### Teacher’s safety in South Africa: a crisis to face
In 2023, the alarm was fired by the branch of the Eastern Cape of the South African Democratic Teachers ’Union (Sadtu) after the tragic assassination of three educators, including a school director, in the Lusikisiki region. This shocking and devastating event raises crucial security questions in educational establishments and highlights a systemic background problem that strikes the school environment in South Africa.
From a recent study, revealing that almost half of the teachers plan to leave their profession in the next decade, deep causes of this discomfort, mainly linked to overwhelming workloads, excessive administrative tasks and threats of violence from students. This reality underlines how much teachers can feel overwhelmed, which harms their ability to effectively plan their lessons and interact significantly with their students.
The research entitled “Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction in South Africa”, led by the University of Stellenbosch, questioned more than 1,580 teachers, thus offering a precious overview of their daily experiences and the challenges they encounter. With 70 % of teachers identifying administrative tasks as their main source of stress, it is obvious that the bureaucratic burden encroaches on their educational mission. Heleen Hofmeyr, co-author of the report, evokes an urgent need to invest in the mental health and well-being of teachers, by asking the essential question: how to guarantee quality education without adequate support to those who teach it?
Another worrying aspect is the geographic disparity in terms of attractiveness of teaching positions. The provinces such as Western Cape and Gauteng are deemed desirable, while rural regions such as Limpopo and Eastern Cape are on the way to collecting aggravated shortages. This observation raises questions about equal access to quality education, while 40 % of teachers claim that no argument would be convincing enough to encourage them to occupy a position in a rural area, often perceived as less secure and poorly endowed with resources.
It is also crucial to note that the conditions of growing violence against teachers are often overlooked in public speech on education in South Africa. Siboniso McObothi, an education researcher in Stellenbosch, has documented cases in areas affected by poverty and crime, where teachers are often exposed to threats and acts of violence on the part of students, sometimes linked to gangs. Education should not be synonymous with risk for the life of teaching professionals.
Varied incidents of violence reported by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), ranging from physical assault to verbal abuse, reveal a deeply problematic climate that requires immediate attention. The lack of support from school departments in the face of these challenges further accentuates teachers’ vulnerability. This lack of protection can also induce a feeling of impunity among students, thus aggravating an already insidious cycle of violence in schools.
The observation of such degradation in the school climate is not isolated. The data from the Western Cape Department of Education report an increase in physical assault on educational staff. This phenomenon raises the need for intervention on several levels, ranging from improving school infrastructure to the implementation of psychosocial support programs for all stakeholders.
In this context, Sadtu’s call to create a police unit dedicated to school violence seems to be an appropriate answer but also arouses questions. Beyond repression, how can we also prevent these acts of violence? What are the support measures that we must prioritize to protect not only teachers, but also students, in order to build a healthy and safe educational environment?
The challenges encountered by teachers in South Africa are symptomatic of broader problems, such as unequal access to appropriate educational resources and adequate infrastructure. To ensure a safer and more equitable educational future, it seems imperative that decision -makers, unions and communities work together. By placing the well-being of teachers and students at the heart of the discussions, it is possible to consider solutions that tighten links between all the actors of education, while honoring the essential vocation of education.
As these challenges are discussed and solutions are developed, it is crucial to keep in mind that education, as the basis of a prosperous society, deserves to be protected and valued. Teachers, often looked at as pillars of the community, should be able to work in an environment that supports them, both professionally and personal. Today more than ever, a call for collective action is necessary to combat violence in schools and improve the working conditions of educators in order to guarantee an educational future for all students.