Tài liệu Educator Supply and Demand in the South African Public Education System ppt

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Prepared for the Education Labour Relations Council by a research consortium comprising the

Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Health Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council,

the Medical Research Council of South Africa and the Mobile Task Team on

the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Education of the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Published by HSRC Press

Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

www.hsrcpress.ac.za

© 2005 Education Labour Relations Council

First published 2005

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in

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iii

List of tables v

List of figures vii

Abbreviations and acronyms viii

Acknowledgements x

Executive summary xii

1฀฀ INTRODUCTION฀2

1.1 Literature review 3

1.2 Research methodology 9

1.3 Conceptual model: demand for and supply of educators 10

2฀฀ GROWTH฀DEMAND฀FOR฀EDUCATORS 14

2.1 Learner enrolment trends 14

2.2 Learner-educator ratio 19

2.3 The ratio of orphans and other vulnerable children 21

3฀ REPLACEMENT฀DEMAND฀FOR฀EDUCATORS 28

3.1 Trends in the employment of educators 28

3.2 Demographics of educators 29

3.3 Attrition of educators 32

3.4 Morbidity 43

3.5 Mortality 47

3.6 Intention to quit 50

3.7 Productivity 53

3.8 Educator promotion 55

4฀฀ EDUCATOR฀SUPPLY 58

4.1 Educator enrolments, completions, destinations of new graduates 58

4.2 Morbidity and mortality of student educators and FET lecturers 62

4.3 Educators returning from educator pool 72

4.4 International migration (immigration and emigration) 73

4.5 Qualification of educators and key learning areas 75

5฀฀ PROJECTIONS฀OF฀EDUCATOR฀DEMAND฀AND฀฀

฀ SUPPLY฀TO฀2008฀฀82

5.1 Projecting the growth demand for school educators in South Africa,

2004-2008 82

5.2 Projected replacement demand for educators 86

5.3 Projected supply of educators 90

5.4 Comparing supply with demand 90

6฀฀ MODERATORS฀OF฀REPLACEMENT฀DEMAND฀฀

฀ FOR฀AND฀SUPPLY฀OF฀EDUCATORS 94

6.1 Job satisfaction 94

6.2 Educator recruitment and preparation 100

6.3 Educators in key learning and rural areas 101

6.4 Impact of HIV and ARV treatment 102

6.5 Demand-side policies 104

6.6 Data tracking 105

CONTENTS

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iv

7฀฀ RECOMMENDATIONS 108

7.1 Production of more educators 108

7.2 Attract more students to and retain educators in the teaching

profession 108

7.3 New education graduates 108

7.4 Educator recruitment and preparation 108

7.5 Roles of educators 109

7.6 Improve classroom environment and job satisfaction 110

7.7 Review of policies 111

7.8 Health of educators 112

7.9 Antiretroviral treatment 113

7.10 Encourage teaching in rural areas 113

7.11 Create a dynamic data tracking system 114

7.12 Periodical review 114

8฀฀ APPENDICES 116

Appendix 1: Survey methods for FET college lecturers and tertiary education

students 116

Appendix 2: CD4 cell counting and projections of AIDS deaths and ART

impact 121

Appendix 3: HIV prevalence among educators by district 124

Appendix 4: Code list for subjects and learning areas 130

9฀฀ REFERENCES 134

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Table 2.1: Learner-educator ratio in public schools 20

Table 2.2: Class size as rated by educators from 2001 to 2003, by school type 20

Table 3.1: Public educators (financial year) 29

Table 3.2: Demographic characteristics of the educator workforce 1997/98 and

2003/04 30

Table 3.3: National educator attrition and educator attrition rates based on

permanent and long-term termination 36

Table 3.4: Provincial educator attrition and educator attrition rates based on

permanent termination, 2001/02 and 2002/03 37

Table 3.5: Provincial educator attrition and educator attrition rates based on

permanent and long-term termination, 2001/02 and 2002/03 37

Table 3.6: Age-specific attrition rates based on permanent and long-term

terminations (percentages) 38

Table 3.7: Termination causes for age-specific attrition rates, excluding contract

