There is a possibility that the country could suffer a shortage of teachers who are tasked with teaching in African languages. This is a sentiment that was expressed during a debate among members of Universities South Africa’s Community of Practice for the Teaching and Learning of African Languages (CoPAL)
The group, which is composed of various intellectuals from some of the country’s top ranking universities, stated this during its third meeting for 2022 on Wednesday 22 June 2022.
CoPAL voiced its concerns about entrance standards, the quality of programme options offered by various learning institutions in South Africa, as well as current conceptions of studying African languages as a separate academic field.
During the debate, Professor of African Languages at Stellenbosch University, Mbulungeni Madiba told CoPAL members that the need for teachers of African Languages would likely be even greater if the country’s universities were required to double teacher production to keep up and meet a rise in teacher demand by 2030.
In addition to this, according to the findings of a 2020 Demand and Supply of Teachers Study for South Africa, from the present annual production of 25 000 to around 50 000 by 2030, there would be a doubling in demand for teacher graduates.
Furthermore, the study also found that the rising demand for teachers will temporarily grow less in scope or intensity for ten years, adding that the capacity might need to be downscaled to avoid instability in the system.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) commissioned the Demand and Supply of Teachers Study for South Africa in 2020 to look into the history, present, and future supply and demand of teachers in South Africa and to consider appropriate policy responses to the situation.
