‘Stressed and overextended’: nearly ‘half of SA teachers’ eye exit in 10 years

Nearly half of South African teachers want to leave the profession in the next 10 years -despite many being dedicated to their learners, says economist Dr Heleen Hofmeyr, lead researcher on a study by Stellenbosch University.

Admin and paperwork are the biggest driver of stress and excessive workloads, 70% of 1,500 teachers indicated in The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction report, released on Tuesday. Teachers need greater mental health support, the researchers found.

“One of the most striking issues, among many ... was their stress levels and how poor discipline [of pupils] impacts their job satisfaction and how much time they have left to teach,” said Hofmeyr, who conducted interviews in all provinces for the study.

Teachers at better-resourced schools reported even higher levels of stress than their counterparts at no-fee and low-fee schools. Interviews suggested that “increased pressure from parents and school management to deliver top results” may contribute significantly to this.

The SA Depression and Anxiety Group, which has been working with teachers and learners in mostly government high schools in Gauteng recently, has found that teachers are managing complex stress and urgently need mental health support.

“They are dealing with their own personal stressors, those of their learners, the issues within the classroom and then the stressors of doing their jobs — the state of schools, admin, management, deadlines, marking, training, and so on. Yet they don’t have enough resources to cope,” said Sadag operations director Cassey Chambers.

Sadag has been working with teachers in Gauteng high schools who listed these stressors. (South African Depression and Anxiety Group)

“We cannot afford to lose good teachers. We have to prioritise the mental health of teachers,” she said. “It is incredibly tough being a teacher in South Africa. They face huge expectations and responsibilities in very stressful environments, without enough resources to look after their own mental health.”

The Profmed Stress Index 2024 found that workplace pressure (26%) was among the top two stressors among South African professionals after financial uncertainty (35%). The workload (68%), work-life balance (67%) and job security (41%) were the major pressures they identified in the workplace.

Seeing their learners succeed, having that positive impact on young people, makes the job worth it to many teachers no matter the challenges
— Dr Helen Hofmeyr, lead author of The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction report

The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction study was a nationwide survey of 1,500 and 80 teachers were interviewed telephonically for deeper “insights into their experiences, challenges and motivations”.

The interviews suggested that teachers perceived their paperwork as excessive and “redundant or disconnected from actual teaching needs”, said Hofmeyr.

The extended roles teachers must play, including providing counselling and social work, are emotionally draining and many reported feeling overwhelmed by the challenges their learners confront, such as violence.

Hofmeyr said: “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.”

Sadag has dedicated free support groups “just for teachers so they have a safe space to share their struggles, connect and learn coping skills,” said Chambers.

The Western Cape and Gauteng had no concerns about replacing retiring teachers unlike the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga which faced teacher shortages, she said.

Four out of 10 teachers indicated that “nothing would convince them to take a job in a rural area”, the study showed. Poor infrastructure, lack of access to resources and limited career development opportunities were among reasons teachers were reluctant to work in rural schools — even though some of them return to these schools after training in cities.

- 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.

Source: The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction report
— Policy recommendations

“If we want to ensure quality education in South Africa, we need to invest in teacher wellbeing, training and support... (and) in-school psychological support services to learners,” said Hofmeyr, a senior researcher with Resep (Research on Socioeconomic Policy), based in the SU’s economic department.

She said: “We have to take into account the daily realities that teachers face ... in some cases, learners would threaten them with violence in high schools. But in the same breath that the teachers would tell you how difficult it is to work in schools, they would say they don’t want to leave or they never will and the reasons is the learners themselves.

“Seeing their learners succeed, having that positive impact on young people, makes the job worth it to many teachers no matter the challenges and that was incredibly hopeful ... there are really dedicated teachers in our country. A lot of teachers saw their role as building our nation.”