expiry, 2002/03 (percentages) 38

Table 3.8: Gender-specific attrition rates by age, 1997/98 to 2002/03, based on

permanent and long-term terminations 39

Table 3.9: Race-specific attrition rates based on permanent and long-term

terminations, 1997/98 to 2002/03 40

Table 3.10: Race-specific attrition rates by age, 2002/03 40

Table 3.11: National educator appointment rates, based on new appointments 41

Table 3.12: Proportion of new appointments by age band, 1998/99 to 2002/03 41

Table 3.13: Proportion of new appointments by province and age band, 2002/03 42

Table 3.14: Frequency and percentage of educators 55 years and more

(public and SGB) 42

Table 3.15: Hospitalised in past 12 months 43

Table 3.16: Size of educator population suffering from chronic conditions that may

affect health and may contribute to absenteeism 44

Table 3.17: Death statistics from PERSAL 48

Table 3.18: Distribution of AIDS deaths by age in 2004 49

Table 3.19: Factors that would attract educators to alternative employment

options 51

Table 3.20: Intention to leave the education profession 51

Table 3.21: Negative productivity by school type and province 54

Table 4.1: Pre-service teacher education and postgraduate certificate in education

(PGCE) (degree count as on 04 June 2004), University of South Africa

(Unisa) 60

Table 4.2: Sociodemographic characteristics of FET lecturers 63

Table 4.3: Demographic and basic characteristics of the sample of students 64

Table 4.4: Subjects and school level of third-year students 65

Table 4.5: Frequency of morbidity among student educators 66

Table 4.6: Data on VCT among student educators 68

Table 4.7: HIV prevalence among educators, FET lecturers and education

students 70

Table 4.8: Symptoms of sexually transmitted infections 71

Table 4.9: Employed and unemployed by field of study ‘education, training and

development’ with degrees, diplomas or certificates 73

Table 4.10: Immigration and self-declared emigration of educational and related

occupations, to/from South Africa 74

LIST฀OF฀TABLES

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Table 4.11: Underqualification of government and SGB teaching workforce, 2004 76

Table 4.12: Learning area taught (trained in), South Africa, 2004 77

Table 4.13: Learning area educators currently teaching in secondary schools, by sex

and location of school, South Africa, 2004 78

Table 5.1: Base population, fertility and mortality inputs 83

Table 5.2: Attrition and joiners of public educators (financial year) 86

Table 6.1: Key issues creating job dissatisfaction 94

Table 6.2: Violence experienced in educational institutions in the past 12

months 99

Table 6.3: Criteria for antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in adults and

adolescents 102

Table 6.4: Proportion of HIV-positive educators eligible for ART based on

CD4 count 103

Table 6.5: ART scenarios: percentage of those who need treatment, receiving

antiretroviral therapy 103

Table 6.6: Estimated reduction in AIDS deaths 104

Table A1.1: Response rates of lecturers in FET institutions by province,

South Africa, 2004 117

Table A1.2: Provincial breakdown of final-year education students in sample 118

Table A2.1: Projected proportion of persons newly needing ART 123

Table A3.1: HIV prevalence among public educators, Western Cape 124

Table A3.2: HIV prevalence among public educators, Eastern Cape 125

Table A3.3: HIV prevalence among public educators, Free State 125

Table A3.4: HIV prevalence among public educators, Gauteng 126

Table A3.5: HIV prevalence among public educators, KwaZulu-Natal 126

Table A3.6: HIV prevalence among public educators, Limpopo 127

Table A3.7: HIV prevalence among public educators, Mpumalanga 127

Table A3.8: HIV prevalence among public educators, North West 127

Table A3.9: HIV prevalence among public educators, Northern Cape 128

Table A3.10: Analysis of areas with high HIV prevalence 128

Table A3.11: Districts with low HIV prevalence (under 5%) 129

Table A3.12: HIV Prevalence by Metropolitan District 129

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vii

Figure 1.1: Conceptual model: demand for and supply of educators 11

Figure 2.1: Estimated trend in school-age population 15

Figure 2.2: Learner enrolment in public schools 17

Figure 2.3: National pass rates of learners (Senior Certificate Examination) 18

Figure 3.1: Annual income of educators compared with general workforce and

nurses/midwives 31

Figure 3.2: Percentage terminations by cause for educators in PERSAL excluding

contract expiries, 1997/98 versus 2003/04 34

Figure 3.3: HIV prevalence by school type and province 45

Figure 4.1: Professional and academic qualifications at undergraduate and

postgraduate level 59

Figure 4.2: Trend in estimated net migration of educators 74

Figure 5.1: Projected learner population, 2004-2008 85

Figure 5.2: Projected school enrolment, assuming an enrolment ratio of 97% 85

Figure 5.3: Educator attrition other than death, 1998-99 88

Figure 5.4: Projected supply of educators, 2004-2008 89

Figure A1.1: Flowchart of data collection (lecturers) 117

Figure A1.2: Flowchart of data collection (students) 119

Figure A2.1: Projected HIV prevalence among educators, 1990-2015 122

LIST฀OF฀FIGURES

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AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome

