted that one particular school felt very strongly that the

current training is not focusing on the important transformational needs of the sector. This same sentiment

was never expressed in the Western Cape survey data.

Table 3.40: TRAINING PROCESS AND / OR ACTIVITY

Training process and /or activity

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

Training supports on-site use of skills learnt 14 4 1

Training leads to up-skilled and re-skilled

accredited staff 1 12 5 1

Training is relevant, useful, and practical for

the workplace. 14 5

Training addresses important

transformational needs in the sector 10 3 5 1

The majority (11) of respondent schools indicated that they are not aware of any growth or decline in job

opportunities within the schooling sector, while seven (7) schools indicated their knowledge of this phenomena

in the sector.

As in the case of the Western Cape, the responses to the factors that drive employment trends and patterns in

the schooling sector are diverse and is not showing a significant pattern among schools. However, the majority

of responses are leaning towards the ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ side, towards the left, rather than the negative

side. In particular, reference is made to the brain drain and labour cost as important factors that drive

employment trends and patterns. This is consistent with the comments from schools who employ a significant

amount of SGB employees, and where the employment cost is carried by the governance structure.

Table 3.41: FACTORS THAT DRIVE EMPLOYMENT TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN YOUR SUB-SECTOR OR

CONSTITUENCY OR ORGANISATION

Trend/contributing factor N/A No Response

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Brain drainage e.g. migration to other subjects, school phases, move to other sectors, etc 2 3 9 1 2

Employment contractor working conditions e.g. poor salaries, no pensions, no career path, opportunities from industry, etc 1 5 1 2 8

Economic outlook e.g. poor sustainability of SGB funding, lack of employment opportunities, etc 1 3 2 3 5 1

Labour costs (increased site overhead costs contributes to low wages in SGB posts) 1 1 7 2 1 2

The majority 61%) of respondent schools see the mentioned factors in the table below, as having a positive

influence on the current skills demands in schooling, with access to training and development as the most

important factors, while salaries was given as the most negative factor. Unlike the last three factors, salaries

represent a close balanced position among the schools (9 positive and 10 negative). Some of the other factors,

which fall outside the identified categories given to them in the survey, have been expressed as the ‘affirmative

appointments, career pathing in independent schools, and experienced male teachers in boarding schools’.

Table 3.42: MAIN FACTORS (MAXIMUM FIVE) INFLUENCING OR IMPACTING ON THE CURRENT SKILLS

DEMAND IN YOUR CONSTITUENCY OR SUB SECTOR

Salaries 9 10

Career paths 9 6

Access to training and development 12 3

Job opportunities 9 6

In the table representing the responses on the main factors influencing or impacting on future skills demands,

respondent schools are overwhelmingly regard all the four factors as having a positive influence, while only

‘government priorities to the focus on inservice training with ETDP SETA involvement’ got one negative

response. Both factors focusing on the ‘availability of funding from ETDP SETA’ and the need for ‘rigorous

support for service providers, SACE, Universities, etc.’ were given a response of 17 out of the possible 19. The

next preferred factor was the need to ‘scale up the programmes and services by the ETDP SETA with the DBE

involvement’, and then fourthly the ‘need for government to prioritise inservice training’.

Table 3.43: MAIN FACTORS (MAXIMUM FIVE) THAT WILL INFLEUNCE OR IMPACT ON FUTURE SKILLS DEMANDS OF

YOUR ORGANISATION

Available funding sourced from ETDP SETA 17

Scale up of programmes and services by ETDP SETA with DBE involvement 13

Government priorities to focus on INSET with ETDP SETA involvement 11 1

Rigorous support from Service Providers, SACE, Universities, etc. 17

As far as the scarcity of skills within the schooling sector is concerned, the respondent schools identify the

following major occupations, within the related occupation and specialisation, as well as the reasons for

scarcity:

Managers:

o Principals with LSEN skills, since they are not paid well, have a big workload, are not treated fairly,

and that most are not trained for LSEN;

o Principals, Deputies and HoDs who are nearing their retirement, and that replacements are not

available;

o Deputy principals LSEN skills, since they are not paid well, have a big workload, are not treated

fairly, and that most are not trained for LSEN, and others who do not have school management

skills;

o Heads of Department with academic skills are not paid well, and the remuneration is not attractive

for additional responsibilities; those with care and support skills; and those who are LSEN specialist

due to the lack of proper remuneration, heavy workload and there are no new trainees.

Professionals:

o Master teachers not available at primary school level, due to the lack of training quality;

o Teachers who need to teach Zulu, technology, remedial, visual arts, mathematics, physical science,

networking, computer applications, accounting, life science, English, music, dance, drama, EGD,

etc., due to the lack of available trained teachers;

o Speech therapists, audiologist, occupational therapists, education psychologists, and social workers

are not available to work within education due to the lack of vacancies.

Technicians and associated professionals:

o Property managers to manage the site;

o Secretary with competence in office management;

o Clerks with librarian skills, ICT, financial management and human relations.

Service workers:

o Boarding school hostel matrons due to the lack of skills;

o Residential care assistances with conflict management skills, since most are inexperience and have

a lack of orientation to the job;

o Teacher’s aide with ETDP methodology, since they are inexperienced.

o Business officers with commercial and legal skills.

Elementary workers:

o Handy persons within apprenticeship and/or learnership experience, since often these are

employees who are illiterate and innumerate;

o Security staff that have an understanding of health issues.

In order to respond to the challenges of the mentioned 28 scarce skills, the table below represents the

respondent schools suggesting the following interventions and the most appropriate type of interventions to

solve the problem. The list from such a small sample of schools is extensive, ranging from administrative staff

within technical skills to professional staff with academic and practical skills. The list even respond to the

auxiliary services such as boarding school matrons needed as specific schools.

Among the 28 scarce skills, 80 different intervention types have been mentioned by the respondents, in order

to overcome the scarce skills problems. In terms of intervention types, coaching and mentoring current staff to

overcome the problems has been identified the most (29%). Thereafter, qualifications through higher

education institutions was indicated as the second option (23%), with graduate internship as the third

intervention type preferred (15%). None of the respondents indicated the recruitment of foreigners as an

option (0%), while a particular pattern on the training of Afrikaans, Mathematics and Physical Science teachers

been identified as other, meaning that they wanted a different type of intervention other than the current

seven intervention types. Higher education qualifications was the most popular choice of intervention type as

a first choice (15 out of 17 choices), while coaching and mentoring was preferred the most frequent times as an

intervention type of third choice.

Most of the scarce skills list (64%) identified three types of interventions, with higher education qualifications

and coaching/mentoring as the most common two choices (43%) among the 28 scarce skills, but the frequency

of choice of combining higher education qualifications and graduate internship, as well as graduate internship

with coaching/mentoring were the same (39%), whether as first, second, third or fourth choice. Occupational

therapist and SGB policy development were the only two scarce skills preferred through one type of

intervention, namely ETDP SETA accredited short course and coaching/mentoring of current staff respectively.

The training of teachers received the most (5 out of 7 options) number of intervention types.

Table 3.44: Interventions most appropriate to address scarce skills

Actual title of occupation/ job title Types of interventions

Accountant 1 2 3

Accounting Teacher 1 2 3

Afrikaans 1 1 1

Boarding School Hostel 1 2 3

Business manager / Bursar / School Debtors Clerk

Computer Applications Technology Teacher

Educational Psychologist 1 2 2

HOD’s 1 1

HOD’s - Curriculum Management 1 1

Language Teacher 1 2 3

Life Sciences Teacher 1 2 3

Mathematics Teacher 1 3 4 1

Network Administrator 1 2 3

Occupational Therapist 2

Physical Education Officer 1 2 3

Physical Sciences Teacher 2 4 3 1

Primary School Teacher 1 1 1

Principals - Education Management 1 2

Property Manager 1 2 3

Special Needs Teacher 1 3 2

Remedial Teacher 1 3 1 2

School Clerk ICT 1 1 1

SGB - Policy Development 1

Social Worker 1 2 2

Speech Therapist & Audiologist 1 2 2

Teachers 1 4 3 1 2

Teachers - Understanding CAPS 1 1

Visual Arts Teacher 1 2 3

The next table represents the responses for schools as to what the top 16 critical skills needs are, and how to

address them. In particular, the proposals below are stretching beyond the classroom and subject matter

challenges, with supportive and auxilary services indicated as equally important.

Among the 16 critical skills, 38 different intervention types have been mentioned by the respondents. In terms

of intervention types, work-based learning and coaching/mentoring were identified as the most preferred

intervention (11 out of a possible 16 for each). Thereafter, credit bearing skills programmes and non-credit

bearing short courses were preferred (9 and 7 times respectively).

