Latest news with #teacherburnout
The Herald
18-06-2025
- General
- The Herald
‘Teaching is breaking us': Eastern Cape's crisis a microcosm of national meltdown
When half of SA's teachers are ready to leave the profession, not because of unruly pupils but because of toxic work environments, you know the system is teetering on the edge. That's what a national study by Stellenbosch University recently revealed. It found that nearly 50% of teachers want to quit, citing stress, poor leadership and burnout, not discipline issues, as the final straw. But what the study does not capture is how this crisis hits harder and deeper in places like the Eastern Cape. In the under-resourced, overlooked schools of the Ngcobo education district, teachers aren't just 'thinking' about leaving. They're already disengaged, emotionally battered and on the brink of collapse. The reality? Children are being taught by professionals who barely hold it together, and no-one is coming to save them. The forgotten foot soldiers Teachers in this district are drowning in stress; silent, unseen casualties of a broken system. But here's the shocking part: most principals have no training or support to help them recognise or manage this burnout. That's not opinion; it's fact, backed by local research involving face-to-face interviews with teachers in five Ngcobo primary schools. Teachers report being emotionally exhausted, unsupported and repeatedly exposed to unresolved conflicts, unfair workloads and dysfunctional leadership. One respondent put it bluntly: 'Some principals don't know how to handle school conflict. There are no structures placed to look after us.' In other words, teachers are suffering in silence while school leaders, many themselves overwhelmed and ill-equipped, turn a blind eye. It starts in grade R and ends in crisis Let's not forget: these aren't high schools. These are primary schools where children are forming foundational skills in reading, maths and emotional development. But when the teacher in front of them is burnt out, angry and absent, what kind of foundation are we laying? Imagine a grade 2 child trying to learn to read from a teacher battling anxiety and depression, someone who hasn't received psychological support in years. That child does not stand a chance. And yet, there are no psychologists, no social workers, and no systemic support for rural teachers. It's a powder keg, and it's already exploding. No systems, no training, no hope According to Voyiya's research, most principals in Ngcobo have no formal systems to identify teachers in distress. They aren't trained to intervene. They don't get the support needed to build a healthy school climate. The result? Dysfunction, absenteeism, incomplete syllabi and plummeting morale. Contrast that with the national picture from Stellenbosch University: teachers across the country are desperate for change. But in rural Eastern Cape schools, the desperation has metastasised into resignation, both literal and emotional. The phrase 'chronic stress' appears in textbooks. But in Ngcobo, it's playing out in real-time, every school day. A failure of leadership and policy Why is it that, in 2025, with all our talk of 'transforming basic education,' there is still no national mandate to train principals in psychosocial leadership? Why is rural Eastern Cape still treated as a footnote in the education conversation, when it's arguably the front line? We need to reframe principals not just as administrators, but as human resource managers, emotional first responders and mental wellness advocates. Until we do, nothing changes. The department of basic education must introduce mandatory psychological wellness training, support systems for school leaders, and place social workers in every school. Anything less is a betrayal. When the teachers break, the system crumbles SA doesn't have a learning problem. It has a leadership problem. It has a support problem. It has a justice problem. If the national government truly cares about learning outcomes, it must stop obsessing over test scores and start caring about the people delivering the curriculum. Teachers aren't robots, they are humans facing immense emotional strain, especially in rural provinces like the Eastern Cape. So here's the hard truth: if we don't address teacher stress with urgency, our children will be taught by ghosts, people present in body but long gone in spirit. And that, more than anything, should terrify us. Dr Mzoli Osborn Voyiya is a school principal and graduated with a PhD in Education Management at Walter Sisulu University, supervised by Prof Sanjay Balkaran. His research focused on teacher wellbeing, rural school leadership and systemic support in under-resourced education districts. This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
With teachers leaving the classroom due to financial stress, SchoolsFirst FCU prioritizes teacher wellbeing
SACRAMENTO — The week of May 5 marks Teacher Appreciation Week, and while you grab a Starbucks gift card or offer a "thank you" to the educators in your life, new data shows teachers are leaving the classroom at a high rate due to financial stress. "Teaching is not the kind of job where it's over when the bell rings, because teaching is not what you do. It's who we are," said Lori Osborne, a sixth-grade teacher at Zehnder Ranch Elementary in Elk Grove. Osborne is Elk Grove Unified's 2025 district teacher of the year. "It just came naturally," she said of teaching. It's now her 28th year in the classroom. The kids keep her going. After all, the day-to-day is not easy, and educators wear a lot of hats. "I know it's been five years, but especially coming out of COVID, we really became all those things -- the teacher, the social worker, sometimes the parent. That does weigh on you," Osborne said. "Teacher burnout is a real thing." A California Teachers Association report from January 2025 found that 40% of teachers in the state are leaving the profession due to financial stress. Further, more than 90% are spending their own money on their students' needs, while 81% cannot keep up with the rising cost of groceries, housing and childcare. "It's a sobering statistic. It does make us realize at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union just how critical our mission is. In some ways, it empowers us to fill that gap," said Josh Smith with SchoolsFirst FCU. CBS13 asked SchoolsFirst FCU, the largest credit union in California: What's their mission? After all, they only serve educators and their families. "Because their lives are unique, their needs are unique and we are focused on serving those," said Smith. "The fact is, it's never been harder to work in education than today." The credit union offers a range of programs to help teachers financially, like offering no-interest loans and grants for needed classroom supplies and helping teachers plan for the summer months' pay gap. "I preach SchoolsFirst from the rooftop for everything they've done for us. I tell everyone they need to be a member of SchoolsFirst if they are a member of the educational system," said Mary Gatejen, a retired teacher. Gatejen was a teacher for 36 years in Sacramento and Elk Grove. She says SchoolsFirst has put her first for decades. "It made a huge difference. I didn't have to panic in the summer, and I didn't have to worry that our rent was going to get paid or the bills get paid," Gatejen said. The California Teachers Association also found that 84% of teachers cannot afford to live near the schools where they work. While it has not been Osborne's experience in Elk Grove, she says her teacher friends in the Bay Area are experiencing that struggle. "Unfortunately, I've heard of teachers living in their cars. I've heard of teachers that lived so far out, the commute was so long, it wasn't worth the drive," Osborne said. As a first-time homebuyer at 28, Osborne got a home with no down payment thanks to SchoolsFirst. Today, the credit union is working to fill the housing gap, offering home loans for teachers with a down payment as low as 5% and no private mortgage insurance. "It's important because we need dedicated teachers. And it's not that people don't want to be dedicated, they can't afford to be dedicated, or they are working two and three jobs, working through the summer. It hurts the kids because kids need consistency," Gatejen said. It's shining a light on supporting educators as they support students -- which protects the future of California classrooms. "You can feel it when the kids get it. It's so rewarding. It's worth all the hard days when they get it," said Osborne, about why she loves teaching students. For more information on SchoolsFirst FCU and its programs for teachers, visit their website.
