President Cyril Ramaphosa said on one October during the 26th national teaching awards ceremony in Ekurhuleni that South Africa must attract more young, talented people into teaching and better support educators.
His call comes against the backdrop of an education system already struggling with staff shortages, high work stress, overcrowded classrooms and safety concerns.
Ramaphosa said the country must encourage young people to choose teaching as a career, while new teachers should receive support and experienced teachers should be further developed.
He also said teachers must be relieved of unnecessary administrative work so they can spend more time teaching.
Thousands of teaching posts remain vacant
According to the parliamentary budget office, there were in total 15 371 funded teaching posts that had not been filled in February 2026.
The budget office warned that this figure does not include staff shortages where posts are not funded at all. The actual staffing need could therefore be greater.
Staff shortages can also increase the workload of teachers and make it more difficult to manage large classes and other responsibilities.
Teachers experience high work stress
The latest South African results from the International Survey on Teaching and Learning (Talis) also show the pressure under which teachers work.
According to the report, 59% of South African teachers and 58% of school principals experience high levels of work-related stress.
South African teachers spend an average of 26.6 hours per week teaching. This is more than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 21.2 hours.
Marking, administrative tasks and learner discipline are among the key sources of work stress.
Safety is also a concern
For some teachers, the challenges go beyond work pressure.
In January 2026, three educators at Ntabankulu Primary School in the Eastern Cape were shot dead and a fourth educator was seriously injured.
Ramaphosa said during the awards ceremony that violence, intimidation and disruption in schools must be firmly addressed.
The Gauteng government has also reported violent incidents at schools where teachers and learners have been threatened.
Overcrowded classrooms and infrastructure
Conditions in the classroom can further complicate the profession.
The Gauteng education department said this year that some schools in the province had classes with between 60 and 70 learners per teacher. The province is also struggling with overcrowded schools and infrastructure backlogs.
The Department of Basic Education has indicated that it wants to reduce the administrative burden on teachers. There are among other things plans to reduce the reporting instruments that teachers must complete.
But does nobody want to teach anymore?
However, the available data does not show such a simple picture.
The Talis results show that nearly 80% of teachers and 90% of school principals remain satisfied with their work. About one in every five teachers, however, indicated that they would leave the profession.
This shows that teaching remains a rewarding profession for many people, but that working conditions place pressure on teachers.
The challenge for South Africa is therefore not just to attract more young people into the classroom, but also to ensure that they receive the support and working conditions they need to remain in the profession.
Source: SAnews, Parliamentary Budget Office, Department of Basic Education, Gauteng government
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
