The government’s decision to reopen teacher training colleges indicates that despite programmes to increase the number of teachers trained, there is still a shortage in key areas, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.
”Although the total number of schoolteachers increased from 256 000 in 2004 to 287 000 in 2005, the percentage of teachers with just a matric pass increased from 1,8% to 2,1% and the percentage of teachers with postgraduate qualifications declined,” said DA education spokesperson Desiree van der Walt.
”Furthermore, it was disclosed in September last year that more than half of South Africa’s maths and science teachers are not properly qualified,” she said in a statement.
”This is a disaster for South African learners and we need to make far more opportunities for teacher education available for potential teachers — both in and out of universities.”
In a written reply to a DA question in Parliament, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said earlier this week that her department was investigating options for expanding the provision of teacher education.
A service-linked bursary scheme for teacher training at universities was introduced last year, with R180-million allocated in 2008 for nearly 5 000 student teachers. The aim is to train more primary-school teachers, more teachers to work in rural schools, and more maths and language teachers.
Another option under consideration to strengthen this is the establishment of dedicated units, colleges or institutions in each province.
Pandor said that when the old colleges were closed in the 1990s, they were training too many teachers in a fragmented and uncoordinated system, quality was uneven, some colleges were too expensive and African students were disadvantaged.
”The argument that primary-school teachers do not need a university education is part of the call to reopen teacher colleges and it is a policy proposal that is under review,” Pandor said.
Van der Walt said the reopening of the colleges had been suggested by the African National Congress at its 52nd national conference in December, a call supported by various organisations, including teacher unions.
The government has already acknowledged its ”mistake” in closing nursing colleges, and a process is now underway to reopen many of these.
”The DA welcomes the fact that the same will now be done for teaching colleges, which could provide dedicated venues for the development and honing of desperately needed teaching skills,” she said. — Sapa