SWIPE TO MAKE AN IMPACT
Celebrating and supporting the Teaching profession
MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet is committed to supporting the teaching profession in South Africa.
On October 5, 2023, South Africa joined the world in celebrating World Teachers’ Day. This day is an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the dedicated and hardworking teachers who educate our young people. It is also a time to reflect on the importance of the teaching profession and to work to attract and retain more qualified teachers.
South Africa faces a shortage of teachers. The Centre for Development and Enterprise predicts that South Africa will need 456 000 teachers by 2025 to offer quality education. The Department of Basic Education reports that there are currently 410 000 teachers in the public education system. This gap is not insurmountable, but it is important to address it now.
One of the challenges is that the average age of the South African teacher is 43 years old, and 32% of teachers are aged 50 and above. This means that almost half of the current teaching workforce will have to be replaced in the next decade. Add to this the fact that 18 000 – 22 000 teachers leave the profession each year, and the gap between supply and demand is heightened.
Another challenge is that there is an oversupply of teachers in certain subjects, but a demonstrable lack of qualified candidates in essential STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) and the Foundation Phase.
MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet is helping to support the teaching profession in South Africa through our Thuso Fund, our partnership with Impande, and our Dream2Teach Scholarship Fund.
The Thuso Fund is a social investment fund that supports credible charities and schools in South Africa. It is funded by MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet supporters, who donate a percentage of their everyday spending to a beneficiary of their choice. The Thuso Fund supports projects that align with its five focus areas, one of which is education.
The Dream2Teach Scholarship Fund gives students the chance to reach their teaching dreams, while also fighting youth unemployment. The program offers bursaries, placement at recognised educational institutions, a peer-support network, mentoring & coaching, and internship opportunities to top schools for work experience.
Impande’s mission is to catalyse investment in community driven, quality Early Childhood Development (ECD). They want to see a fair start in life for children aged 0-5 years in marginalised communities. MySchool supplied funding for a special project in 2023 which saw 190 children and 30 female ECD practitioners directly benefit from improved access to safe and stimulating early learning and teaching spaces. Focussing on providing infrastructure support to ECD centres to targeted areas in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, funding from supporters’ card swipes also helped Impande in continuing to offer monthly learning groups for over 900 teachers to improve ECD program implementation.
MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet is committed to supporting the teaching profession in South Africa. The organization believes that all children deserve access to a quality education, and that teachers play a vital role in making this happen.
We thank all of the teachers who are working hard to educate our young people. We also encourage everyone to consider a career in teaching. Teaching is a rewarding profession that makes a real difference in the lives of children.
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