‘Bunking’ teachers under spotlight

If you think it is hard for school pupils to wake up on a Monday morning‚ it is even tougher for teachers, many of whom bunk on the first day of the week, according to a study.

Concerns about teacher absenteeism in SA have been highlighted in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper, “Struggling to Make the Grade: A Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Weak Outcomes of SA’s Education System”.

The IMF’s senior resident representative in the country‚ Montfort Mlachila‚ and Wits PhD student Tlhalefang Moeletsi authored the paper.

They found that South African teachers had low levels of motivation‚ despite being relatively highly paid.

SA also suffered from weak educational quality‚ despite the relatively high level of public spending on education.

The researchers found that 20% of SA’s teachers were absent on Mondays and Fridays, and 33% were no-shows at month-end.

In predominantly black schools‚ teachers taught an average of just 3½ hours a day, compared with the average of about 6½ hours a day in former white schools.

On average‚ an SA teacher missed 11% of teaching time due to absenteeism.

The authors argued that the battle was usually won or lost at primary school.

“A substantial part of the low rates of retention is caused by learning deficits acquired at the primary level due to the low quality of education,” they said.

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said in response that President Cyril Ramaphosa had allocated money to fix the foundation of the education system.

“The researchers are talking as though we are not doing anything,” Mhlanga said.

“The majority of our schools are fully functional for more hours than what they state.

“We motivate our teachers to do their work.

“If you look at the district performance as far as matric exams are concerned‚ it shows that there is a lot of effort being put into supporting learners‚ and making sure that teachers arrive on time‚ start teaching on time and remain in class for the number of hours required a day.”

He said during a visit to the Free State he had seen pupils attending school on a Saturday.

“We are not paying these teachers extra‚ they are doing it out of dedication and commitment,” Mhlanga said.

“They want learners supported so that they can pass.”

The researchers pointed out that increasing government spending on education would not improve pupil outcomes without attention being paid to how the money was distributed and effectively used.

They found that there were low levels of tertiary enrolment‚ and said the level of retention and the average time it took to complete a first degree were worrisome.

According to the study, black students spent, on average, less than two years in tertiary education while white students spent more than seven years.

“Moreover‚ more than a quarter of students enrolled for tertiary education dropped out in their first year of study.

“The high dropout rate‚ low completion rate and extended years in tertiary education all undermine the efficiency of expenditure in SA’s tertiary education.”

On the issue of free tertiary education‚ it noted that “without addressing the weak foundations at the primary and secondary school level‚ the payoff of free tertiary education is likely to be limited at best‚ and wasteful at worst”.

“Unfortunately‚ political economy considerations usually favour these types of interventions because they are visible and can be more easily ‘captured’ by politicians.”