The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) has slammed the Department of Basic Education (DBE) after they announced reduced funding for the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme. This could hurt the number of teaching graduates produced every year.
The Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme encourages teaching as a profession to young people by offering comprehensive bursaries to individuals pursuing teaching qualifications.
The funding provided by Funza covers Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) courses at all 26 public universities in South Africa.
Another crucial aspect of the Funza Lushaka bursary is that it encourages students to specialise in critical areas of specialisation where there are not enough teachers. However, National Treasury budget cuts led the DBE to cut the amount of Funza Lushaka bursaries it will award to students by approximately 2 000 bursaries.
DBE Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga says this was necessary to manage the budget cuts imposed by the National Treasury. In addition to this, the increase in the cost of university tuition also contributed to the reduction in bursaries available to students wanting to study teaching.
NAPTOSA Executive Director Basil Manuel argues that while South Africa may produce enough teachers overall, there is a mismatch between what teachers are being produced and what teachers are needed. They explain that there is a shortage of foundation phase teachers (Grades 1 to 3).
We have a lot of teachers trained for other phases that are finding themselves in the foundation phase now this is not always a major problem but it does begin as a problem because the people are not trained for that take reading for example not every teacher can teach reading it's a very specialised area.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 report indicated that 78% of Grade 4 learners could not read for understanding in any language.
Manuel argues that if teachers are not adequately trained to teach in the foundation phase where children learn to read, these figures will not be reduced.
As the the name suggests the foundation of learning and if we don't get it right there simply because the teacher can't teach uh reading or he's battling with being in the foundation phase obviously the children will suffer from it.
Mhlanga acknowledges the need for teachers in the foundation phase. They explain that the department will prioritise funding to produce teachers where they are required. This includes the foundation phase, Mathematics and teachers specialising in mother-tongue teaching.
NAPTOSA has expressed concern that there aren't enough teachers qualified in the foundation phase let alone those qualified to teach in these mother-tongue languages. To teach effectively in the mother tongue of learners, teachers themselves will need to be able to speak these languages.
"If we are not training foundation phase teachers, how in heaven's name will we be training vernacular foundation phase teachers."
