The correlation between educator turnover and the promotion of efficient management in public schools in Soweto South Africa

Abstract

Over three decades, the conditions under which teachers work have always been short of lending themselves to high quality education. Most of the present teachers in the townships do not have high quality education because the government at that time allocated minimal funds for the education of Black people. When the democratically elected government came to power in 1994 it was determined to make education offered to its citizens, equal. A new curriculum was introduced that will teach learners to apply their minds in a way that will equip them with life-skills. More funds were allocated to the previously disadvantaged schools. Then there were reports that the minister is concerned about the number of teachers who are leaving the profession and the small number of young people who are attracted to the profession; and that is what triggered this research. The research analyse the correlation between educator-turnover and the promotion of efficient management in public schools in Soweto, South Africa. From the survey conducted in the schools that participated in the research, there was evidence that the majority of teachers chose the profession because they loved it and because they felt they were making a contribution to the society. The results of the research also revealed the average number of teachers who resign per year is very low but many teachers left the profession when the government gave teachers options to take `packages’ and leave the profession forever. The concluded that the reason so many teachers are unhappy, is poor management. The researcher recommends that the South Africa government organise training programmes for managers of schools. There should be continuous and effective development of school managers and that the present programmes should be investigated as to their relevance and effectiveness.