An Analysis of High Teacher Turnover and Attrition in the North-West Province of South Africa

Abstract

In the past few years, there has been a shocking rise in the rate at which teachers are abandoning the teaching profession. What is more disturbing is the scenario that the numbers appeared to be increasing daily. This research used a mixed-method approach. The study provided information on the teacher profile, the capacity of staff in relation to workload and expertise, factors that influenced teachers to leave the teaching profession in the province, perception of the teaching profession and employment opportunities after resignation from 590 teachers in the province. The study found that there were several factors which have contributed to high teacher resignations in the North-West Province over the years. The study found that one of the main causes of attrition was the Government pension fund saga. On policy implication, the Department of Basic Education has been pushing for an increase in qualified teachers’ deployment to different schools due to the high demand from the increased number of students. However, due to high attrition, it has been difficult to fill the void created by teachers who have left as they take with them high-value experience leaving a high rift of inexperienced, less effective teachers in classrooms which leads to increased recruiting and training budgets. Participants indicated the existence of peers from colleagues who have resigned and are undertaking industrious projects with the Government pension money. Their desire to make money pushes them to want to do the same and this makes efforts to change their mindset quite challenging. The study concluded that the Department of Basic Education needs to focus on teacher welfare to reduce the high attrition rate and ensure student success in the long run.

Keywords

• attrition
• resignation
• teacher turnover
• teaching profession
• pension fund