Teacher training programmes must respond to South Africa’s national priorities
The quality of South Africa’s teacher training programmes came under scrutiny during a high-level discussion convened by the national Department of Basic Education with education deans from South Africa’s universities on 17 January 2025.
The all-afternoon meeting was chaired by Mr Hubert Mweli, Director-General in the Department of Basic Education. The objective was to address aligning teacher education with national priorities; addressing the supply and demand for teachers as well as qualified Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners; and curriculum innovation and transformation.
Held at the University of Johannesburg, the meeting attracted a large gathering of education deans and their deputies from public and private higher education institutions, university vice-chancellors and their deputies, heads of departments, senior education leaders including those of the Council on Higher Education, the South African Qualifications Authority, the Education, Training and Development Practices SETA, the South African Council of Education, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and representatives of teacher associations, alongside senior executives from the departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training. Private higher education providers in attendance included the Independent Institute of Education, Edutel, Mancosa and SANTS.
In total, close to 200 individuals attended the meeting, with 47 connecting virtually while over 150 attended in person.
Basic Education Minister, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, MP (below), said it was important for her department to work together with that of Higher Education and Training because although they are separate entities, they both serve as the skills “conveyer belt in South Africa” and are key components of the country’s entire education system. She pointed out that education deans, in particular, play a vital role in the sector.
Key focus areas
“How do we ensure that there’s a quality curriculum at the foundation phase that sets our children up for a success path, going forward? This is where we need your expertise, your thinking and your ideas,” she told the education deans.
“Education faculties are crucial in the provision of the nation’s teachers. The quality of the education system is directly linked to the quality of teacher education. As we embark on this reorientation, I call upon you to focus on these three critical things that we, as a sector, desperately need from you.
“One: teacher preparation for the foundation phase. To achieve our goals, we need highly skilled foundation phase teachers who understand the developmental needs of young learners, who can deliver higher quality instruction in literacy and numeracy, who are equipped to deal with the realities that face our schools.”
“Two: scaling teacher development. Meeting the demands of a growing population and expanding access to quality early learning requires an increase in the number of qualified and skilled ECD practitioners in the foundation phase. This necessitates innovative approaches in teacher recruitment, training and retention.”
“Then lastly: curriculum delivery and innovation. As the education landscape evolves, so too must the training curriculum in our teacher training programmes. We would like our universities to integrate cutting-edge methodologies, including evidence-based practices for teaching mathematics, science and literacy to equip our teachers with the tools to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills amongst our learners.”
Minister Gwarube said to support these efforts, her department would ensure that the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme is aligned with these priorities. “This means that we’re going to be prioritising bursaries to students pursuing qualifications in teaching in the foundation phase, which includes Grade R.
“We must incentivise young people to enter this field and provide them with the financial and professional support they need to excel so that we can swell the ranks of foundational phase professionals,” the Minister said.
Teacher training for STEM subjects
The declining number of pupils taking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related subjects up to Grade 12 was another point of concern for her department, Minister Gwarube said. She said although the department was pleased with the National School Certificate 2024 results in maths and science, the low number of pupils taking these subjects shows that the majority of them don’t think they have the capacity to pass them. The Minister pointed out that the low levels of confidence to pursue these subjects throughout high school come from weakened foundation phase learning.
“This is not just an education sector issue; it has profound implications on the country’s economic development. South Africa needs a workforce skilled in STEM disciplines to drive innovation and competitiveness. Producing teachers who can teach the subjects effectively, with confidence and compassion, is absolutely essential,” she said.
Mother tongue as a language of teaching and learning
The Chairperson of Universities South Africa’s Education Deans’ Forum (EDF), Professor Mbulungeni Madiba (right), who is also the Dean of Education at Stellenbosch University, raised the issue of children being taught in a foreign language as a major hindrance to learning in the early and crucial years schooling. He said the fact that Grade 4 learners start being taught in English, regardless of their mother tongue or the language they were taught in during earlier grades, puts them in a difficult position of learning a new language while being taught in the language that they’re learning.
Professor Madiba said the three years that these pupils currently have to be taught in their mother tongue needs to be increased to six years. “This will enable learners to develop compositional and academic proficiency… both English and mother tongue should be taught within the mother tongue education policy framework — it shouldn’t be either-or.”
Teacher training and induction
When it comes to teachers being oriented into the schooling sector, Professor Madiba called for teacher induction to be introduced as a standard procedure to help new teachers acclimatise to the schooling environment. “Our teachers need induction. They’re currently being thrown into the deep end – it’s either swim or sink and some of them are sinking.”
Dr Whitfield Green, Chief Executive Officer for the Council of Higher Education (CHE), highlighted the need for the higher education sector to ensure alignment between teacher education being offered by universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. He said currently, there are qualification duplications that the sector can ill afford.
Dr Green said a lot has already been done in relation to developing and improving teacher education and training in the country. “I think we must really take cognizance of what’s been done up to now and not try to reinvent the wheel. It’s very important that we build onto the work that’s been done. I think that’s how we find we have the greatest impact.”
Marching order for parents
During the closing of the day’s proceeding, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (left), University of Johannesburg’s Chancellor said: “I hope that as our education experts and practitioners, you will continue to push forward and look at where we can fix our education system.”
“But I have to emphasise, Minister, one of my biggest worries and source of stress, is whether our curriculum is relevant for the age that our students live in? After 30 years of democracy, we have to look at whether we are not wasting our time, the students’ time and resources preparing the children for a world that no longer exists. That’s a big task that we can’t do overnight and even though it needs to be done incrementally, we need to have a strategy.”
Mlambo-Ngcuka also urged the education leaders to keep parents top-of-mind when it comes to the sector’s collective efforts at enhancing education. “What is the marching order that we want to give to parents? They can also play a very important role in support of the agenda we are talking about.”
The meeting of 17 January marked the culmination of Minister Gwarube’s wish expressed in her meet-and-greet with senior representatives of Universities South Africa in July 2024, to regularly engage education stakeholders with a view to identifying collaboration areas for the betterment of education and optimum service to learners in basic schooling.
According to Ms Lala Maje (right), Director: Initial Teacher Education and Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) and Acting Chief Director: Education Human Resource Development in the Department of Basic Education, Minister Gwarube intends to regularise engagements with deans of education to ensure Higher Education’s alignment and response to the DBE’s strategy for national teacher education and related priority areas of concern.
Nontobeko Mtshali is a contracted writer for Universities South Africa.
