Nine in 10 educators cite workload and burnout as major workplace challenges - IOL
South African teachers are facing mounting pressure from heavy workloads, administrative demands and increasingly difficult school environments, with new research finding that 92% of educators surveyed identify high workload and burnout as one of their biggest workplace challenges.
The finding comes from the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie (SAOU)’s latest strategic needs assessment, which found that workload and burnout ranked among the profession’s most significant workplace concerns.
The pressure cuts across age groups and school leadership. The figure was 91% among educators younger than 27, those aged 28 to 43 and those aged 44 to 59. Among school leaders, 93% of principals, 89% of deputy principals and 93% of heads of department identified high workload and burnout as a major challenge.
Administrative burden was the second-biggest workplace concern, cited by 84% of respondents.
Danolien van den Berg, who heads the SAOU Help wellbeing and support initiative, said the findings reflected the emotional toll of working in education.
Cases coming through the service highlighted emotional wellbeing, burnout and loss, alongside work-related challenges, low mood, bullying and intimidation, anxiety and stress.
“The question is also not simply: ‘Am I burned out?’ but: ‘Can I carry on like this?’ Teachers will continue to show up, teach their classes and do their jobs, but that does not necessarily mean that they are doing well emotionally or mentally,” Van den Berg said.
She said commitment to the profession did not necessarily protect teachers from exhaustion.
“Teachers who are exhausted are not necessarily teachers who no longer care or who no longer want to teach. You can love your job deeply and still reach a point where you realise: ‘I cannot carry everything on my own anymore.’”
The issue of teacher mental health and workload was also placed on the agenda at this year’s SAOU Women’s Leadership Seminar and Heads Symposium in Gqeberha, where one session was titled, “How to burn out properly, eight steps you cannot afford to miss”.
Van den Berg said the focus should be on earlier intervention and support.
“We cannot prevent education from being challenging. But we can listen earlier and make sure people get support before they reach breaking point,” she said.
The findings come against a wider backdrop of concerns about conditions inside South African schools, including learner discipline, educator safety and the presence of weapons and suspected drugs on school premises.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) said threats, intimidation, insults and violence against educators could undermine their ability to carry out their professional responsibilities effectively.
Dems Nel, head of the Legal Department at SAOU Teachers’ Union Legal Services, said the union had also seen an increase in cases involving verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and violence against teachers.
“Teachers face numerous threats, intimidation and physical bullying by students, their parents, the Department of Education and governing bodies. In fact, it has become more prevalent in every single province in our country,” Nel said.
He said the union was increasingly inundated with requests from teachers seeking guidance on how to deal with threatening conduct.
The Department of Basic Education acknowledged concerns raised by unions but said educator safety was addressed through its broader school-safety framework rather than a stand-alone national strategy.
DBE spokesperson Terence Khala said the National School Safety Framework and collaboration with SAPS provide a national approach to identifying and managing threats to learners and educators.
“The principal policy instrument is the National School Safety Framework, which provides a nationally consistent approach for identifying, preventing, managing and monitoring threats of violence and crime affecting learners, educators and other members of the school community,” Khala said.