Most of the critical skills list (56%) identified three types of interventions. There are five critical skills which are

requiring only one type of intervention, with non-credit bearing short courses the most frequent (60%). The

critical skills needed by network administrators was the only occupation identifying all four intervention types.

Table 3.45: Interventions most appropriate to address critical skills

Occupation or

Specialization -Critical

Skills need

List the key skills or competency gaps that

need to be addressed for staff employed in

these posts

Type of intervention (tick

appropriate intervention)

Property Manager Conflict Management and cultural diversity;

supervisory skills

√ √ √

Boarding School

Hostel Matron

Leadership, Communication, Cultural

diversity, First Aid

√ √ √

Network

Administrator

Problem-solving skills, working in teams, IT

skills

√ √ √ √

Head of College

Faculty

Leadership and Management √ √ √

Mathematics Teacher Numeracy and Problem-solving √ √ √

Language Teacher Assessor/Moderator Course √ √ √

Specialised teaching √ √

Gr R – 6 Teachers Knowledge and understanding to implement

new CAPS curriculum and assessment

Hostel Parent Need to be able to transport learners,

particularly in case of an emergency

Secretary Need to improve performance due to

changing technology

Head of Department Knowledge and understanding to implement

new CAPS curriculum and assessment

Principal & Deputy

Principal

Financial, Human Resources & Disciplinary

Management

Mathematics and

Science Professionals

Numeracy, Research and Problem-solving √ √ √

Residential Care

Assistant

Conflict management and cultural diversity √ √ √

Teacher’s aide ETDP methodology √ √ √

Handy person Maintenance skills √ √ √

Due to the challenges faced by respondent schools, it shows in the responses below in the table that almost all

the different ETDP SETA initiatives are indicated as very important, with a high priority on all, with particular

focus on supporting those in the system and funding teacher training students at higher education institutions.

In terms of the ETDP SETA strategic interventions, users of the ETDP SETA services continue to value of

learnerships, internships and workplace support. This is in line with the DHET emphasise on strengthening the

workplace learning of employees within the schooling sector.

Among the 19 respondent schools, they casted 403 choices across the 26 different intervention or activity

choices. Of the 25 choices available, 172 first choices were casted, with ‘funding for existing workers to engage

in training to improve their qualifications levels’ as the most preferred (12 out of 19 schools) first choice

intervention. A total of 43% were first choices, 26% were second choices, 21% were third choices and the

remaining 10% were fourth choices. Five (20%) of the 25 interventions received a first choice equal and more

than ten from the 19 respondent schools, while 13 (52%) of the interventions received a first choice equal and

more than five but less than nine support for the respondent schools. And non-credit bearing short courses

and workshops’ received the lowest indication of importance (42%) among respondents.

If we divide the 25 interventions or activities into three categories, namely (i) those emanating from the

learning programme development and implementation (40% of the interventions), (ii) those form funding

(28%) and (ii) the rest (32%), then category 1 received an average of 7.2 first choice support, category 2

received 8.6, and category 3 received5.3. Therefore, on average the respondent schools preferred those

interventions and activities emanating from funding sources.

Intervention/activity Rank: 1 highest and 4 lowest importance

1 2 3 4

Learning programmes development and implementation

Internships and other experiential workplace learning interventions 7 4 2 2

7 6 1 1

6 4 2 2

6 5 4 2

Internships and other experiential workplace learning interventions 10 3 2 1

7 5 3 1

5 5 3 1

Workplace learning support (training of mentors and workplace assessors etc) 11 1 2 1

Specific in-service initiatives for the training of staff to manage new developments in learning programmes

7 3 4 1

Working with FET colleges on programmes to improve the work readiness of FET graduates for the ETDP sector

4 5 5 2

Working with Universities on programmes to improve the work readiness of HEI graduates for the ETDP sector

5 5 3 2

Working with private sector-based providers on programmes to improve training relevance and quality

Funding

Bursaries for college and university students intending to work in your sub-sector or constituency

Internships or work experience opportunities for graduates to work in your organisation

10 4 2 1

Funding for existing workers to engage in training to improve their qualifications levels

12 1 3 1

Funding for workers/employees to be trained in specific skills gaps (critical skills)

8 3 3 2

Credit bearing skills programmes for core occupations of constituencies/ sub-sectors

7 4 3 2

Qualifications for emerging/new fields identified by constituencies/sub-sectors 4 2 7 2

Interventions to support increased formalisation of non-government organisations in the sector

2 5 4 3

Interventions to support improved functioning of non-government organisations, cooperatives, community based organisations, trade unions and political parties

3 4 4 3

As indicated in the responses from the Western Cape, the table below indicates that the reputation of the

school (16 positive responses) is again regarded as the strongest strategy to attract scarce skills and the

opportunity for staff to learn and develop in the organisation (15 positive responses). 70 votes were casted

towards the positive side (strongly agree and agree) of the table, while 15 were in the negative side (disagree

and strongly disagree). Reputation of the organisation received a positive to negative ratio of 16:1, and learning

and development opportunities received 15:1. The positive to negative ratio was very close for ‘competitive

pay/salary and benefits’ (8:5) and for ‘performance-based pays’(9:5).

Table 3.47: THE ORGANISATION HAS STRATEGIES TO ATTRACT SCARCE SKILLS

The organisation has strategies to attract

scarce skills

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

scarce skills allowance] 3 4 4 3 2

Performance-based pays 2 5 4 1 3 2

Work/life balance [healthy workplace] 1 8 6 2 1

Prospects for career advancement

opportunities 1 3 5 4 1 1

Learning and development opportunities 1 10 5 1 1

Reputation of the organisation 1 11 5 1

As in the case of strategies to attract scarce skills above, it is reiterated by the respondents in the table below

that the same strategies are the ones which assist them in retaining scarce skills. Consistently with the

responses from the Western Cape, salaries and benefits are not ranking high as a strategic tool.

Table 3.48: THE ORGANISATION HAS STRATEGIES TO RETAIN SCARCE SKILLS

The organisation has strategies to retain

scarce skills

N/A No

Response

Strongly

Disagree

Learning and development opportunities 1 10 1 3 1 1

scarce skills allowance] 3 4 4 2 3 1

Competitive retirement benefits 2 4 4 1 2 1

Fair compensation and promotions 2 3 7 2 2 1

Employee decision-making authority 1 5 4 5 1

Organisation’s reputation as a good employer 1 9 6 1

Most respondents have a purposeful approach to skills development in their schools, and therefore a

coordinated approach to programmes that are responding to their specific needs. It is however notable that

most of the foci of schools are attempt to rescue supply driven challenges, with only a few focusing on

improving the overall quality of education. The approaches are therefore more individual school responses

than looking at the broader priorities of the country. With the low state of learner achievement in the country,

there should be no other expectation than the one employed by these schools, i.e. improvement in learner

achievements. When we use the positive to negative ratio, ‘organisation’s reputation as good employer’ is the

highest (15:1), and then ‘employee decision-making authority’ (9:1).

The following are some of the responses for schools:

We “encourage staff members to develop their professional selves and offers training courses/workshops

on a regular basis. The training budget is to be increased of encourage more staff development.

Consideration is to be given to introduce Learnerships for an elementary occupation, i.e. Electrical or

Plumbing Learnership.”

“Staff undergoes staff development programmes on a weekly basis. People leaving take these skills with

them.”

“Our School Governing Board budget a fair amount on development for our staff as a whole. We even pay

for Education Department staff to be developed, as we cannot rely on the Education Department to

competently do this. That which they do offer is often sub standard.”

“Support given to rural disadvantage schools by running a winter mathematics holiday school. Helped a

rural disadvantage school to register as an Independent School. Currently assisting this school with

development, organisation structure and staff development.”

“Recruitment to the teaching profession is always difficult particularly in seeking teachers of physical science, mathematics, accounting and languages. The school concentrates on curriculum development to assist our current staff.”

“We try to develop all our staff every year, professional staff attend training and development workshops.

Non-teaching staff attends in house training development. The therapist and teachers attend workshops

that are relevant to our curricula.”

“Our programme of skills & development applies to all our staff. Our core business is education and our

teaching complement is continuously developing and honing skills, which ultimately reflects on our

learners’ success. We have maintained a 100% matric pass rate over the past several years. Our learners

leave as well adjusted, young adults who a ready to enter the working environment.”

Finally numerous schools have cemented skills development initiatives and partnerships that are stretching

over many years. It is a clear indication that school do realise that they have to work together, but the

information below is indicating a relationship across known boundaries, and not too many formations of new

relationships. The following are some of the initiatives and partnerships:

Continuous Professional Development - “Staff development Programmes; Workshops conducted by the

Department of Education, Learnerships for student teachers (mainly our own ex-pupils) in scarce subjects,

Interschool /cluster subject meetings. Conferences hosted by the Association of Muslim Schools.”

