High Demand For STEM Teachers In Education Sector
Career portal - 30 June 2022
Teachers play an important role in society as they help learners gain knowledge and skills that prepare them for life post-school or in their respective career paths.
More and more young people are choosing teaching as a career of choice.
According to the Education Department, the output has increased from 23 000 to 31 000 new education graduates coming out of universities between 2016 and 2020.
The Education Department has admitted that it has had challenges of whether the teachers that are currently employed are closing the gaps that exist in terms of meeting the needs of the education sector.
According to the Department of Education, there is high demand for Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, indigenous languages, and foundation phase teachers.
Stellenbosch University associate professor Nic Spaull released a report that stated about 45% of all public school teachers will retire in the next 10 years.
In an interview , Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga clarified:
We lose about 11 000 to 12 000 teachers every year and this happens due to different reasons, one of them is retirement the other is the change in careers and you also have others who unfortunately pass away.
However, Mhlanga shared that the statistics that were projected in the academic report are not consistent with what is on their system.
The department has confirmed that it has budgetary constraints that make it difficult to absorb each and every education graduate.
“Fortunately, through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative implemented in the Basic Education sector, we have recruited some qualified educators who, after participating in the program, get to be absorbed in schools,” said Mhlanga.
Unemployed education graduates have been advised to approach schools near them to establish if they are able to employ them using the School Governing-Body (SGB) appointments employment avenue.