The Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) has completed a study of teacher supply and demand in the Western Cape commissioned by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

The consortium comprised researchers from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Stellenbosch.

The sample included 4 545 teachers at 151 schools in the WCED's Metrople East and Eden Karoo education districts, to provide insights into teacher supply and demand in urban and rural districts.

The researchers also sent out questionnaires to all public and special schools in the province. A total of 641 schools, representing 42% of schools in the Western Cape, responded to the survey.

The survey, conducted in late 2008, included questions on teacher retention, attrition, recruitments, replacements, shortages and relative difficulty in filling posts

The consortium surveyed 656 final year students at the four universities 2008, as well as 2 736 current and former students who trained as teachers in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The study drew on a report from the Department of Economics at the University of Stellenbosch which used Labour Force Surveys and census data to identify the number of people in the Western Cape who studied education or had previous jobs in education but who are not currently employed in the sector.

The study found that 95% of Western Cape teachers are qualified according to current requirements for a three-year, post-matric qualification.

Education authorities and unions are now negotiating a minimum requirement for a four-year, post-matric qualification as part of the occupation specific dispensation (OSD). About 66% of teachers in the province currently meet this requirement.

The study recommended special measures to enable teachers to meet this requirement, prioritizing the 30 to 49 age group.

Other findings include that:

• About 84% of the sample teachers were teaching, at least partially, within their field of expertise or field of study.
• Some schools do not appear to be using their supply of teachers effectively or efficiently. For example, teachers with subjects in short supply are not always teaching these learning areas/subjects in the schools, and some teachers are expected to teach too many learning areas.
• Some teachers have "reduced capacity" to teach "newer" or more integrated subjects in the Intermediate or Senior phases such as Economic and Management Sciences and Arts and Culture.
• There is evidence to show that some teachers in the middle school years, particularly the Intermediate Phase, are teaching subjects such as Mathematics and Natural Sciences at grade levels beyond their levels of subject expertise.
• Core Further Education and Training (FET) subjects (Grades 10 to 12) were mostly taught by teachers who have a major or at least a minor course in an "acceptable" subject for the subject they were teaching. For example, while 95% of Mathematics teachers have Mathematics as a subject in their qualifications, they do not necessarily have a teaching qualification to teach the subject at an FET level.
• At least 40% of the Grade R teachers surveyed do not have appropriate training or specialization to teach the reception year.
• Issues include the availability, distribution and retention of the most highly qualified and most experienced teachers, particularly in the areas of Mathematics, English, Afrikaans and the Sciences.
• Mathematics, English and Afrikaans teachers tend to be more mobile than others, which may contribute to inequitable distribution of these skills. More specialized teachers in core FET subjects tend not to teach in poorer schools.
• The existence of unemployed teachers in the Western Cape suggests that there may be a teacher surplus in the province.
• There is a shortage of student teachers for the Foundation Phase (Grades R to 3) with isiXhosa and other African languages as their home languages.
• In response to an open-ended question in the School Survey about teacher supply and demand issues and associated challenges, principals emphasized the need to attract the best people into the profession and to motivate the current stock of more effective teachers to remain in the profession.

The study recommended that groups of good quality new entrants or experienced effective teachers of core subjects be strategically recruited or placed in carefully selected schools, focusing on poorer schools with the potential to improve learner performance and Quintile 5 schools that offer supportive environments.

Some kind of induction and support programme could assist teachers in working in unfamiliar contexts.

Staff establishments could accommodate different home languages and emerging parallel medium classes, particularly in Afrikaans medium schools, to meet the needs of isiXhosa home language learners.

The study recommended closer cooperation, collaboration and co-ordination between WCED and universities around six issues:

• Planning IPET student intake with regard to learning area/subject specialization, school phase, and home/teaching language.
• Standardization" of qualification certificates.
• Determining the practicality and cost effectiveness of upgrading three-year, post-matric qualifications.
• Evaluating the impact of in-service training on learner performance.
• Developing a framework for ongoing professional development.
• Ongoing professional teacher development.

The report made six recommendations for universities in the Western Cape, namely:

• Investigate the low number of isiXhosa teaching graduates, especially for the Foundation Phase, and increase the supply of Foundation Phase teachers.
• Investigate the low number of student teachers who classify themselves as "African" - only 14% of student teachers at the four universities did so in 2008.
• Standardize databases on student teachers to facilitate comparative data across the four universities.
• Develop ways of tracking teachers once they have graduated.
• Conduct exit interviews with graduating student teachers on employment plans, appointments and intended movements.
• Investigate whether universities have the capacity to assist teachers in upgrading their qualifications.

While teachers in the Western Cape are generally well qualified, the report has highlighted the complexities involved in making sure that we deploy these resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The reported has highlighted the key issues of increasing the number of isiXhosa-speaking teachers, especially in the Foundation Phase, and improving access to effective teaching in languages, maths and science on all levels.

The report will inform our ongoing strategic planning.

Meanwhile, the WCED is currently conducting research into the specific qualifications of every teacher in the province and how schools are using this expertise to improve our understanding of how we are using this critical resource.