Examining the reasons behind teachers leaving the profession : a case study of Umlazi Education District

Abstract

In the uMlazi Education District, there has been a surge of teachers leaving the teaching profession for various reasons. Statistics have revealed that since 2012,the uMlazi Education District has lost 1116 teachers and the number is still rising as eachers are constantly not being replaced by the uMlazi Educational District. It is against this backdrop that this study was conductedin order to analyse the causes of teachers leaving the profession, specifically in the uMlazi Education District. A qualitative study was conducted to probe the target audience’s inner emotions and perceptions about the reasons propelling teachers to leave the profession. In this regard, interviews were conducted with the teachers to ascertain their feelings and emotions. The target population for this study was all the ex-teachers who have quit or left the teaching profession in the uMLaziEducation District. A sample size of 10 former teachers was used. Data collected from the interviews were analysed using thematic and content analyses. The findings of this study show that the factors that cause teachers to abandon the profession are multidimensional,namelyphysical, social and psychological factors. It was also found that mentorship, professional development, good remuneration in the form of salaries, a sizeable workload and recognition could be used to motivate teachers and ensure job satisfaction and staff retention. In this regard, a staff retention model for teachers was developed as a framework that will guide education managers to address the problems confronting the uMlaziEducation District. Several recommendations have been provided to assist the ministry of education, education managers, scholars and policy-makers to improve the welfare of teachers, as well as to appreciate the bottlenecks crippling the education sector.