ART Antiretroviral therapy

ARV Antiretrovirals

BA Bachelor of Arts

BEd Bachelor of Education

BSc Bachelor of Science

CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention

CEM Council of Education Ministries

CI Confidence interval

DHS Demographic and Health Survey

DoE Department of Education

ELRC Education Labour Relations Council

EMIS Education management information system

EPP Estimation and projection package

FET Further education and training

GER Gross enrolment ratio

GHS General household survey

GPI Gender parity index

HEARD Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division

HEI Higher education institutions

HEMIS Higher education management information system

HG Higher grade

HIV Human immunodeficiency virus

HRQOL Health related quality of life

HSRC Human Sciences Research Council

KZN KwaZulu-Natal

MCTE Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education

MP Member of Parliament

MRC Medical Research Council

MTT Mobile task team on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education

Naptosa The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa

NBI National Business Institute

NQF National Qualifications Framework

OBE Outcomes-based education

OVC Orphans and vulnerable children

PERSAL Personnel salary system

PLG Persistent generalised lymphadenopathy

ABBREVIATIONS฀AND฀ACRONYMS

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RAU Rand Afrikaans University

RNCS Revised National Curriculum Statement

SABSSM II South Africa’s second national populations based sero-prevalence and

mass media survey. Also known as the Nelson Mandela HIV/AIDS Survey.

Sadtu South African Democratic Teachers’ Union

SAS Statistical analysis system

SGB School Governing Body

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

STATA Statistical software for professionals

Stats SA Statistics South Africa

STD Sexually transmitted disease

STI Sexually transmitted infection

TB Tuberculosis

UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNISA University of South Africa

US United States of America

VCT Voluntary counselling and testing

VSP Voluntary severance package

WHO World Health Organisation

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x

These acknowledgements pertain to this final integrated report on educators in the South

African public education system. As such, it is prudent to thank and acknowledge all

those from the start of the project that have made this and the other reports possible. The

research study was a collaborative endeavour involving many people from start to finish.

Although not an exhaustive list, we wish to thank the following people and organisations

for their participation in different ways in this study:

• The Minister of Education, Mrs Naledi Pandor, for her continued support on the

study that was initiated prior to her appointment;

• The then Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal, MP, and his two advisors, Dr Ian

Taylor and Ms Kgobati Magome, as well as the South African Democratic Teachers’

Union leadership who were involved in the initial development of terms of

reference and the national, provincial and district officials for encouraging educators

to participate;

• The educators of South Africa without whose generosity and time this survey

would not have been possible. In particular, we wish to thank the principals of

participating schools for allowing us into their busy school programmes to conduct

the study;

• The Department of Education (national and provincial), the South African

Democratic Teachers’ Union, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of

South Africa, the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie and the South African Council

of Education for facilitating entry into schools and contributing their ideas to this

research;

• The members of the HSRC / ELRC Advisory Task Team of the Technical Task Team,

the Technical Task Team, the Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education and the

Education Labour Relations Council Technical Task Team who guided the project;

• The Deans of Education Faculties at universities who advised us on sampling

university students;

• The members of staff of various research programmes in the Human Sciences

Research Council, including Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Health; Surveys,

Analyses, Modelling and Mapping; Employment and Economic Policy Research; and

Assessment Technology and Education Evaluation. In particular, we wish to thank

Dr Mokubung Nkomo (Assessment Technology and Education Evaluation, of the

University of Pretoria) for facilitating initial consultations between the South African

Democratic Teachers’ Union and the Human Sciences Research Council on initiating

the project, Dr Stephen Rule (of Surveys, Analyses, Modelling and Mapping) for

sharing his experience in surveys, especially on executing fieldwork, and Mr Adlai

Davids of the same programme, for assisting in the sampling of schools. Finally,

but not least, Mrs Monica Peret for leading the team who did the day-to-day data

management for this study;

