Many South African teachers are feeling severely burned out as a result of their workloads, a national study has found.

The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction in South Africa report, released by Stellenbosch University, reveals that 50% of teachers want to leave the profession in the next 10 years.

The primary reasons for their stress are an excessive workload as well as administrative burdens, with the latter being the primary source of stress for 70% of respondents.

Many feel burdened by excessive paperwork, which they largely perceive as being redundant and irrelevant to their actual teaching needs.

The survey also found that teachers in better-resourced schools were more stressed than those in low-fee and no-fee schools. This is largely due to the increased pressure from parents and school management, at affluent schools, who put them under pressure to deliver top results.

When it comes to preferred locations, the study highlighted a lack of willingness to work outside of the major urban centres, with 40% stating that nothing would convince them to take a job in a rural area.

This, interviews showed, was due to poor infrastructure, a lack of resources and limited career development opportunities.

The Western Cape and Gauteng were named as the most desirable locations for teachers, while predominantly rural provinces such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape were lowest on the list, indicating their higher likelihood of facing staff shortages in the future.

Urgent need for mental health support

The study highlights the need for greater mental health support for teachers, many of whom feel emotionally drained, particularly because their roles often extend to counseling, caregiving and social work.

Furthermore, teachers at less affluent schools said they felt overwhelmed by the emotional and social challenges faced by their learners, such as poverty, neglect and violence.

Lacking access to school psychologists, these teachers are left to manage these mental health issues alone.

“While we don’t expect pre-retirement attrition rates to reach 50%, these findings highlight an urgent need to address teacher burnout and mental health,” said Dr Heleen Hofmeyr, who is one of the report’s authors.

“Through follow-up interviews, we found that high stress levels, excessive administrative tasks, and inadequate support systems are driving factors for teachers wanting to leave the profession.”

The authors of the study made the following five recommendations:

Expand mental health support for teachers and learners.
Reduce the administrative burden on teachers.
Introduce incentives to attract teachers to rural areas.
Equip teachers with remedial teaching strategies.
Enhance classroom management training.

The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction report was led by Stellenbosch University, and supported by Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies, the FEM Education Foundation as well as national and provincial education departments.

Its findings are based on a nationwide survey of more than 1,500 teachers, as well as follow-up telephonic interviews with 80 of these respondents.

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.

IOL