International Day Of Education Spotlights Teachers As Key To Fixing SA’s Education System

More than a money issue

South Africa’s investment into basic education continues to grow year on year, totalling over R330bn in the 2025/26 budget – a significant 144% difference between the allocation in 2001. However, despite government expenditure on the sector showing this consistent increase, several key learning outcomes remain low.

According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), as much as 81% of grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning, up from under 80% in 2016. Furthermore, many teachers bear the brunt of an increasingly demanding workload in high-pressure environments, leading senior lecturer at the North-West University (NWU), Dr Marelize Vergottini, to view the emotional well-being of teachers as being in a “state of crisis”.

This reality is heightened by factors such as lack of adequate training and professional development, as well as access to resources that can enrich, engage and inspire teachers to grow both personally and professionally.

In classrooms that are becoming more and more diverse in terms of learners’ unique psychosocial and cultural needs, teachers are decidedly under-resourced, professionally stagnant and inadequately supported to adapt their practice.

This, for Paige Davidson de Grandhomme, director of teacher training and development company, Empower-Ed, is the “missing link in education investment”.

As she explains: “We cannot fix education outcomes without giving teachers opportunities to invest in themselves. Too often, society overlooks the fact that teaching is a dynamic career path that needs to be nurtured and built upon in order to deal with learners’ and teachers’ evolving needs with the same level of urgency and sincerity as other vocations.”

Quality and achievement connected

There is in fact evidence to suggest that continuing teacher development programmes are directly tied to the quality of education as well as student success. A study published by the University of Limpopo cited that an informed and consistently progressing educator is the most important school-related aspect that impacts learner achievement.

There are a number of reasons for this correlation, the first of which relates to the ever-evolving nature of the curriculum, teaching tools and resources. “In order to teach, educators need to keep learning,” says Davidson de Grandhomme. In doing so, they can become equipped with fresh, new knowledge and teaching strategies that remain relevant to young learners.

Apart from the key role that professional development and training plays in upskilling for the benefit of learners, there’s also the issue of personal fulfillment and growth to consider. Teachers who invest in continuous learning are better positioned to build their own confidence, take actionable steps towards achieving their own goals and sustain motivation in a highly demanding profession.

“Multiple teachers who have engaged in our training have attested to being motivated in their careers as well as in their personal lives. Every teacher is different - from new teachers who need to strengthen their skills in specific developmental phases to those who are looking to further their knowledge on broader topics.

Likewise, some teachers have growing families while others may have additional caregiving responsibilities, making flexible, accessible professional development increasingly important.

From how to optimise time and efficiency to addressing digital distractions and screen-dependent learning behaviours, having access to different learning themes and modalities is important. For this reason, we provide teachers with a range of learning methods including online courses, training packages and webinars,” says Davidson de Grandhomme.

Ongoing value beyond accreditation

The bonus for teachers who engage in Sace approved courses and training programmes is that they can also earn CPTD points for their annual portfolio in order to remain compliant. Having said that, “Training should never be viewed as a tickbox exercise.

"It’s an investment into the lives and livelihoods of educators and by extension, the children they teach and the learning institutions they are apart of. In honour of this year’s International Day of Education, we urge teachers to reach out and explore the available options, and we urge schools and leadership teams to put the necessary support systems in place to bring these possibilities to life.”