• Dr Johan van Zyl for contributing tremendously to questionnaire design and

formatting;

• Dr Marlene Roefs, the national project coordinator, for her tremendous effort in

ensuring smooth running of the fieldwork;

• The provincial coordinators: Mrs Nomvo Henda, Ms Lebogang Letlape, Ms Julia

Louw, Mr Ayanda Nqeketo, Mr George Petros, Mr Shandir Ramlagan, Mr Tsiliso

Tamasane, Mr Fhumulani Thaba, Ms Shantinie Francis, Mr Brian van Wyk, Mr

Nhlanhla Sithole and Ms Nompumelelo Zungu-Dirwayi, who spent months in the

field arranging school visits and managing day-to-day fieldwork;

• The nurse-supervisors and fieldworkers, who laboured tirelessly and travelled many

kilometres to gather the data;

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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xi

• The project administrators: Ms Hermien Bolton, Mrs Marizane Rousseau-Maree and

Mrs Yolande Shean of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Health for supporting the

day-to-day running of the project;

• Ms Ntombizodwa Mbelle for keeping track of the progress of the project;

• Prof David Stoker, a statistical consultant, for designing the sampling strategy and

developing sample weights for the study;

• The Contract Laboratory Services for testing the specimens for HIV status;

• BEX couriers for transporting equipment, questionnaires and specimens to and from

all corners of the country;

• Dr Bridget Farham for editing this document; and

• Members of the Department of Home Affairs, as well as members of EMIS, HEMIS

and PERSAL units who provided us with the information we requested.

We would also like to give special thanks to the Education Labour Relations Council for

commissioning, supporting and funding this study.

We would also like to thank the following members of the review panel who provided

invaluable inputs to the study: Dr Luis Crouch, Prof Keith Lewin, Muavia Gallie, Dr

Kholoud Porter, Barbara Preston, Prof Michael Samuel, Dr Yusuf Sayed and Dr Isaac

Xaba.

Finally, the team would like to thank their families for the support they gave us while we

undertook this study.

Olive Shisana, MA, ScD Leickness Simbayi, MSc, DPhil

Principal Investigator Project Director

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xii

Introduction

The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) commissioned this study following

worrying anecdotal reports that indicated that educators seem to be leaving the education

profession in large numbers. Some of the reasons that were suspected included low

morale, job dissatisfaction, AIDS and premature mortality. Following consultation and

agreement among members of the ELRC, a consortium consisting of the Human Sciences

Research Council (HSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the University of

KwaZulu-Natal’s Mobile Task Team on the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Education (MTT) was

commissioned to investigate the validity of these anecdotal reports and produce data that

could be used to inform education planning in South Africa.

The study set out to explore the phenomenon of educator attrition and to understand

various reasons why educators may be leaving the profession. In addition, the study

sought to understand the system’s demand for educators and the number of educators

needed to meet this demand.

A series of seven reports were completed and presented to the ELRC: The Health of our

Educators (Shisana et al. 2005), Workplace Policies in Public Education (Simbayi et al.

2005), HIV-positive Educators in South African Public Schools (Rehle et al. 2005), The

Impact of Antiretroviral Treatment on AIDS Mortality (Rehle and Shisana 2005), Factors

Affecting Teaching and Learning in South African Public Schools (Phurutse 2005),

Potential Attrition in Education (Hall et al. 2005), and lastly Educator Attrition and

Mortality in South Africa (Badcock-Walters et al. 2005).

This final report integrates these reports, published as part of the multistudy project

focusing on the Factors Determining Educator Supply and Demand in South African

Public Schools. The aim of this report is to integrate all these findings and give a more

comprehensive picture of the determinants of supply of and demand for educators in

public schools.

Methodology

This integrated report includes a number of study components:

(1) Qualitative educator school study

Focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of

the meanings educators and students attribute to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support.

(2) Educator school survey

A cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of educators was

undertaken, employing the second-generation surveillance method that combines

the measurement of behavioural and biological indicators within the same study. A

behavioural risks questionnaire-based survey was conducted concurrently with HIV

testing and CD4 count to determine the association between the two (Shisana et al. 2005).

For the estimation of AIDS deaths and the impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on AIDS

mortality, the Spectrum model package was used (Rehle and Shisana 2005, Rehle et al.

