Education expert says SA could face serious shortage of teachers by 2030

CAPE TOWN - An education expert warns that South Africa will have a shortage of teachers by 2030.
 
The concern comes after the Western Cape Department of Education announced that 2,400 teachers on its payroll will lose their jobs in January next year.

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The department blames the massive reduction of educators in the province to the National Treasury's 3.8 billion rand budget shortfall imposed on the province for the next three financial years.
 
According to recent research by the University of Zululand, the country produces 15,000 new teachers every year while 18,000 to 22,000 teachers are leaving the profession.
 
The University of Stellenbosch education faculty dean, Professor Mbulu Madiba, says South Africa is failing to absorb a cohort of teachers being produced by institutions.
 
"If this is a situation that we facing as a country, then it's negotiated and discussed. Sometimes you can go to a point of saying 'look, do we take salary increase or we really need to keep our salaries as they are, or do we take more teachers'. I mean it's give and take. What must go, what we must keep? The most important thing is that we need to have a teacher in front of the learner."