Teachers face burnout as austerity measures spark crisis in education

Teacher unions are warning of burnout and mental health challenges among educators as a result of being overloaded with work due to the thousands of vacancies across provinces.

The unions blamed the vacancies on the austerity measures imposed by the national government.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the National Teachers Union (Natu) stated that these austerity measures are damaging the quality of education and putting lives at risk. Natu said during the 2023/24 financial year, over 23 000 posts in provincial education departments across the country were cut, with the total number of unfilled but funded vacancies exceeding 46 000.

The unions said overcrowding in classrooms deprives pupils of individual teacher attention, while teachers are burdened with increased administrative work, leading to burnout and mental health challenges.

In a statement, Sadtu said the austerity measures and budget cuts have resulted in overcrowded classrooms that hinder effective teaching and learning. The lack of substitute teachers has increased the workload for the remaining educators, negatively impacting their health.

“Teacher burnout is a significant issue, with 44% of teachers in Grade R – 12 reporting that they very often or always feel burned out at work. This figure is even higher among female teachers, with 55% experiencing frequent burnout. Teaching staff report the highest rates of work-related stress, depression, and anxiety compared to other professions,” the statement revealed.

“Almost two-thirds (62%) of teachers believe that stress affects them more than 60% of the time. This higher level of stress is more common among female respondents (65%) compared to male respondents (54%). Additionally, 74% of teachers have had to take on extra duties due to staff shortages,” the statement said.

Teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the workload was overwhelming.

A Grade 5 teacher in Gauteng said she works late into the night preparing lesson plans and grading assignments, leaving her exhausted and stressed. Similarly, a high school teacher in KwaZulu-Natal said his class sizes doubled, making it nearly impossible to provide individual attention to students. 

Natu stated that the South African education system is in a state of crisis. “Due to the provincial education departments’ non-compliance with the post-provisioning norms, teachers have increasingly been burdened with administrative tasks, overcrowded classrooms, and inadequate support. This has led to burnout, mental health challenges, and a poor state of teacher wellness generally,” said union leader Doctor Ngema in a statement.

He said due to many years of budget cuts, the education system now faces chronic underfunding and infrastructural decay, leaving many schools with dilapidated classrooms, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of basic amenities such as toilets, electricity, and safe classrooms.

“The implementation of austerity measures by the National Treasury has had devastating consequences on the quality, accessibility, and equity of education across the country. As stakeholders in the future of our nation, Natu cannot remain silent while the constitutional right to basic education, enshrined in Section 29 of the Constitution, is systematically eroded,” the statement concluded.

Thirona Moodley, CEO of National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) in KwaZulu-Natal said KZN “is in a state of crisis”.

“The financial challenges in this province have a direct impact on teaching and learning. The department's silence is both deafening and unacceptable. The department has shown no effort to improve the current circumstances. We have no substitutes in schools; schools are not being paid their financial allocation. How do we expect schools to function? The department has collapsed, and Naptosa calls on the DBE to urgently intervene as the province has failed. When will it be enough?”

A recently retired school principal said overcrowding had the potential to contribute to pupils dropping out of school altogether.

“It is just a question of the impact it has on the teachers; it has a much larger societal impact. The teacher-student ratio is supposed to be 1 to 35; even that is very high. Ideally, it should be 1 to 28. But we are finding that it is 1 to 50 or more, which means there is little to no individual attention in class.

Classroom periods are 30 minutes in primary schools and 40 minutes in secondary schools. Educators have to walk in, settle the class, mark homework, check on previous work, teach the day's lesson, set out work for the day, and supervise that day's work. If you have large classes, educators are unable to do justice to their subjects because of time constraints.

Educators cannot possibly be expected to do justice to their subjects. Learners of all ability levels are affected: weak learners are not afforded sufficient attention to achieve better results, even to pass. Average learners may not attain good results. Those who are deemed good achievers may not achieve excellent or outstanding levels."

Another teacher said he once taught a class with 90 pupils. "You mark many scripts and maintaining discipline in class is difficult."

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education acknowledged the complaints raised by unions and pointed out that some of the issues were matters of national competence. However, it stated that this week it would be launching a programme aimed at ensuring the well-being of teachers.

The Department of Basic Education did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

Cape Times