Partnering Programmes - “We partner with accredited education bodies, such as ISASA, SAHISA, SABISA,

ISDHA and NAPTOSA, drawing all the relevant ‘best practices’ from these organisations and incorporating

them into our educational programme.”

Learnership Programme - “Our Governing Body run a very successfully learnership programme – learners study through UNISA and assist and are developed at our school. We encourage and pay for educators to attend at least one development programme per term. A number of our staff are embarking on furthering their studies, however, they have to fund these studies themselves. The school ensures that there are a number of ‘whole staff’ development programmes during the year.”

Site-based Staff Development - “We offer ongoing short-courses, seminars for the different disciplines on

the staff. The school will act as a resource school to other schools around us in need. We have already

offered our services to the ESDESS in our area. We offer training of interns and other teachers. The principal

and numerous teachers are affiliated to the Remedial Teachers’ Association and SAALED in KwaZulu-Natal.

These organisations arrange international speakers that keep all disciplines in our school updated. These

remedial solutions are also disseminated to the mainstream teachers who attend them. One of our

teachers is ETDP SETA approved to lecture and run courses for Facilitators, Teacher Aids and Teachers.” And

“Workshops on caps for the educators, fish bowl training, autism, SAALED conferences and attending other

workshops.”

Parental Support Programmes - “The psychology department in the school holds a weekly “Parent Support” Meeting, with different speakers every week to assist, up-skill and train parents on matters relating to children being at a Remedial School and the disabilities they have to deal with. We have a library that has a section with literature that is a resource for the teachers, with the latest information from research from other countries. We are a leading school in Remedial Education, and we have an excellent reputation for remediating children in the short term, so that they successfully return to mainstream schools.”

Area/Circuit-wide Skills Development “Support and host Redcap teacher training events. Support and mentorship programs with local colleagues.”

Despite the narrow range of partnerships and initiatives, it must be noted that schools still reach out to their

neighbours and other schools to build some common working relationship.

3.6.3 Direct and indirect ideas from the data from the two provinces

The following points below require serious consideration when determining interventions for educators so that

the areas of scarce and critical skills can be adequately addressed. In particular, the guiding question can be:

"What do we know and what more do we need to learn about teacher education and preparation that takes

into account the results of more than 30 years of research on teaching and learning?” What teacher beliefs,

knowledge and skills should support the vision for teacher supply and demand? Based on the responses for the

two provinces, the vision should include:

Teachers need to know their subject;

Teachers need to have subject specific pedagogical content knowledge;

Teachers need to have knowledge about curriculum/instructional approaches;

Teachers need to have practical knowledge of running a diverse clientele of learners;

Teachers need to have knowledge of the students they teach and how learners learn;

Teachers need to know about the norms and standards of teachers in practice.

Questions to guide future researchers as it impacts on cost, social investment and demand and supply of

teachers:

What subject content and in what form do teachers need to know?

How do we bridge traditional separations of pre-service and in-service teacher education to create a

professional continuum of teacher education that includes the induction phase?

How do diverse teachers acquire beliefs, knowledge and skills across a variety of educational settings and

opportunities?

o What coursework and field experiences lead to the development of knowledge and skills that help

teachers, at various points in their professional development, bring reform visions into classrooms

(action research, institutional partnerships)?

o What roles can teacher professional learning communities at best, or subject committees — groups

of teachers learning together—play in the continued education and production of professional

knowledge (e.g. mentoring, communities of practice)?

What are the implications of what teachers learn for their learners?

Who are the teacher candidates? How do the following influence candidates’ development as teachers?

o Age, race, culture, gender, language, class, self-image

o Prior experience

o Subject knowledge

o Context and societal influences

The final tentative comments are therefore that we have to balance the issue of supply and demand, since our

current focus is only on supply, without linking the consequences of demand side decision making on the

supply side of teacher. Furthermore, there has to be an awareness of the implications and consequences

associated with the trade-offs between the quantity and quality focus in teacher supply and demand. The

responses from the two provinces suggest that the overt focus on extrinsic rewards at the expense as intrinsic,

well-being and values driven issues are ignored during the bigger debates in education.

Chapter 4: Sector Strategy

4.1 Priority Areas and Alignment with National Strategies/Imperatives

There are at least six policy frameworks that are relevant to the schooling sector skills plan:

1. Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)

2. National Growth Path (NGP) - 2010

3. National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III)

4. Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP)

5. National Development Plan – 2030

6. Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and development in South Africa (2011-

4.1.1 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)

The MTSF emphasises the need for a growth trajectory that will address the economy’s structural constraints,

expand the industrial base and create decent work opportunities on a large scale. Critically, investment in

quality education for all young people and in skills development forms the bedrock of government’s approach.

Indeed, success in reducing poverty, in eliminating structural unemployment, in implementing a comprehensive

social security system, in building social cohesion and in reducing crime will depend in large measure on the

progress made in growing the economy in an equitable manner, underpinned by a growing skills base. In turn,

progress in these social areas will contribute to economic growth.

The Medium Term Strategic Framework 2009-2014 has identified the following imperatives to be considered for

government delivery. Special attention must be given to Strategic Priority 4.

Strategic Priority 1: Speeding up growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and

sustainable livelihoods. The main objective is to respond appropriately, promptly and effectively so that

growth in decent employment and improvements in income security are reinforced, and investment

sustained to build up national economic capability and improve industrial competitiveness.

Strategic Priority 2: Massive programme to build economic and social infrastructure. In the period

ahead, government will continue with the investment programme aimed at expanding and improving

social and economic infrastructure to increase access, quality and reliability of public services and to

support economic activities while also considering environmental sustainability and pursuing maximum

employment impact. The state will continue with programmes to provide and maintain health,

education, library, sporting, recreation and other social infrastructure.

Strategic Priority 3: Comprehensive rural development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform and

food security. Between 10 and 15 million South Africans live in areas that are characterised by extreme

poverty and underdevelopment. Recognising the diversity of South Africa’s rural areas, the overall

objective is to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy of rural development that will be aimed

at improving the quality of life of rural households, enhancing the country’s food security through a

broader base of agricultural production, and exploiting the varied economic potential that each region of

the country enjoys.

Strategic Priority 4: Strengthen the skills and human resource base. Education has enjoyed the largest

share of the national budget throughout the past 15 years. This significant investment in building human

capital and capabilities has gradually improved the country’s human resource and skills base. However,

progress has not been optimal and the achievements have not taken place on the required scale. Our

objective is thus to focus our skills and education system towards the delivery of quality outcomes. The

focus will be on, amongst others, learner outcomes, early childhood development (ECD), improving

schools management and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and supporting and developing a

high quality teaching profession.

Strategic Priority 5: Improve the health profile of all South Africans. In the current MTSF period the state

aims to transform the public health system so as to reduce inequalities in that system, improve quality of

care and public facilities, boost human resources and step up the fight against HIV/Aids, TB and other

communicable diseases as well as lifestyle and other causes of ill-health and mortality.

Strategic Priority 6: Intensify the fight against crime and corruption. Government is determined to curb

levels of crime and corruption. Contact crimes, crimes against women and children and organised crime

remain a key focus, and so is the combating of corruption.

Strategic Priority 7: Build cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. Social cohesion is important if

we are to achieve developmental success. However, inequalities of condition and opportunity and

weaknesses with regard to a sense of being part of a common enterprise are placing severe stress and

strain on social cohesion. In this MTSF period, government aims to meet our target of halving poverty

and unemployment by 2014.

Strategic Priority 8: Pursuing African advancement and enhanced international co-operation. Over the

medium term, the main goal is to ensure that our foreign relations contribute to the creation of an

environment conducive to economic growth and development domestically, within Africa and in other

developing countries.

Strategic Priority 9: Sustainable Resource Management and use. Like the rest of the world, we are

vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and diminishing water resources.

Strategic Priority 10: Building a developmental state including improvement of public services and

strengthening democratic institutions. In the previous mandate period, government committed itself to

improving the capacity of the state for growth and development. This remains a priority.

These ten MTSF priorities need to occupy centre stage in the draft National Skills Development Strategy III

(discussed later in this chapter). Skills development is clearly a cross cutting field (point 4) and is considered to

be a supporting component for the rest. Thus the extent to which skills development contributes to achieving

the MTSF priorities will be a significant indicator of the success of the whole plan. For this reason, these

priorities must form an important focus area and a priority for sector skills planning.

4.1.2 New Growth Path

The New Growth Path aims to enhance growth, employment creation and equity. The policy’s principal target is

to create five million jobs over the next 10 years. This framework reflects government’s commitment to

prioritising employment creation in all economic policies. It identifies strategies that will enable South Africa to

grow in a more equitable and inclusive manner while attaining South Africa’s developmental agenda.

