The demand and supply of secondary school teachers in the Western Cape

Abstract

Education has become an area of concern both in South Africa and the rest of the world. As a result there has been an increase of about one per cent on the average number of learners in South Africa schools (Collin, 2005), especially with the ‘education for all’ policy. Learner increase requires large numbers of teachers because they play a critical role in achieving the post-apartheid transformation and development agenda (Asmal, 1999). However, there are many disturbing reports that point towards large numbers of teachers leaving the education profession in both primary and secondary sectors. Many factors have rendered education an area of distress both in the Western Cape, South Africa and elsewhere in the world today. One of these factors is the mismatch between demand and supply of teachers which is arguably exacerbated by shortage of teachers. The aim of this study is to (i) uncover factors that influence demand, supply and shortages of teachers among a select Western Cape Secondary Schools in order to (ii) primarily explore mechanisms and strategies that the selected schools employ for combating teacher demands, supply and shortages. The question following from these aims is: “How do some secondary schools in the Western Cape manage the tensions created by demand, supply and shortages of teachers?” The study employs the qualitative research method that has utilised an exploratory research design to meet the research objectives. Secondary school teachers, principals, ex-secondary school teachers and deans/directors of schools/faculties of education make up the target population for this study. The sample constituted thirty participants that were purposefully and conveniently selected. The finding in the study reveals that teacher demand and supply in the Western Cape is influenced by similar factors that occur elsewhere in the world. However the schools employ many ways to deal with teacher shortages, some of which are preventative or curative of the problem of teacher shortages. What is worth-noting is that since public schools in Western Cape are owned and funded by the provincial government, principals are limited in what they can do as most of the strategies require a high level of monetary commitment.