Calls for investigation into unqualified teachers in South Africa
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) is urging the South African Council for Educators (SACE) to investigate an alleged rise in under and unqualified teachers working at schools.
This comes after the Foundation for Education and Social Justice Africa said that it has received an alarming number of reports of under and unqualified educators, including students, hired to teaching posts at some independent/private schools across the country.
Naptosa’s executive director, Basil Manuel, told Newzroom Afrika that while they are still trying to ascertain the exact extent, “it does appear as though it is pretty common” in some independent schools.
However, this is not exclusive to private schools.
While the provincial education department oversees the hiring of many teaching posts, school governing body (SGB) positions are the prerogative of the SGB.
When filling posts, ticking all the required boxes has proven to not always be a guarentee.
In 2022, then Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga revealed that there were 1,575 unqualified and underqualified educators teaching in South Africa.
In 2024, CEO of the Governing Body Foundation, Anthea Cereseto, also raised red flags that some schools in areas where there are teacher shortages in critical subjects are being forced to use recent matriculants to teach.
“In some areas of the country, it’s just not possible to get anybody who has qualifications, so they take the nearest like they take matric kids who [do] maths in matric,” Cereseto said.
“It’s not okay but this is what happens. I feel very sorry for the children who aren’t being taught by qualified teachers,” she added.
The South African Schools Act states that teachers must be registered with the SACE to teach in any school, public or private to ensure professional conduct and standard among educators in the country.
“No person may be employed as an educator by any employer unless the person is registered with the council,” reads the SACE Act.
“If you are underqualified [or] a student teacher, you cannot be registered simply because you must meet the minimum requirements in terms of qualification,” said Manuel.
The Naptosa executive director said that in independent schools in particular, which often operate like businesses, the financial incentive to hire less expensive, and thus unqualified teachers, can be enticing.
“It’s a business [for some of these schools]. You bring down costs, you pay people less, and that makes sense [business wise], but at what cost?,” said Manuel.
“The real cost lies with the quality that you are delivering and, of course, what you are giving to these children and the story you tell parents.
“So, the losers are the parents and the children, not the school.”
Manuel called for schools to be held accountable by parents and urged SACE to issue a cautionary note to schools about improper employment practices.
He emphasised that parents, who pay significant fees, have the right to ensure their children are taught by qualified teachers.
While privacy laws like POPI protect personal information, he stressed that schools and governing bodies must guarantee the credentials of their staff and be held accountable for any misrepresentation.
Manuel also noted the lack of enforcement of penalties for unqualified teachers, allowing them to continue teaching without consequences.
He called for stricter monitoring of schools, especially in areas where unqualified teachers have been found to be prevalent.
Additionally, he proposed working with Naptosa to find solutions to this ongoing issue and believes a stronger enforcement approach is necessary to ensure schools comply with the law and prioritise qualified staff.
SACE and DBE response
SACE stated on social media on 7 January, saying that it has commenced a process of validating authentic SACE registration status and certificates “for every teacher in every public and independent school.”
“Please ensure that you DO NOT HOLD a Fraudulent SACE Certificate because there will be serious consequences for that.
“Our children deserve to be taught by professionally qualified and genuine registered teachers,” said SACE.
For both private and public school teachers, the SACE Act outlines penalties for non-compliance.
According to the Act, a person who is summoned and fails to comply is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga told BusinessTech that independent schools have a right to determine their own affairs, and the department cannot comment without further investigation.
“They are allowed to run their affairs independently of the Department and we have not sought to interfere either as long as they conduct themselves in terms of the law,” he added.
Mhlanga emphasised that parents who enrol their children at independent schools should understand the implications of doing so and can and should proactively engage these schools to ventilate matters of concern.
According to provisions of the South African Schools Act, they have to be registered with the Department to operate.
There are various grounds to withdraw the registration of an independent school, including “a threat to the continuation of provision of education services by the owner.”
Additionally, if the owner fails to comply with any legislation enacted in the country, their status can be withdrawn.
SACE was contacted for further comment, but BusinessTech did not receive a response by time of publication.
Loading ...
