Sadtu’s top five reasons for teachers calling it quits

Teaching is not an easy profession‚ and dealing with troublesome pupils adds to a teacher’s day-to-day stress.

While some instances of teachers being attacked by learners in classes have surfaced recently‚ the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said teachers often do not report abuse.

“What we know is that incidents happen but are under- or poorly reported because teachers are ashamed and there is fear‚” the union explained.

“We would like to see more counselling and psychological services being provided to schools so that both teachers and learners are able to cope better.”

According to Sadtu‚ the top five reasons teacher quit their jobs are.

• Low salaries
• Lack of support from the department in terms of providing counselling services‚ which leads to depression
• Depression‚ which erodes the professionalism of the teacher.
• Abuse‚ which affects self-esteem of the teacher.
• The status‚ or lack thereof‚ afforded to the profession. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital