EDUCATION DISRUPTED: Covid-19's impact on educators

As 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 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 LACKOF 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 reality, as Covid-29 changed how knowledge is to be transferred, and tested traditional teaching styles. In this way, the pandemic paved the way for teachers to rethink learning scenarios that would be beneficial to pupils.

ONLINE LEARNING BARRIERS

In South Africa, digital learning gaps have become more evident. Pupils from vulnerable communities attend government funded learning institutions. Often, education is free here, but these institutions face the harsh reality of weak infrastructure, the lack of schoolbooks and tools, overcrowding, a scarcity of educators and high teacher dropout rates.

With this in mind, not all pupils have been able to gain access to online learning platforms, causing major disparity. Alongside access, internet connectivity also affected teaching quality, as pupils in impoverished communities could not benefit from these digital learning tools.

LIVES ON THE LINE

As the country phased in and out of its various lockdown stages, learners were allowed to attend school, physically, at own risk. Pupils with existing comorbidities, however, were encouraged to learn from-home, in certain instances. This shifting situation put educators under pressure, as balancing things out and maintaining a routine quickly became a tough task, with severe health risks looming. By December 2020, an estimated 1600 teachers 1600 had succumbed to COVID-19 related health complications. More recently, it was also estimated, by the SA Democratic Teachers ‘ Union (SAdtu), that 73 teachers had died after the closing of schools on 15 December 2020, despite strict hygiene and sanitation practices.

A SALARY FREEZE

Many public servants, such as doctors, nurses, police officers and teachers, have also lost their jobs or received pay cuts during these perplexing times. Due to the fact schools were closed for a significant portion of the academic year, many private schools announced that their educators would need to take a decrease in salary, mainly because many parents and guardians had lost their jobs and couldn’t afford to pay school fees in full.

Another dilemma that teachers anxiously face is Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s recent proposal of a ‘wage freeze’ for public servants. He proposed this for the next three years as a strategy for decreasing government debt and expenditure, in order to avoid a larger debt crisis. The matter has not been received well by Labour Unions, who continue to fight against Mboweni’s plans.

AT A JUNCTURE

If teachers are to assume that this pandemic may last for quite some time, changing the face of the South African education system for the foreseeable future then support and infrastructure will be key.

“A survey conducted by teacher unions confirms that between 4% and 8% of schools had to close due to infrastructure challenges, or the inability of the schools to fully comply with the Covid-19 protocols’, says Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga.

At present, these noble public servants are doing the most they can with what they have access to, putting their lives on the line each time they are called back to school. Teachers and students should also be supported by wellness programmes as these times have been grueling for them, especially. Already, we’ve seen a delay in the school year due to a second wave of the Covid-19 virus.

“Due to the infection rate, it is clear that we need to continue to work together to contain the transmission of the virus. As the basic education sector, we have to play our part together, with all our strategic stakeholders and partners”, she continues.

And whilst it is easy to say that all learning should be done online, this is not a realistic concept for all South African schools right now, as not all pupils have access to the necessary tools and resources, and pupils have different learning capabilities that will need to be catered for.

“The disruptions of 2020 will need a longer time frame to address. We have a three-year curriculum recovery plan. From 2021, we will be implementing the recovery teaching plan in grades 1 to 12”, Hon. Motshekga comments.

What can be done right now, is learning from these circumstances and planning ahead for the future of the education system. We must reflect and understand where we can invest more in education, choosing the path of wisdom, and building upon the foundation we’ve built.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW:

How can we foster larger investment in education and knowledge as an essential resource for the future?

What can we do to assist with training teachers in how to digitise their work effectively?

How do we ensure that learners in vulnerable communities gain adequate access to the technology that is now an essential part of learning

What strategies need to be put in place for the country to produce more teachers, decreasing the number of pupils per classroom?

How do we take better care of our teachers post Covid-19?