A new study of grade 12 learners has shown that although the majority of matriculants wanted to continue their studies, only three percent of learners planned to study education.
The study, which was conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in 2005, surveyed about 20 000 grade 12 learners drawn from 362 public schools across South Africa.
The survey shows that 72% of respondents wanted to continue their studies, 20% wanted to enter the job market and seven percent wanted to travel overseas. One percent of the learners surveyed indicated that they did not see themselves in any of these activities one year from the survey date.
The report highlights the low interests among grade 12 learners to study education and the serious impact it could have on the teaching profession in the long term.
The survey found that white learner aspirations to study education is significantly higher than black learners aspiration to do so, while the it also found that the majority of black students who intended on studying teaching would prefer to qualify to teach in a secondary school or in special education rather than in a primary school.
Were these preferences to be realised in enrolment decisions, there would be major implications for foundation phase teaching, especially in the mother tongue. The study also suggests that the current lack of qualified teachers in rural areas will continue, as the white would-be teachers will be reluctant to take up posts in these areas.
However, the study was done before the department of education’s introduction of the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme for teachers.
Universities told the Teacher earlier this year that they have increased numbers of trainee teachers and that the scheme has contributed to the higher enrolment figures.
Bursaries are allocated to areas in which there are a specific need for teachers.
The HSRC study showed that business and commerce appears to be the programme to which the highest percentage (23%) of would-be university students aspired in 2005, followed by Engineering (17%), Computer Science (14%), Health Sciences (12%), and Law (7%).