We Are Losing Our Teachers — And With Them, Our Future

By Mr Aspeling

In today’s education landscape, a quiet crisis is unfolding. It’s not just about curriculum changes, digital transformation, or exam results. It is about the teachers who are walking away from the profession, burned out, discouraged, undervalued, and often blamed for problems they did not create. And while we debate learner rights, policies, and schooling models, no one speaks about the teachers who stand at the centre of it all.

A Country Losing Its Educators

South Africa is already feeling the impact. Reports over the last few years reveal that more than 30 000 teachers have left public schools, with resignations rising and replacements struggling to keep up. In the Western Cape alone, over 1 200 teachers quit in a single year, while thousands of qualified teachers remain unemployed. Stress, administrative overload, and low morale are cited as key drivers — not simply salary concerns.

Globally, UNESCO has warned of a widening teacher shortage heading into 2030. Many nations are grappling with recruitment challenges, early retirements, and international migration of teachers seeking stability and respect abroad.

This isn’t simply a workforce problem. It is a social and economic one. When we lose teachers, we lose mentors, guides, and the very foundation of future learning.

A Job That No Longer Ends at Teaching

Today’s teachers are more than educators. Their job descriptions have expanded dramatically:

• They act as counsellors, helping learners navigate trauma, anxiety, and household instability.

• They become parents, providing emotional and practical care.

• They serve as therapists and support structures for children who arrive at school carrying burdens from outside the classroom.

• They navigate bullying, social pressures, and behavioural issues without sufficient training or institutional support.

Yet while demands have grown, societal respect has declined. Teachers report feeling worn down by unrealistic expectations, excessive paperwork, and constant scrutiny from parents, learners, and even the wider community.

Learner Rights Without Balance

There is no argument against the importance of learner rights. Protecting children from abuse or discrimination is non-negotiable. But when rights are upheld without responsibility, teachers are left powerless to manage discipline and classroom culture.

Respect, accountability, and structure have eroded. In many cases, teachers cannot correct behaviour without facing parent complaints, formal investigations, or reputational damage — even when acting in good faith.

School is not only about academic learning; it prepares children for the realities of adulthood. Yet we are raising learners who know their rights, but seldom their duties, obligations, or consequences.

We are not calling for corporal punishment to return. But we do need modern tools and policies that allow discipline rooted in dignity, respect, and responsibility.

Parents Are Partners — Not Prosecutors

Education succeeds when parents and teachers work as allies. Increasingly, however, teachers report being treated as the first to blame and the last to trust. Small incidents escalate into confrontations. Professional judgment is questioned. The benefit of the doubt disappears.

This adversarial relationship makes teaching not only harder, but emotionally draining. When every decision must be defended against parental criticism, the profession becomes a battlefield instead of a partnership.

The Private School Sector Is Not Immune

Many assume that private schools have escaped these pressures. They have not. In fact, private schools experience a different but equally intense strain.

Private schools are expected to deliver:

• High academic performance

• Personalised attention

• Strong discipline

• Excellent facilities

• Emotional support

• Customer satisfaction

— all while operating as financially sustainable institutions.

Teachers in private schools face:

• Higher parental expectations and scrutiny

• Pressure to treat students as “clients”

• Reduced disciplinary authority

• Emotional burnout without mental-health support

• Rising turnover and international migration

• An expanding role in social and moral development

Private schools often absorb responsibilities that traditionally belonged to families. Schools become the default social environment where learners must be raised, disciplined, guided, supported, and shaped into well-rounded young adults. But a school cannot replace parenting.

The private sector is a crucial part of South Africa’s education ecosystem. If teachers continue leaving both sectors, the impact on future generations will be profound.

If We Lose Teachers, We Lose Everything

What happens when teachers leave the profession?

• Class sizes grow.

• Individual attention disappears.

• Academic outcomes suffer.

• Mentorship weakens.

• School culture declines.

• The pipeline of future professionals shrinks.

Education is not just about syllabus coverage. It is about building citizens capable of reasoning, working, leading, and contributing to society.

Without teachers, that collapses.

Where Do We Go From Here?

If we want to keep our teachers — and ensure our children receive the education they deserve — we need collective action:

1. Value Teachers Properly
   Not just financially, but professionally, emotionally, and socially.

2. Restore Balance Between Rights and Responsibilities
   Learners must learn respect, accountability, and consequences.

3. Strengthen Parent–Teacher Partnerships
   Collaboration must replace conflict.

4. Give Teachers Authority to Lead Classrooms
   Without fear of being disciplined for disciplining.

5. Support Teacher Mental Health
   Burnout should not be the norm.

6. Acknowledge That Schools Cannot Replace Parents
   Education is a shared responsibility — not a handover.

Final Word

Teachers are not leaving because they no longer care. They are leaving because they care too much, for too long, without support, respect, or balance.

If we do not fix this system — public and private — today’s learners will face tomorrow’s world without the guidance, structure, and discipline that previous generations benefited from.

The future depends on teachers. And right now, teachers need us to care as much about them as we expect them to care about our children.