Abstracts

94 profession, as teachers’ own concerns continue to be ignored. If teaching is not treated as the vitally important profession it is, then the field no longer will be able to attract top candidates, and the overall quality of teachers will continue to diminish. Teachers enter the labor market unequipped as a result of an inefficient training program and, upon hiring, their specializations and language preferences are not taken seriously in the placement process. As a result, their students cannot perform in the classroom, because they are being denied a teacher who is actually able to meet the classroom criteria themselves. Teaching is seen as a low status career, thereby unable to attract top candidates into the field. The longer this cycle continues, the longer the education system within South Africa will continue to underperform. Teacher Engagement One approach to determining the quality and engagement of South African teachers is by monitoring their physical presence in the classroom or, more simply put, their attendance. Teacher absenteeism has been a startlingly and concerning trend over the past 5 years, with cases increasing from below 8% in 2011 to above 10% in 2017/18 (“South Africa’s Education System…,” 2019). Most concerning of all, teachers are absent on average more often than their students. According to a joint survey between the National Association of School Governing Bodies and Amnesty International in 2018, 32% of respondents reported that schools in their area had a problem with teacher absenteeism (Amnesty International, 2020). When a teacher fails to show up for school, the material will never be covered or covered poorly by a substitute. Frequent failure to show up and teach sends a negative message to young, impressionable learners about expectations and work ethic. While these statistics are concerning for the nation in its entirety, teacher absenteeism is especially profound in certain demographics. Compared to other provinces, Northern Cape had the highest percentage of primary school teacher absenteeism at 16%, followed by North West province at 13.9% and Eastern Cape at 13.2%, revealing that teachers are much more likely to be absent in the more rural and township provinces, which have higher levels of poor and black students (“South Africa’s Education System…,” 2019). This phenomenon further proves the need to prioritize improvements in schools that are located in the more rural and township provinces; not all South African schools are created equal, and it remains evident that rural schools face the greatest challenges. The hiring and retaining of teachers are important components of the education system. One challenge school administrators face is the lack of teaching professionals available for hire as a result of a brain drain, as many South African teachers emigrate in order to find better opportunities abroad. A contributing factor to teacher emigration is the low wages offered at home compared to those abroad. According to one article, South African teachers earn a meager $19,452 (R273,209) on average, which is significantly lower than the global average of $27,175. Not only are teachers confronted with lower wages but also they often are burdened with administrative tasks, which detracts from time spent in the classroom. This has resulted in only 66% of classroom time being spent on teaching, which is dismal compared to 78% in other countries (“Mass Exodus…,” 2019). Another factor contributing to job dissatisfaction stems from being forced to work in fields outside their area of training. The combination of these factors often leads teachers to be less engaged. The South African Democratic Teachers Union One of the greatest challenges preventing progress and equality within the education system is the SADTU. Out of the 390,000 teachers in South Africa, 250,000 are members of SADTU (Murray, 2016). Additionally, SADTU is a member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and they have leveraged their partnership with the African National Congress and the Communist Party of South Africa in order to obtain access to positions in Parliament and the Cabinet (Volmink et al., 2016). Due to their strong participation rate and overall status with COSATU, SADTU has obtained legitimate