One of the greatest challenges facing the South African education system is the production
of sufficient competent teachers, who can provide quality teaching for all school subjects
and phases. Whether South Africa is able to meet this critical challenge is a question that has
motivated the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) to undertake research
on teacher supply and demand. A 2011 CDE report indicated that South Africa was
producing only a third of the country’s requirement of some 25,000 new teachers a year,
and particularly too few in key subjects such as mathematics, science, commerce and
technology. This report seeks to address the key question: “Will South Africa be able to produce enough qualified competent teachers for all school phases and subjects over the next ten years?”
To answer this question, this report covers the following areas:
• Government strategy for improving the quantity and quality of ITE provision;
• The demand for teachers in the schooling system;
• The supply of new qualified teachers;
• The size and profile of the current teaching corps;
• The movement of teachers in and out of the schooling system; and
• Matching teacher supply and demand.