The following are some of the important points emphasised by the New Growth Path document, especially

Point 2 on skills development.

1. Central to the New Growth Path is a massive investment in infrastructure as a critical driver of jobs across

the economy.

The framework identifies investments in five key areas namely: energy, transport, communication,

water and housing. Sustaining high levels of public investment in these areas will create jobs in

construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure.

The new growth path sees the infrastructure programme as a trigger to build a local supplier

industry for the manufacture of the components for the build-programme.

Specific measures, particularly changes to procurement policy and regulations, are identified to

ensure that this is achieved. Risks include the still fragile global recovery; competition and

collaboration with the new fast-growing economies; and competing interests domestically.

2. Smarter coordination between government and stronger partnerships with the private sector and

organised labour will galvanise our resources in achieving the aims of the New Growth Path.

Government calls on every South African to contribute to building our nation over the coming 20

years to ensure a collective effort, creativity and solidarity.

Good leadership and strong governance are critical in ensuring that South Africa takes charge of

the new opportunities. Government commits to cut wasteful spending, tackle corruption and align

the allocation of public money with developmental priorities.

Government recognises that job targets can only be achieved if the State performs better and if

the private sector grows in labour-absorbing parts of the economy.

The New Growth Path identifies measures to strengthen the capacity of the state and enhance the

performance of the private sector to achieve employment and growth goals.

3. The New Growth Path proposes major improvements in government, with a call for slashing unnecessary

red tape, improving competition in the economy and stepping up skills development.

The role of government departments and agencies in meeting set targets for scarce and key skills is

critical. This emphasis on skills applies across the economy and will be a centrepiece of partnership

with business and labour.

Key targets include the aim to produce 30 000 engineers by 2014, with a focus on Mathematics

and Science as well as changes to university funding formulae to achieve this, and 50 000 artisans

by 2015, with annual targets for Eskom and Transnet and for individual Sector Education and

Training Authority institutions to achieve this.

The document calls for greater focus on workplace training, targeting on-the-job training and

refresher programmes for 10% of the workforce every year.

It also calls for measures to make it easier to import scarce skills by streamlining the work permit

and visa system. This will be accompanied by a skills transfer programme to ensure that local skills

development is enhanced.

The New Growth Path is our vision to place jobs and decent work at the centre of economic policy. It sets a

target of five million new jobs to be created by 2020. It sets out the key job drivers and the priority sectors that

we will focus on over the next few years. It is based on strong and sustained, inclusive economic growth and the

rebuilding of the productive sectors of the economy. Infrastructure development in particular is a

foundation for more jobs and addressing rural under-development (The South African LED Network).

SETAs are expected to agree to ‘... numerical targets for completed apprenticeships, with systems to track

progress, particularly in construction, mining, manufacturing and new industries such as in the green economy’

(ibid). The New Growth Path also specifically calls for a review of the apprenticeship system to enable broader

access, suggesting that the current system is in need of reconsideration.

4.1.3 National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III)

The following are some ideas regarding and/or emanating from the NSDS III:

This strategy draws on lessons learned from NSDS I and II. The key driving force of this strategy is

improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the skills development system. This strategy represents an

explicit commitment to encouraging the linking of skills development to career paths, career

development and promoting sustainable employment and in-work progression. The emphasis is

particularly on those who do not have relevant technical skills or adequate reading, writing and

numeracy skills to enable them to access employment.

The strategy promotes partnerships between employers, public education institutions (FET colleges,

universities of technologies and universities), private training providers and SETAs, to ensure that cross-

sectoral and inter-sectoral needs are addressed.

The NSDS will be guided by, and measured against, several key developmental and transformation

imperatives: race, class, gender, geographic considerations, and age differences, as well as disability and

the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The DHET will monitor and evaluate the role of all the institutions in the

skills development system, guided by these key transformational priorities.

NSDS III addresses the scope and mandate of the SETAs. SETAs are expected to facilitate the delivery of

sector-specific skills interventions that help achieve the goals of NSDS III, address employer demand and

deliver results. They must be the authority on labour market intelligence and ensure that skills needs and

strategies to address these needs are set out clearly in sector skills plans. They must be recognised

experts in relation to skills demand in their sectors. NSDS III provides a stronger base for the SETAs and

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) through service level agreements, to set targets

that align with sector skills needs - that is, there is no one-size-fits-all - and ensures an improved focus on

the core mandate of SETAs.

Another key institution in ensuring the success of NSDS III is the National Skills Fund, which is a catalytic

fund, enabling the state to drive key skills strategies as well as meet the training needs of the

unemployed, non levy-paying cooperatives, NGOs and community structures and vulnerable groups. The

National Science Foundation (NSF) is a national resource which will be used to both initiate and respond

to national skills priorities.

The strategy places great emphasis on relevance, quality and sustainability of skills training programmes

to ensure that they impact positively on poverty reduction and the eradication of inequalities. It focuses

on eight goals, each with accompanying outcomes and outputs which will be used as the basis for

monitoring and evaluating NSDS implementation and impact.

There is currently no institutional mechanism that provides credible information and analysis with regard to the

supply and demand for skills. For this reason, the following goals were developed:

Goal 1: Establishing a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning - NSDS will ensure that the

national need in relation to skills development is researched, documented and communicated to enable

effective planning across all economic sectors. South Africa faces a shortage of intermediate skills,

especially artisan skills. The intention is to ensure that 10,000 artisans per year qualify with relevant skills

and find employment.

Goal 2: Increasing access to occupationally-directed programmes, both intermediate level as well as

higher level professional qualifications - The public Further Education and Training (FET) college system

is central to government's programmes of skilling and re-skilling the youth and adults of South Africa. Its

transformation is key to the integration of education and training and responding to the skills needs in

our country.

Goal 3: Promoting the growth of a public FET college system that is responsive to sector, local, regional

and national skills needs and priorities - NSDS will address challenges in this regard. This includes

promoting partnerships between DHET, SETAs, employers, private providers and public FET colleges to

increase capacity to meet industry and developmental needs of the country.

Goal 4: Addressing the low level of youth and adult language and numeracy skills to enable additional

training - NSDS will develop a national strategy to provide all young people leaving school with an

opportunity to engage in training or work experience, and improve their employability.

Goal 5: Encouraging better use of workplace-based skills development - NSDS seeks to address the

training of employed workers in order to improve productivity and the overall growth and development

of our economy. Skills development is not just about training people for employment; it must also

empower people to create opportunities to make a living for themselves. This is highlighted in Goal 6.

Goal 6: Encouraging and supporting cooperatives, small enterprises, worker-initiated, NGO and

community training initiatives – NSDS seeks to support and assist the growth of small and medium size

enterprises, as well as community based and initiated organisations.

Goal 7: Increasing public sector capacity for improved service delivery and supporting the building of a

developmental state - NSDS addresses the challenge of public sector capacity. This is taking on renewed

importance due to the affirmation by government of the need for a developmental state, capable of

intervening in the economy to build an inclusive growth path.

Goal 8: Building career and vocational guidance – NSDS III addresses the lack of guidance to direct

young people in particular to programmes for which they have an aptitude and which will provide

training in areas needed in the economy.

Implementing the NSDS III is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders and partners in skills development.

The DHET will play a leading role in ensuring that the goals and objectives of the NSDS III are realised. The DHET

is moving away from an exclusive focus on quantitative measures of impact and success. Instead, the

monitoring and evaluation of this strategy will also focus on qualitative indicators, because it is important to

evaluate the impact of the initiatives in this strategy and ensure that the programmes provided meet the

required quality and relevance (DHET, 2011).

The NSDS has particular significance for sector skills plans (SSPs) central to the SETAs’ activities and form the

core of their mandates. The overall importance of ensuring alignment between DHET and SETAs will be

contained in the service level agreements determined and agreed annually.

Crucially, the document reinforces the role of partnerships critical to the achievement of identified goals. A

partnership and collective responsibility between stakeholders – government, business organisations, trade

unions, constituency bodies – and our delivery agents – SETAs, public bodies, employers, trade and professional

bodies, public and private training providers, community-based organisations, cooperatives and NGOs – is

critical to achieving our aspirations of higher economic growth and development, higher productivity and a

skilled and capable workforce to support a skills revolution in our country. We need to find innovative ways of

working together to improve the efficiency, quality and, crucially, the impact of education, skills development

and training (DHET, 2011, p.26).

The importance of SETAs therefore, given their responsibility to develop skills, requires more concerted

attention from other entities to ensure that the national development goals are achieved.

