Half of South Africa’s teachers will retire by 2030

South Africa is losing thousands of teachers each year due to resignations, retirements and dismissals, with research warning that nearly half of the public school teaching workforce will retire by 2030.

Over the past five years, approximately 32,000 educators have left South Africa’s public schooling system, an average of about 6,400 teachers a year, placing increasing pressure on an already strained sector.

Responding to a parliamentary question, Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube said that of the 32,000 departures, 20,992 were resignations, pointing to high levels of dissatisfaction within the profession.

The impact is already evident in overcrowded classrooms. Analysis shows that the percentage of Grade 5 pupils in classes of more than 50 learners more than doubled from 16% to 34% between 2015 and 2019.

However, as large numbers of teachers approach retirement, those who have not yet reached retirement age are also leaving due to worsening classroom conditions, explained education researcher Bongiwe Mzobe.

In an interview with Radio 702, Mzobe said that “classrooms are overcrowded. We have 50 to 60 learners in one class.”

The looming retirement wave is expected to further exacerbate the crisis. Researchers from Stellenbosch University’s Teacher Demographic Dividend Project found that 48% of public school teachers will retire between 2020 and 2030.

“Half of South African publicly-employed teachers are aged 50+,” the researchers said. “Teachers can retire from age 55 and, in most circumstances, have to retire by age 60.”

“A large retirement wave is inevitable,” they said. They added that there is no doubt this wave will place incredible pressure on an already constrained public schooling system.

“To replace the retiring teachers and maintain a stable student-to-teacher ratio, the number of graduating teachers per year will need to double, from 30,540 as recorded in 2020, to 59,034 by 2030,” the researchers said.

They added that the retirement wave will accelerate the already-rapid increase in class sizes.

Teachers overworked and underpaid

Teachers overworked and underpaid

Mzobe said overcrowding is compounded by poor remuneration and negative treatment by parents, contributing to growing dissatisfaction among educators.

According to a 2024 Stellenbosch University study titled Teacher preferences and job satisfaction in South Africa, around half of the teaching workforce reported dissatisfaction serious enough to consider leaving the profession before 2035.

“While it is unlikely that so many teachers will leave the profession, given job market constraints,” the researchers said, “this does indicate the level of dissatisfaction in the industry.”

Teachers responding to the survey cited workload as the leading reason for wanting to leave, with 35% reporting that they were overworked. This was followed closely by remuneration, with 34% saying they were not earning enough.

Build One South Africa spokesperson Roger Solomons, whose party submitted the parliamentary question on teacher shortages, said that “burnout, lack of professional support, and deteriorating working conditions are pushing educators out of the system faster than they can be replaced.”