EDUCATION
DISRUPTED COVID-19’S IMPACT ON EDUCATORS
by Charndré Emma Kippie
A
s the Covid-29 pandemic set in early last year, many in the education sector expressed concerns surrounding school-goers and the impact on the annual curriculum. Now, in the second wave, the country is forced to realise how this global disruption is affecting its educators too. The Covid-19 pandemic has left the entire world unsettled, uncertain of what the future holds, and seeking solutions to unprecedented economic and societal issues. One sphere that has taken a big hit is the education sector. Even before the lockdown, the country’s education system was under immense pressure, as it faced a shortage of qualified educators and educational facilitators. Also, The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) of 2019, indicated that South Africa has a limited number of teachers to take up Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology posts in schools.
A lag was also found in terms of the amount of technical educators and foundation phase teachers the country was producing annually. In conjunction with this, many public schools were lacking adequate infrastructure and basic resources. STATISTICS PRIOR TO COVID-19 • A UNESCO report estimated that sub-Saharan Africa would need a further 6, 3 million teachers in order to achieve universal primary education by 2030. • According to current records of the Department of Basic Education, SA’s public education system comprises 410 000 teachers. The country sees about 15 000 new graduate teachers per year. As per the TALIS, 60% of teachers in South Africa are female, of which only 22% hold principal positions. • South Africa has more than 25,000 schools of which 23,000 are public schools which cater to more than 12
26 | Public Sector Leaders • February 2021
million learners. As growth in the education sector slowed down during 2020, many of South Africa’s educators faced the rise of even more issues, namely instability, new workplace restrictions, having to adapt to remote teaching mechanisms, salary concerns, and major health risks.
it is clear that we need to continue to work together REMOTE TEACHING: A LACK OF LEARNING? Both pupils and educators quickly had to adapt to remote teaching in 2020. This truly tested our education system, as teachers had to immediately, without warning, carry out their job responsibilities in the face of unexpected circumstances. The restriction in interaction between teachers and pupils marked a new
