"INCREASING teachers' salary is one of the solutions to teacher shortage."
This is what South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) spokeswoman Nomusa Cebi had to say as they rally behind Deputy President Paul Mashatile's statement during the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum where he addressed teacher shortages.
On Monday, 26 February, Mashatile announced that to increase participation in the profession and attract young skilled and passionate youth they should ‘provide competitive compensation and recognise teachers' achievements'.
This won't only create a culture that promotes excellence and creativity but also cultivate a sense of pride and purpose among educators.
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Mashatile's solution to increase teacher salaries comes as he noted that the shortage not only ‘jeopardises’ the quality of education but also ‘undermines’ their collective efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
“Most importantly, significant consideration must be made on how we should improve their working conditions and remuneration as a way of appreciating their hard work, to enable them to fulfil their important task without getting discouraged,” Mashatile said at the time.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Cebi said a study has shown that teachers were leaving the profession because of salaries.
“They claim salaries are not attractive as a result they choose to leave. It's a global thing that we need to stress, and this increase in salaries is a step in the right direction,” she said.
While she might have noted a trend where several new teachers who enter the profession opt not to teach in rural areas or townships, this is because of poor resources.
According to Cebi, rural incentive policies need to be implemented in a decisive manner.
These are allowances given to schools to improve state of the schools which will also make teaching in rural areas attractive.