The DHET requires that each sector skills plan is scrutinised or signed off by the directors general of relevant

government departments. In the case of SETA, these departments will include:

The Department of Trade and Industry. This means inter alia that the SETA might be required to align the

sector skills plan with that of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and possibly others.

The Department of Economic Development. The imperatives of the National Growth Plan, as a national

strategic driving force for decent work, poverty reduction, equality and growth, should be considered.

4.1.4 Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP)

The Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) represents a crucial

component of the overall industrial strategy of the country. In January 2007, cabinet adopted the National

Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF) which set out government’s broad approach to industrialisation. IPAP was

the implementation of industrial policy. The three-year rolling plans with defined targets, budgets and

timeframes is in its second implementation phase, with the first plan dedicated to ‘easy to do actions’.

The second IPAP is a ‘need to do’ document and was launched by the President’s state of the nation address on

3 June 2009. It was recognised that one year is too short a period, and that future IPAPs will be for a three-year

rolling period, updated annually and with a 10-year outlook on desired economic outcomes.

IPAP II indicates that seven sets of policies are critical to achieve a scaled up industrial policy and a shift towards

strengthening the productive side of the economy in general. These seven sets of policies are:

Stronger articulation between macroeconomic and microeconomic policies

Industrial financing channelled to real economy sectors

Leveraging public and private procurement to raise domestic production and employment in a range of

sectors, including alignment of B-BBEE and industrial development objectives, and influence over private

procurement

Developmental trade policies which deploy trade measures in a selected and strategic manner

including tariffs, enforcement and SQAM (standards, quality assurance and metrology) measures

Competition and regulation policies that lower costs for productive investments and poor and

working class households

Skills and innovation policies that are aligned to sectoral priorities and

Deploying these policies in general and in relation to more ambitious sector strategies, thereby building

on work already done.

4.1.5 National Development Plan (NDP) – 2030

The diagnostic report of this plan indicates that “the quality of education for poor Black South Africans is sub-

standard” (NPC 2012, p.13). It shows that 1 million learners exit the system annually, but only 35% leave the

system with a grade 12 certificate. The NDP-2030 includes the following for schooling:

The need to promote high professional standards among mathematics and science teachers

The need for institutional structures to attract, invest and retain the best teachers

A link between the performance of teachers and their remuneration, taking into account mitigating

factors such as the school environment and socio-economic status of learners

To develop and sustain a professional culture at school level, with well-run, skilled and dedicated

principals who foster a vibrant but disciplined environment that is conducive to learning

A curriculum that will respond to the needs of the South African society

Developing capacity at school level to implement policy and ensure a common goal among all

stakeholders to achieve good educational outcomes that are responsive to community needs and

economic development

District must provide targeted support to improve practices within schools, and ensure communication

and information share between the district and schools

The need to share best and appropriate practice among schools

Parents to be given meaningful information on the children’s performance

To develop assessment mechanisms that will enable parents to compare learner performance across

schools in districts

Ability to access information that helps districts and policy makers to have a focused approach to

teaching and learning improvement

Adequate and appropriate capacity to help and support schools that are performing poorly

Learners must receive high-quality instruction in both mother-tongue and English from early in the

foundation phase

Infrastructure backlogs must be addressed in order to ensure basic standards for infrastructure and

equipment set by the national DBE.

The report argues that if we ensure the above-mentioned challenges are responded to, our schooling system

will have the following characteristics:

All learners and teachers will be motivated

Principals will be effective managers who provide administrative and curriculum leadership

Parents will be involved in the school where their children are attending

Schools will be accountable to the parents

There will be committed and professional teachers with good knowledge of the subject(s) they teach;

Knowledgeable district officials will support schools and the teachers

Government will be the custodian of good administrative processes and procedures in education, which

will include appointment and disciplining of teachers

The teacher unions will ensure that proper procedures are followed by the employers

All the basic infrastructure requirements are adhered to and

High speed broadband is available to support learning through ICT.

The quantifiable targets for schooling for 2030 (NDP 2012, p.275) are:

About 80 percent of schools and learners achieve 50 percent and above in literacy, mathematics and

science in grades 3, 6 and 9

Increase the number of students eligible to study mathematics and science at university to 450 000 per

South Africa improves its position in international rankings and

About 80 percent of every cohort of learners successfully completes the full 12 years of schooling.

4.1.6 Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa

(ISPFTEDSA) - (2011 – 2025)

This policy document is derived from the Teacher Development Summit Declarations in 2009, where there was

a call for an integrated plan for teacher development in South Africa. The intention of the declaration was to

ensure that the following issues are accomplished:

Define clear roles, responsibilities and innovative, collaborative relationships among the key stakeholders

for the improvement of teacher development

Relate key decisions to the broader context of teacher supply, utilisation and demand

Define the appropriate institutional arrangements for the delivery of key components of teacher

development such as teacher education and professional development

Identify clear priorities and realistic timeframes for implementation

Recognise the needs of Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase educators as a particularly

important aspect of the Plan

Reduce the overload of policy prescriptions and regulations

Provide for an equitable, adequate and efficient allocation of funds and other resources to enable all

teachers to perfect the art of teaching

Provide a platform for the development of robust human resource management and information systems

that facilitate equitable and efficient provision of and support for teacher development.

From these declaration points of the ISPFTEDSA the following central recommendations were generated, which

focus on: ten (10) Systemic coordination issues; seven (7) Institutional capacity issues; three (3) Funding issues;

10 Initial Teacher Education issues; 19 Continuing Professional Development issues; six (6) Early Childhood

Development issues; and eight (8) Research issues.

The DBE was given 15 years to implement the plan. Given the mentioned policy document above, and the

research data from literature review, interview and survey responses, the new/emerging challenges and

recommendations for SETA interventions are presented.

4.2 New/Emerging sector challenges regarding Skills Development

The recommendations in this section will be divided into those systemic and methodological processes that

have to be looked at by the SETA in order to aid the important work directly related to skills development in

schooling. As argued before in the report, the focusing on skills development without taking into account and

tackling the negative systemic and methodological practices at play currently, will not yield the full potential of

all the programmes undertaken by the SETA. The first group of recommendations are therefore all related to

the focus group interviews as well as the methodological gaps and challenges identified during the research

process.

There is a need to clarify what is the purpose and definition of skills development in schools, with specific

reference to the legislative guidelines of the SETA vis-à-vis the responsibility of the Department of Basic

Education. As taken from the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and

Development in South Africa (ISPFTEDSA 2011), the SETA has to clarify whether it has the responsibility

to ‘fix up’ gaps within the professional qualifications of teachers. These gaps may be based on the

historical training and development received by teachers during Apartheid or emerged with the shifting

requirements and changes in the educational curricula of the country. Or, should the focus of skills

development in schools be on the professional, ethical and moral conduct of teachers, to ensure that

teacher growth during the different stages of development moves from mediocre to good to excellent

Currently, we are primarily focusing on getting the quantity of supply and demand right, which is

important, but this approach will not respond to the need for quality education in the country.

Closely linked to the above-mentioned recommendation is the need to have a supply and demand

modelling approach and tool in place, which will give us not just a sense of what is and what has been

going on in the supply and demand domain of teachers, but more importantly what education, and more

specifically what the teaching force will look like in the foreseeable future (say the next 5 years), and how

the SETA can play a proactive role in supporting the employment agencies of education in the country.

The interviews and responses from senior provincial people in the two provinces visited indicated that

they fully support such a venture by the SETA and believe that such a tool will assist them in doing short,

to medium, to long-term planning in an environment where data will guide decision making rather than

the current ‘opinion-based’ decision making.

There is also a need to differentiate between the requirements of beginner student teachers, newly

qualified teachers, those who are intending to become excellent and finally those who are potential

master teachers. Our current approach is neither needs focused, not is it based on specific and

specialised skills development interventions, which should be linked to both the stages of teacher growth

as well as the specific subject and phase/grade needs of teachers. The current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach

which is more a supply rather than a demand response to skills development only leads to a ‘hit or miss’

result. To this end, there is a need for more stability in teacher work allocation rather than focusing on

the compliance requirements when work allocation is done at the end or beginning of the calendar year

rather than focusing on compliance requirements.

In relation to the stabilisation of teacher work allocation, there is a need to understand and popularise a

more human resource management (HRM) strategic approach in education that will ensure adherence to

the basic requirements of teacher employment, as captured within the Public Administrative Measures

(PAM) as well as the professional requirements from the South African Council for Educators (SACE).

These are all policy tools which need to be respected and adhered to, with allowance for deviations

required when situations warrant such deviations. The lack of adherence to the existing policy tools

results in the undermining of most of the teacher skills development initiatives in practice.