2005).

EXECUTIVE฀SUMMARY

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xiii

(3) Educator policy review

Review, expert review and workshops were used to analyse core workplace policies

from both the Department of Education (DoE) and different unions in the sector. Policies

directly related to HIV, TB, drug and alcohol use and attrition, as well as documents

relating to implementation plans, current status of operation of the policies and

monitoring and evaluation systems were identified for review (Simbayi et al. 2005).

(4) Educator attrition and mortality study

Records from the National DoE Personnel and Salary Administration System (PERSAL),

National DoE Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) data, and Department

of Home Affairs National Death Register were cross-referenced and analysed, including

contract termination, sick leave and death for the financial period April 1997 to March

2004 (Badcock-Walters et al. 2005).

(5) Student educator and FET lecturer survey

A cross-sectional survey in samples of student educators and FET lecturers was

undertaken, employing the second-generation surveillance method that combines the

measurement of behavioural and biological indicators (HIV testing) within the same study

(Shisana et al. 2005, sampling and procedure in Appendix 1).

Results

(1) Educator growth demand

Learner฀enrolment฀trends

Comparing learner population and learner enrolment, the potential learner population

(6- to 18-year-olds) has been increasing from 1999 to 2003, but learner enrolment has

been decreasing from 1997 to 2003. The decline in learner enrolment may be attributed to

different entry points at Grade 1, increased learner throughput, fertility decline, increase

in the proportion of vulnerable children (orphans, girls) with restricted access to school

and enhanced provincial EMIS systems.

Using population-based data, the school-age population aged 6-13 grew by 1.4% per

annum between 1999 and 2001 and by 1.2% per annum between 2001 and 2003. During

the period 1999-2001 the school-age population aged 14-18 grew by 0.6% per annum

and by 1.2% during the period 2001-2003, taking estimates of the impact of AIDS into

consideration.

In 2003 the learner to educator ratio, based on SNAP surveys, was 35.1:1 for both

primary and secondary schools. This ratio has remained stable over the past five years.

The maximum target from the Department of Education is 40:1 for primary and 35:1 for

secondary schools.

(2) Educator replacement demand

Trends฀in฀the฀employment฀of฀educators

According to PERSAL, the total number of public educators declined from 386 735

in 1997/98 to 366 320 in the 2002/03 financial year. This represents a net change of

educators of -5.3% from 1997/98 to 2002/03. The number of permanent educators

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Educator฀supply฀and฀demand฀in฀the฀South฀African฀public฀education฀system

xiv

remained stable, while temporary educators declined from 61 206 in 1997/98 to 34 110

in 2003/4 which is a net change of -44.3%. The major decline in temporary educators is

due to an ongoing process in which long-term temporary educators are given permanent

appointments.

Demographics฀of฀educators

Based on the Educator School Survey of 2004, two-thirds of educators are women. This

has not changed over the past seven years. Women educators dominate the primary

teaching workforce in every province with 75% and more, except in Limpopo Province

where 67% of the teaching force are women. Over three-quarters of the educators

were black Africans, while less than 5% were Indian/Asians. This mirrors South African

society in which, according to the 2001 population census, 79% were black Africans.

There was a slight increase of 4% in the black African educator workforce, while there

was a slight decrease among white (3%) and coloured educators (1%) from 1997/98

to 2003/04. Further, the educator workforce is generally older than the general formal

sector workforce; 29% of educators are 45 years and older but only 21% of the general

workforce in the formal sector are 45 years and older.

Attrition฀of฀educators

Government PERSAL data for state-paid educators indicate that the national gross attrition

rate in 1997/98 was 9.3%, dropping to 6.4% the following year and declining to 5.5% in

2000/01 before beginning to rise steadily again to 5.9% in 2002/03. Rates vary significantly

by province and have to be seen in the light of the large numbers of educators that

left the departments during the years of amalgamation and rationalisation, peaking in

1997/98 and 1998/99. The early years of this study were characterised by high numbers

of severance packages and dismissals, whereas more recent years have seen rising

proportions of mortality, medical retirement and resignation.

It was established that the third largest cause of attrition, after contract terminations and

resignation, was mortality. The proportion of gross attrition due to mortality increased

from 7.0% in 1997/98 to 17.7% in 2003/04. Similarly, the proportion of terminations for

medical reasons has grown from 4.6% to 8.7% over the same period, while the number

of severance packages and transfers declined considerably. By 2003/04, resignations

accounted for 53% of all educator terminations, excluding contract terminations.

