Sowetan reports that South African teachers spend less time on actual teaching and learning compared to their counterparts in countries such as Portugal and Sweden.  

This was indicated in the 2018 report of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis), which was released by basic education minister Angie Motshekga on Tuesday.  According to the report, during a typical lesson teachers spent 66% on classroom teaching, which was lower than in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD) and partner countries, which had an average of 78%.  Motshekga said SA teachers were spending more time on disciplinary problems, among other matters.  “Another thing is that we have to fast track our programme on teacher laptops as teachers are still doing their jobs manually and have to keep records of the children as compared to countries were teachers are recording on ICT,” Motshekga indicated.  Among all countries and economies participating in Talis, SA was the country where school safety incidents occurred most frequently and in several different forms.  “We have a responsibility as an education department to support our learners and teach them about social behaviour,” Motshekga pointed out.

• Read the full original of Yoliswa Sobuwa’s report in the above regard on page 7 of Sowetan of 3 July 2019

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