There is a need to seriously look at a holistic teacher supply and demand modelling approach, which will

take into account the erratic human resource operations at employment levels as well as the lack of our

international competitiveness as far as learner achievement is concerned. Teacher skills development

and employment and teacher quality and learner achievement must be seen as a continuum, where

decisions and policies in one domain will often have negative and/or positive effects in other domains.

There are numerous recent research documents that indicate that the quality of an education system is

closely linked to the quality of teachers in the system. The holistic continuum will include initial teacher

training and development, and how it influences employment possibilities. As indicated in the teacher

supply section, the number of teachers who are qualifying at the end of 2012 will not satisfy the demand

needs of the country. While close to 3000 teachers will graduate at the end of this year in the entire

country, just the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education alone will need approximately 5200 to

augment the shortage in that province (from focus group interview with Head of the KZN province).

Furthermore, it is crucial that those teachers who are newly-employed, attend a proper induction

programme rather than going through the ‘handing over of policy documents’ process. To this end, the

SETA can play a leading role in capacitating current teachers in the system on how to induct new teachers

at their schools.

While the challenges of most heads of provincial departments focus on getting a teacher in every

classroom to teach, the focus must also include the need to ensure that relevant content specialist

teachers are in the classroom. The teachers should be equipped with pedagogical skills to transfer that

knowledge from themselves to learners, a process which takes into account the skills of how to facilitate

learning as a developmental process. To attain a high-level of teaching quality among all teachers might

take a long time, but we have to focus on individual teachers and to empower and develop them on a

one-to-one basis. Furthermore, there might be a need to consider the capacitation of teachers with

pedagogical content knowledge through learning teams at school and district level. The coordination of

such an approach will not necessarily be conducted by districts and schools. It will succeed with

assistance from the SETA.

If we assume that the above-mentioned issues are clarified and developed, in particular a reliable teacher

supply and demand modelling system is instituted and teacher utilisation and allocation is stabilised, the

following new challenges will have to be mediated:

Training and developing of educators at all levels, with specific focus on the policy, planning and support

levels at national, provincial, district and circuits levels. The focus will also be at the operational school

levels to design, collect, analyse and interpret educational data within the system. In the interviews with

provincial officials during the focus group sessions it was acknowledged that there was a the lack of

personnel to ensure that the education system makes decisions based on reliable , credible and ‘real

time’ data.

An education workforce that utilises Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a preferred

work or production methodology, and are therefore competent, capacitated and confident in the

utilisation of these tools.

4.3 Proposed ETDP SETA Intervention (Short, Medium and Long-Term recommendations)

From a systems point of view, there has been no significant shift in the requested scare and critical skills within

the schooling sector, other than the emphasis that these are becoming more and more urgent among the

respondents in the survey process. The list below, as presented by the SETA in March 2012, is a strong

foundation to continue the work of skills development in the country.

Below are the requests and suggestions from the research data from the surveys:

Table 4.1: Top scarce and critical skills in the Schooling Sector

OFO Occupation (Scarce Skills) Specialisation/alternative titles

241501 Special Needs Education Teacher (Skill Level 5)

Education Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Language and Mathematics remedial

241423 Mathematics Teacher (Grades 10 - 12) (Skill Level 5)

Mathematics Lectures for the FET, High School Mathematics Teachers

241101 Early Childhood Development Practitioners (Skill Level 5)

Grade Reception Year Teachers

241426 Physical Science Teacher (Grades 10 - 12) (Skill Level 5)

Physical Science Teachers

241422 Mathematical Literacy Teacher (Grades 10 - 12) (Skill Level 5)

Mathematics Literacy for senior phase Teachers

241302 Natural Sciences Teacher (Grades 4 - 9) (Skill Level 5)

Natural Science Teachers

241201 Foundational Phase School Teacher (Skill Level 5)

Primary School Teacher

241421 Life Sciences Teacher (Grades 10 - 12) (Skill Level 5)

Life Sciences Teachers, Social Sciences Teachers

Source: Presentation done by SETA in March 2012 (slide 14 and 15)

4.3.1 Short term recommendations

The immediate support and interventions requested by schools during the survey process include the

supply of teachers to fill scarce and critical subject areas such as mathematics, science, accounting ,

computer applications technology, life sciences, visual arts, and various languages teachers.

Another set of immediate needs is related to supportive staff such as remedial and special needs

teachers, occupational therapists, and social workers in education.

The third group of immediate interventions relate to support staff such as principals who need to be

trained and developed in their positions as school leaders, and the lack of curriculum and instructional

leadership skills among heads of departments, both the availability of them as well as the need to train

and develop them. It is stated that heads of departments might be the only layer of managers in the

system that never received formal and proper training, and therefore it is unfair to expect HoDs to

perform their duties with distinction while the education system is not capacitating and preparing them

for the task at hand.

The final group which needs immediate attention will be the auxiliary support staff such as property

managers, supervisors of ground staff, network administrators and financial and business managers for

both schools and hostels.

4.3.2 Medium and long-term recommendations

A more focused training and development programme that shifts the teaching and learning methodology

away from ‘talk and chalk’ in order to ensure vibrancy and relevance to the learning style of the current

learner population in schools;

Supporting the two major attempts by the DBE to improve the quality of educational delivery in schools,

namely the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) and the Annual National Assessment (ANA).

If these national initiatives are to succeed, then the DBE and ETDP Seta’s focus should be on the three

levels of assessment training programme namely the need to foreground Assessment on learning

(summative), assessment for learning (quality classroom practice), and assessment as learning (making

transparent success criteria). Such a programme will ensure that there is a strong professional and

developmental focus on (i) accountability for results, (ii) quality of services and products, and (iii)

alignment of services and products with the expectations articulated in CAPS. The quality markers for

such a programme will be (i) proper scaffolding of adult learning, (i) content and examples should be

grounded in needs of diverse learners, and (iii) a methodology that engages and supports teachers. The

134301 School Principal (Skill Level 5)

Deputy Principal, Early Childhood Development School Principal, Independent School Principal

241400 Senior Phase, Technical and FET Teachers (Skill Level 5)

Senior Phase and FET Teachers [e.g., fitting and turning, electronics, motor engineering, megatronics, CNC, automotive repair and maintenance, boiler-making lecturers, electrical engineering, welding, electronics, tourism & tourism, graphic design, beauty therapy, etc]

strategic goals of the programme will therefore be to (i) improve the curriculum responsiveness, (ii)

ensure flexibility in schooling, (iii) enhance staff professionalism and working relationships, (iv) improve

the resource management capacity and competency, including ICT skills, and (v) assure quality.

Chapter 5: Way Forward Regarding SSP Research

5.1 Challenges regarding Research Process

The list of issues below has been shared with research colleagues at numerous times, and therefore will not be

presented as a detached opinion of the process, but rather as a developmental reflection on the challenges and

hurdles to overcome. Some of these might even be issues that will be resolved at its own time during the

organisational developmental phases as the processes and procedures become clearer within the SETA.

There has to be a better way of organising the structuring of the process of skills development updates

within the SETA. Currently, as as mentioned before, the process feels, from a research point of view, like

a ‘micro-wave’ event, where most of the data collection processes are so rushed that it is difficult to

enjoy such an enriching event. It should be possible to allocate the research responsibility over a year

period in order to allow the research organisation to get familiar with the ‘working’ of the SETA, or even

build and cement the processes and relationships formed during the previous update(s). Failing to create

a more reasonable process will perpetuate the pressure situation where both SETA research staff and

researchers will rush to just adhere to the ‘compliance’ responsibilities of the process rather than

stretching the report to be an enlightening research piece.

The alignment between the Sector Skills Plan, the Strategic Plan, the Annual Plan, the Workplace Skills

Plans, the Annual Training Reports, and some other plans we might not be aware of, should be clarified

and possibly separated when they do not have inherent connections and links. Some of these plans have

individual schools, provincial and sometimes national focused perspectives, while others are more

internal planning tools.

The current approach of having a generic survey data collection instrument across the diverse sub-

sectors within the SETA might not be the most productive way of collecting data, since the different

sectors have completely unconnected aims and objectives, which creates the need for a more flexible

approach to the survey collection process. We do appreciate the flexibility that exists in the current

process, but believe that the foundations of some of the generic fields might need more specificity such

as the ‘size of the organisation’. Most schools fall within the ’10 – 49’ and ’50 – 149’ intervals, and

therefore the sub-division of these intervals will prove to be more useful for deeper analyses in the

schooling sector.

There is no familiarity of the data collection process related to skills development in public schools, due

to the current practice of WSP submission by provinces. Therefore when we embarked upon the

collection of data from the two provinces, it was a real struggle for public schools to respond to the

request which lead to a low response rate. Furthermore, due to the close perceptional link between the

data in the survey instrument and the WSP and ATR among independent schools, some of these schools

felt that it was a duplication when they received the survey request. Therefore, proper alignment must

be facilitated during the design process of the survey instrument.

