Teachers on the move : an analysis of the determinants of Zimbabwean teachers' immigration to South Africa

Abstract

The thesis aimed at explaining why some Zimbabwean teachers have migrated to South Africa while others have not despite experiencing the same economic and political crisis. The focus was on external secondary brain drain, which is the movement of human resources from one country to another within the Southern African Development Community region (SIRDIC, 2008). It was premised on the theoretical argument that uneven development in the SADC region sustains the movement of human resources from the poorer countries to the richer or ‘core’ countries in the region particularly South Africa. The thesis reviewed literature on the Zimbabwean crisis and conducted a quantitative field survey, which was supplemented by a qualitative aspect, in order to analyse the determinants of teacher migration to South Africa. The field survey involved the self-administration of questionnaires by 200 Zimbabwean teachers, half of them teaching in South Africa and the other half in Zimbabwe, as well as collected life stories from five migrant teachers, interviewed four school heads, and perused circulars. The research found that Zimbabwe’s reversed economic growth and social development constituted the background on which teacher migration occurred. This brain drain, which mainly involved highly qualified and specialised mathematics and science teachers, coincided with the peak of the Zimbabwean crisis around 2008 indicating its survival significance. Teacher migration continued after 2008 due networks and teachers’ salaries that remained inadequate as they were close to the poverty line. Several recommendations were made including strategies for reducing the brain drain.