Management of teacher absenteeism in Soweto township schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how School Management Teams (SMTs) manage teacher absenteeism in Soweto township schools. Two schools from Soweto township in the Johannesburg North District were sampled to participate in this study. Fayol management theory was used as the theorical framework underpinning this study. This is a qualitative study which is grounded in an interpretivist paradigm and the design is case study. Data were generated using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Two principals and six departmental heads (who are the SMTs managing teacher absenteeism) and four teachers were interviewed. Documents like timebooks, teacher attendance policies, substitute timetables and book control tools were analysed to generate data. The findings of this study revealed that the common factors that contribute to teacher absenteeism in Soweto township schools were ill-health or taking care of sick family members, bereavement, unjustified reasons, leave entitlement, poor work ethics, poor human relations, stress related to working conditions, poor management of teacher absenteeism, service delivery strikes and the attendance of teacher professional development workshops. This study also found that managing teacher absenteeism is a daunting task owing to the obstacles such as non-submission of medical certificate as well as unclear policies and legislations that give teachers rights to be absent. The consequences of teacher absenteeism were backlog on curriculum coverage which leads to learners’ underperformance and ill-discipline of learners. The study established the strategies that the SMTs use to reduce teacher absenteeism in Soweto township schools include the use of policies and circulars provided by the Department of Education as a point of reference, the use of tools like timebooks and ATPs and teacher motivation. From the findings of this study, I recommend that further research be conducted with the teachers as the main participants to explore their personal reasons for being absent from school and a large-scale study using quantitative research approach be carried out to provide findings that are applicable to a larger population.