Attrition rates peaked in 1997/98 and 1998/99, largely as a result of the unusually large

number of educators that left during the early years of amalgamation and rationalisation.

Thereafter they dropped to 3.4% (5.5% permanent and long-term) in 1999/00 and

2000/01, and increased to 4.2% in 2002/03 (5.9% permanent and long-term). These data

suggest that approximately 15 000 educators were needed nationally to meet replacement

demand in the financial year 2002/03, with an additional 6 000 needed as substitute

educators for those leaving the service for extended periods (such as maternity leave). It

should also be noted that, if the analysis is based on permanent attrition alone rather than

on permanent and long-term attrition, the proportion of attrition due to mortality rises

significantly. The highest attrition rate in 2002/03 was 6.5% in the Western Cape, followed

by 5.6% in Gauteng. The lowest rates were 2.9% in Mpumalanga and 3.2% in Limpopo.

The data also show that there are two peaks in attrition: one among educators aged 55

and above (of which an average of 66% are accounted for by retirement and 18% by

resignation) and another among educators aged 25 to 34 (where resignations account for

80% of terminations and mortality 15%). The lowest overall attrition rates were in 2000/01

– most age groups have experienced increased attrition since then.

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Educator attrition rates are generally higher for females than for males and peak at age 55

and above (due to the high numbers of educators in this age band who retire). Attrition

rates throughout the study period have been highest for white educators, although they

have declined significantly since 1997/98. The overall rate for whites in 2002/03 was

12.0%, close to three times that for black Africans.

Morbidity

With regards to HIV/AIDS, 12.7% of all educators are HIV-positive. HIV prevalence is

highest in the 25-34 age group (21.4%), followed by the 35-44 age group (12.8%). Those

educators 55 years and older had the lowest HIV prevalence (3.1%). There are major

racial differences in HIV prevalence: black Africans have a prevalence of 16.3% compared

to whites, coloureds and Indian/Asians, whose HIV-infection rates are less than 1%. The

key behavioural determinants of HIV infection among educators were lack of condom use

given HIV-positive status, multiple partnerships, alcohol use and age mixing.

The study went on to determine how many HIV-positive educators would need ARVs.

More than one-fifth (22%) of the HIV-positive educator population need ART according

to the national criteria based on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) conservative

guidelines for the initiation of ART. This is a CD4 count of less than 200 cells per mm³

of blood (<200 cells/mm³). This would suggest that at least 2.8% of all educators are

eligible for immediate ART – 10 000 of the 356 749 educators in public schools. If the US

Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) guidelines of a CD4 cell count of

≤350 cells/mm³ to initiate ART were followed, this would increase the proportion of HIV￾positive educators requiring ART to more than 23 500.

HIV/AIDS was not the only factor in the causes of morbidity. Other chronic diseases

were found to play a significant role in the health status of educators, which appeared

to be poorer than that of the general population. A total of 10.6% of educators had been

hospitalised in the previous 12 months, compared to 7% of the general population,

reported in 2002. It was also found that at least 75% of educators reported a visit to a

health practitioner in the six months before the study. The most frequently reported

diagnoses in the past five years were stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure

(15.6%), stomach ulcers (9.1%) and diabetes (4.5%), suggesting that educators may be

exposed to high levels of stress.

The overwhelming majority of educators (75%) had not drunk alcohol in the past 12

months; 20% are classified as low-risk drinkers; and 5.3% are high-risk drinkers. Male

educators (15%) are significantly more likely to be high-risk drinkers than female

educators (0.7%). Alcohol consumption patterns seem to differ by race: male coloured

educators (18%) and male black African educators (16%) reported the highest levels of

high-risk alcohol use.

The study further looked at absenteeism as one of the factors involved in attrition. The

results showed that absenteeism in the educator labour force (measured in total days

absent) is due mainly to high blood pressure, followed by tobacco use, HIV infection,

stomach ulcers, arthritis or rheumatism and high-risk drinking.

Mortality

Results from the death records indicate that a significant proportion of educators die

between the age of 25 and 49 years. Male teachers in this age range die at a higher

rate than female educators. The median age at death for black Africans (42 years) is

Executive฀summary

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