The ‘advertising’ and marketing of the importance of the SSP beyond a compliance process should be

considered, especially when this communication is focused in the direction of the clients of the SETA,

which should be the schools in the country. Too many see this as a bureaucratic process which is aimed at

submitting a report to the DoL and DHET. The SSP report has the potential to be an exciting research

instrument for all in the schooling sectors, especially the individual schools and related human resource

practitioners.

There is a need to reflect and crystalise the research principles within the SSP report process, with

specific reference to the specific research paradigm that is driving the process; which research approach

is followed and perhaps dominant; how the literature review is utilised as input, process and

recommendation justification and support; identify where, when and how data will be gathered; which

data collection methods and possibly there a mix will be managed; which technical data collection

instruments should be employed, and what data analysis techniques and tools should be used; how the

storage, management, organising, sorting, coding and displaying of data will take place; whether opinion-

based, empirical-based, archival-based and/or analytical based research methods will be utilised to

make recommendations and draw thematic and/or statistical conclusions, etc. A lack of clarity within

these areas will result in unbalanced and less empowering research processes among the researchers

and the compilers of the composite report.

Since the SSP report is pulled together through a process of combining and synthesising the individual

reports for sub-sector researchers, it is important to develop a ‘merging methodology’ which will assist

both sub-sector researchers and the compilers of the SSP report. The trustworthiness of information

ordering and sequencing is crucial, since different interpretations and deduction are possible when

information is not organised in the way it was intended. The challenges of internal validity and credibility

of the report come to the fore. Furthermore, the external validity and transferability, objectivity and

conformability could be questioned. The sharing of a SSP report framework which was shared with us

during the middle part of the research process is a step in the right direction, but more proactive work is

needed.

The order in which the report is written might need some conceptual reflection, especially with regards

the the schooling sector. Within the sector, we could consider the following flow: (i) strategic context and

imperatives; (ii) general profile of the sector; (iii) overview of the sub-sectors; (iv) employment profile; (v)

other profile issues (HiV/Aids, remuneration, quality of teachers, nature of employment, etc.); (vi)

analysis of teacher demand; (vii) analysis of teacher supply; (viii) skills development demands and supply

issues; (ix) inter-connectedness and priorities of the sector; (x) recommendations and strategies

One of the most challenging activities was getting access to data sources and responses crucial to the

task, and their response rate when contacted. Furthermore, some of the data shared by the various data

agencies do not have the data in the format that is useful and/or useable for the purpose of the report.

More challengingly, some of the data agencies simply do not respond to requests. It is therefore crucial

that the SETA acts as a support structure to ensure that data agencies respond in order for researchers to

conclude their tasks. There could also be a case for the SETA to consider setting up their own internal

agency which will facilitate the majority of data sets necessary for report completion.

Finally, there is some vagueness related to some of the data sets, and how the SETA will facilitate

processes in order to separate combined data and create comfort related to the data sets which will

ensure that respondents do not feel that the data will negatively affect them. For example, the utilisation

of the concept ‘SGB employees’, and the current practice is a case in point.

5.2 Gaps regarding Research Update

The way the SETA defines ‘skills development’ and the related processes linked to this activity has

become crucial, since there are variant interpretations, understandings and more importantly, practices

that are taking place within the sub-sector. This was discussed with the interviewees and they believe

that clarity on these issues could assist a more harmonious relationship between different roleplayers.

One of the interviewees responded that:

“we’ve had lots of arguments about skills development … especially between the (union)

and myself … in certain circles skills is seen as only a hard thing, a skills that you can do. So,

the argument is that if we say we’re doing curriculum training, then the unions say that’s

not skills development … that’s your job because you changed the curriculum so you must

do it … its not a skill … maybe that is where the methodology comes in.” (Interviewee C)

Another response was that if we do not have a baseline of what skills development should be building

on, then

“… it’s probably pretty much a waste of time. We’re not seeing any impact within people

with poor matric results, unless you’re extraordinary and you just went to a really bad

school …” (Interviewee A).

From the responses of interviewees, there are two sets of challenges, namely whether skills

development is ‘anything and everything’ where the focus is on ensuring a competent workforce, or

whether it is a specific focus of ensuring that the workforce is enhanced from possessing mediocre skills

to excellence. In the first challenge, the deficit in skills is not taken care of during the recruitment and

selections phase, by reflecting on the quality of candidates the formal training institutions are sending

out in the working environment. In particular, the question will then focus on the quality of teachers

who are applying, are selected and are practising in schools, in relation to the higher education

institutions they come from. It is argued that if we do not make that link, and if we do not question the

role of the higher education institution, especially in relation to the deficit in skills and competencies of

teachers trained by them, then we will have a reactive rather than a proactive strategy to skills

development. The second challenge indicated is that we should be, to a greater degree, comfortable

with the teachers we are employing in the system and then we can focus on improving the quality of

teaching and learning in the schools. If we continue to focus skills development on those who are not

competent to teach, it is difficult to move the system to a level of excellence.

Related to the clarity needed on how we define skills development, is the process of where we derive our

data from, which will respond to our understanding of the skills gaps. As discussed with the Schooling

Chamber committee, there is a need for a teacher supply and demand modeling framework, since skills

development, as argued in an earlier point, should be looked at; the deficit between either what is

needed (demand) and what is available (supply) or what has been produced (supplied) and what is

required (demanded). Some of the gaps could be through the slowness of higher education updating

their training and development programmes and methodology to the ever-changing nature of the

industry they produce employees for, as well as the shifting in practice and knowledge demands at school

level, while these are not fed through to the training and development institutions. Both of these

arguments are also influenced by the changing technological drivers within the specific industry.

If we continue to follow the current process of skills development analysis, we will remain at a historical

understanding of what is going on in the sector, rather than the potential of knowing in advance what the

challenges could be in the next two to five years, and how we can develop strategies to prevent these

potential challenges from becoming a reality. From the interviewees, it is clear that most of them are

dealing with the immediate issues, since these are so overwhelming that there is little time to think

about future challenges. Furthermore, some of these challenges have been around for some time and to

some interviewees there might not be ‘quick solutions’ to most of these challenges. An analysis of most

of the issues raised by them could be that a substantial number of challenges are due to the lack of a

planning instrument that allow people to ‘see the whole rather than the parts’, since some of the parts

are influencing other parts of the system. For example, a perceived low quality education system does

not attract high quality students to become teachers. Equally, if the entrance level of becoming a teacher

is the lowest in higher education institutions and is seen as the ‘last resort’, then the best quality teachers

will not become teachers.

The challenge related to the need for a modeling framework is directly linked to our ability to engage in

future planning, projections and forecasting. Currently the majority of the report content are historical

descriptions rather than projections. We therefore have to look at the existing supply and demand

modeling and forecasting frameworks and identify the most appropriate one for the stage of

development we are faced with in South Africa. Below are five different frameworks, namely (i) skills

forecasting models – linear extrapolation of past trends, (ii) labour market signaling models – signal

dashboard in terms of policy, investment, technology, research findings, collective agreements, etc. –

mostly reactive (iii) qualitative models – scenario planning, key informant interviews, focus group

discussions, questionnaires – useful as a complementary approach in pro-active and not reactive way, (iv)

cost-benefit model – trends and patterns in HRM components such as qualifications, remuneration

packages, levels of employment – driven by economics and not quality, (v) systems flow model – feeding

source, input, operations (process), output, results, impact (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and

sustainability lenses) – helicopter view of trends and patterns over medium to long term periods to deal

with issues in a proactive way. For the purpose of this report, and as discussed at the Schooling Chamber

workshop, we would like to put forward the need for a systems flow model, where the SETA would be

able to generate data sets around every component represented in the draft framework below. The

interconnection between the different components could become the organising flow components of a

future sector skills plan report. If we map out the current data pieces we are collecting in the updating of

the SSP on this framework, we will discover huge gaps in the process. It is therefore important to reflect

on the need for such an approach and how it can be taken forward.

Figure 5.1: Systems flow model of teacher supply and demand

TeacherSupply

CurrentSupply

RecoverablePool

Poten alSupply

Inac vePool

CareerShi ers

TeacherTraining

A ri on

‘Leaving

Teaching’

Schooling-FirstChoice

FET,Univ.&UT–SecondChoice

TemporaryTeachers• SGB• Subs tutes• Assistant

Entrants

Teachers

InService

SkillsDevelopment

‘Can’tfind

ajob’

TeacherDemandNumberoflearnersinthesystem

Pupil-teacherRa

SpecificCurriculumRequirements

PostProvisioningNorm

‘Deaths

Dismissals&

Convicons

Schooling

Immigra onandEmigra on

LearnerExpecta onandAchievementAgreement(Grade8-12)

Through the implementation of a framework such as the one included above, we will be able to start

developing some projections as to what could possible be the trend and pattern in public educator

numbers, and who the different scenarios will either enhance or hinder to direction of education in the

country.

