- Title
- Teacher absenteeism in schools within the Ekurhuleni South District Education Department
- Creator
- Mthombeni, Justice S.
- Subject
- Absenteeism (Labor), Teachers - Legal status, Teacher absenteeism, Education law and legislation, Ekurhuleni (South Africa)
- Date
- 2012-08-02
- Type
- Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier
- uj:8929
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5401
- Description
- M.Phil., The objective of this research study was to investigate the underlying causes of teacher absenteeism. A sample of fifteen [15] schools in the Ekurhuleni South District Office of the Gauteng Department of Education were used in the investigation. The investigation was motivated by an analysis of recent statistics of teacher absenteeism. This analysis suggests the abuse of the various leave privileges provided for in the conditions of employment of teachers. These conditions were negotiated between the Department of Education and the teachers’ representative trade unions, and are supported by the minimum provisions with regard to leave contained in labour legislation but exceed, the requirements set out by the said provisions. This apparent abuse of the various leave privileges, albeit authorised, seems to be exacerbated by the unacceptably high incidence of unauthorised absenteeism by teachers. This includes tardiness in respect of work hours, a high incidence of generally poor time keeping, early departures from (work) school premises and absenteeism during working (school) hours. Another finding was that teachers neglect core work activities such as teaching, in order to attend to, inter alia, personal matters, as well as, other authorised activities like trade union meetings. The aforementioned trends in absenteeism are explained by teachers who give ‘reasons’ for their absence or who rely on the fact that the negotiated conditions of service give them the ‘right’ to make use of all the leave privileges. The reasons given by teachers to justify their absenteeism include, inter alia: (a) a complete lack of, or non-functionality of, public transport to and from their place of work, (b) the geographic distance between their places of residence and work, (c) the lack of or absence of service facilities such as clinics, (d) stress, (e) depression, (f) an excessive work load, (g) a lack of motivation, (h) a low morale, (i) poverty, (j) alcoholism, (k) criminality, and (l) extramural activities. Many of the reasons given by teachers for absenteeism are in fact reflective of the negative attitude present in many teachers and demonstrate perceptions of a lack of development and professional opportunities within the teaching profession. The so-called “abuse” of privileges that is perpetrated under the pretext of the teachers exercising their ‘rights’ is characterised as such because the teachers exhaust all the leave provisions irrespective of there being actual cause/justifiable reason for them to do so. This trend towards excessive and unjustified absenteeism, both authorised and unauthorised, has indisputably had a negative impact on the delivery of quality education. This underlies the well-documented phenomenon of school-level learner under-performance, and consequential functional illiteracy manifested in many learners. The manifestations of teacher absenteeism, learner under-performance and poor quality education are clearly closely interrelated, and are recognised as key factors that have contributed to a crisis of epidemic proportions in education. The investigation was carried out by means of a quantitative analysis of nominal data solicited from a sample of teachers, principals, and officials from the district office. The data was solicited from the sample of respondents by means of a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The data that was collected was analysed by means of various inferential statistical methodologies after an analysis of the descriptive statistics in the form of frequency tables. The analysis evaluated the significance of the findings. The envisaged value of the research investigation is perceived to lie in the probability that, a proper understanding of the underlying causes and dynamics of the unacceptable trend toward absenteeism will facilitate the development of policy, as well as the management of teacher absenteeism. The presumption on which the investigation is based, is that if suitable policy is developed that will obviate the underlying causes, and absenteeism is properly managed, both at the school level by the principals of the schools and also at the district level by the relevant officials, the quality of education delivered to learners at school will improve, which it is presumed will result in improved learner performance, which in turn will result in substantial benefits to South Africa in terms of educational outcomes, increase of the knowledge and skills base and increased competencies that will enhance economic performance.
- Contributor
- Prof. D. de Villiers
- Full Text
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