A new study by RESEP researchers Servaas van der Berg, Martin Gustafsson and Cobus Burger for the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on Teacher Supply and demand has just been released by DHET. It paints a stark picture in terms of the availability of qualified teachers in South African schools, as it will be extremely difficult to replace the large numbers of teachers who will be retiring in the next decade. Almost half of all teachers are 50 years or older and the normal retirement age is 60. To account for this loss, current new appointments of teachers in public schools may have to almost double.
The full report can be found here. Based on the extremely worrying findings of this study, RESEP has started a major new research study to investigate policy options and opportunities that may arise from this situation. RESEP will soon share more details of this new Teacher Demographic Dividend study.