The graph below illustrates an example of the types of scenario graphs that can be produced when doing

future projections and how the mentioned modeling framework will assist in clarifying how the numbers

(size and shape) are flowing through the system, as well as whether the different scenarios can be

influenced at various levels of the framework in order to ensure that the system is nudged in the way

that will enhance the policy and practice agenda of education. In the absence of a modeling framework,

we will constantly deal with issues and challenges which were supposed to be tackled some two or five

years before, and therefore the risks related to these challenges can only be managed rather than solved.

This current practice is a reactive rather than a proactive way of dealing with the challenges.

Figure 5.2: A two to five years project of the size and shape of public educators form 2013 - 2017

370,000

375,000

380,000

385,000

390,000

395,000

SouthAfrica

Finally, there is a need to push the data collection process of the schooling system into a specialist

rather than a generalist industry approach. Currently, all the policy and data practices are pointing to

schooling as generalist industry where the specialisation of teachers is perceived to be ‘being a teacher’

rather than ‘being a mathematics, science, etc. teacher’. The foundation of this argument is located in

the way we collect the data in schooling and how we foreground key issues in the system. For example,

it is possible for schools to allocate a work load of subjects to teachers who were never trained in the

pedagogy, methodology and didactics of the mentioned subjects. The real challenge, as discussed with

the interviewees in the two provinces, is to what extent our children are failing their subject(s) because

they are not ‘clever enough’, or to what extend can their failure be linked to the lack of pedagogical,

methodology and didactic knowledge of their teachers. Likewise, the professional council of teachers

(SACE) is only focusing on where a person is qualified as a teacher when registering them, rather than

their subject specialisation. A teacher is therefore registered to teach in the education system rather

than registered to teach a particular subject or subjects in the system. This scenario plays itself out in

the data from PERSAL. The way records are kept in schools related to the competencies of teachers,

how work allocations and timetable needs are focused on only satisfying the ELRC policy requirements,

etc. As reported to us by the interviewees, our education system is totally “vulnerable” to be legally

challenged in relation to this matter.

5.3 Recommendations in terms of Gaps (Short, Medium and Long-Term)

Based on all the issues raised in this section, we would like to put forward recommendations in terms of short, medium and long-term priorities:

Short term priorities:

A big portion of the research process gaps could easily be solved through a consultative process of

researchers connected to the SETA process and the ultimate intentions of the research process. We

however have to ensure that the process deals with both the compliance requirements as well as the

clientele needs as related to the challenges facing public and independent schooling in the country.

These decisions are mostly process issues and conceptual stances which are needed to guide the

different researchers in the process. This will ease the work of the SETA research team in ensuring that

researchers know in advance what is expected rather than the current ‘hit or miss’ approach. These

obviously include invisible things like the editorial style preferred by the SETA, etc.

The research principles within which the SETA operates and do research work is also crucial. This will

cement the quality and validity of the content and proposals within the report. The SSP has to become a

respected research document within the arena of research. The acid test will obviously be, in future, the

amount of times the content of the SSP is quoted and/paraphrased within research outputs.

Medium term priorities:

The adoption of a teacher supply and demand modeling framework has the potential to not just assist

the research process in a more structured and informed way, but could also assist the provincial

colleagues in their planning process. As indicated in the report before, the provincial colleagues at

operational, managerial and strategical level find themselves unable to make the necessary projections

and forecasting, due to the lack of such a modeling framework.

Develop the willingness among schools to be involved in this research process and also link and ensure

the benefits of such a process to revert back to them. It is only when those who are expected to spend

their time and energy with research processes, see and feel the benefits of their engagement therewith,

that they will willingly participate in such events.

Long term priorities:

To balance the research process between compliance and client-oriented needs. Since the SETA is driven

by stakeholder representation, this should not be too challenging. The current ‘disconnection’ of sub-

sector research process, which might be due to the grand scale of the work of the SETA, does not ensure

a systemic understanding of the entire education sector. As indicated in the modeling framework an

understanding of the FET sub-sector in relation to the schooling sub-sector of grade 10 -12, is crucial in

order to understand who is fed within the higher education sub-sector. All of these are only possible

when we have a clear idea of the ECD sub-sector and the relations of this sub-sector to the foundation

phase processes in schools. Dealing with the sub-sectors in an inter-connected way might assist in

ensuring that we get the bigger picture of the education sector.

In conclusion, we would like to stress that the recommendations contained in this report stem from the data

and information herein presented. It is obvious that the consolidated SSP report further needs organisational

recommendations as formulated by the Schooling Chamber, and strategic/political recommendations from the

board and other stakeholder forums within the SETA. Both of these cannot be supplied by a research process

unless the researchers engage with the research recommendations in a forum where the above-mentioned two

constituencies can add their specific recommendations, i.e. organisational and political. It will be inappropriate

for researchers to make such recommendations while not being part of the debates and discussion process in

the SETA.

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APPENDIX 1 Data suppliers, Key Informants and Provincial Participants

The PERSAL data was supplied by the Department of Basic Education in August 2012.

Information from the following stakeholders informed this Schooling constituency contribution to the

ETDP SETA Sector Skills Plan Update for 2012/13

Survey Respondents

KwaZulu-Natal

Public School

Athlone Park Primary School

Durban Girls High School

Livingstone Primary School

Northdene Preparatory School

Northlands Primary School

Ottawa Primary School

Port Shepstone High School

Schola Amoris School – LSEN

St Henry's Marist College

Umhlali Primary School

Independent Schools

Camelot College

Felixton College

Heritage Academy

John Wesley School

Kearsney College

Maritzburg Muslim School for Girls

Saint Charles College

The Hiltonian Society

The Wykeham Collegiate

Western Cape

Public Schools

Bay Primary School

Bergvliet Primary School

Camps Bay Preparatory School

Edgemead Primary School

Grassy Park E.C. Primary School

Hillside Primary School

Kenridge Primary School

Laerskool Van Riebeeckstrand

Mountain Road Primary School

Pelican Park Primary

Plumstead Preparatory School

Rondebosch Boys Preparatory School

Saambou Primary School

Tamboerskloof School

Ukhanyo Primary School

Van Kervel School of Skill

Wynberg Girls Junior School

Independent Schools

Kenridge Primary School Trust

Michael Oak Waldorf School

St George's Grammar School

Schooling Chamber SSP Workshop

Haroon Mohamed Public Employer National Office DBE

Roseline Tyler Public Employer KwaZulu-Natal DBE

Shashi Nankoo Public Employer Gauteng DBE

Suritha Kaminsky NAISA

Zamile Hector Sinuka Labour (PEU)

Anthony Akal Labour (NAPTOSA)

Maryna Besseling Labour (SAOU)

Ntebo Leepile Labour (SADTU)

Gerrard Francis ETDP SETA Gauteng Coordinator

Josie Singaram ETDP SETA

Zanele Khubisa ETDP SETA

Provincial Interviews

KwaZulu Natal

Nkosinathi Sishi Head of Department – KwaZulu-Natal

Nkosinathi Ngcobo Senior Manager – Human Resources Management

Mandla Msweli Senior Manager – Skills Development

Western Cape

Penelope Vinjevold Head of Department – Western Cape Education Department

Ivan Carolus Director – Human Resource Administration (Rural)

Eddie Kirsten Director – Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute

ETDP SETA SCHOOLING SECTOR SKILLS PLAN 2013/2014

Documents

Locomotor Skills

Introduction - Oxford Home Schooling

Contents LANCiUACiE SKILLS CAREER SKILLS AND KNOWLEDCiE

Sabotaged Schooling - Human Rights Watch

Chronic Poverty and Child Schooling

Schooling in Asia

Financial Literacy, Schooling, and Wealth Accumulation

Community Language Resources in Dual Language Schooling

Seta Instruments - Laboratory Supplies

Visioning scenarios for Schooling for Tomorrow

Up SkillsMAGAZINE - ETDP SETA

regular meeting of the seta governing board - Sacramento

MICT SETA - Annual Report 2017/2018

BACKGROUND OECD PAPERS: THE SCHOOLING SCENARIOS

Table of Contents - ETDP SETA

The Causal Effect of Parentss Schooling on Childrenns Schooling in Europe. A New IV Approach

Study Skills

DOĞU AFRİKA JEOPOLİTİĞİ VE TÜRKİYE’NİN SOMALİ POLİTİKASI [SETA, 2014]

edge - Inspired Schooling - Tata ClassEdge

Communication skills