Lessons in not leaving: why we must rethink how we support teachers
While other countries have developed structured support systems for educators, South African teachers are too often left to sink or swim, says the writer.
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
The writing's not just on the wall but in the resignation letters, the absenteeism, and the exhausted faces in classrooms up and down the country. South Africa's education crisis continues to simmer with our teachers either burnt out, checking out, or, in many cases, walking out altogether.
Recent findings from Stellenbosch University's Research on Socio-Economic Policy Unit (ReSEP) confirm what many of us have long suspected. One in four newly qualified teachers leave the profession within three years, and nearly half of all teachers are considering leaving in the next decade. Those who leave do so not because they lack commitment or capability but because they're drowning in a system that offers too little support, too late.
We can't keep expecting teachers to be miracle workers in under-resourced environments and then blame them when those very miracles don't materialise.
At the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship, we work with Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) every day, providing one-on-one coaching, peer learning, and mental health support to teachers in quintile 1–3 schools, the very environments where the need is greatest and the burdens are heaviest.
Banele Lukhele
Image: Supplied
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Our internal data reveals a stark contrast to the national attrition rate, with 80% of our NQTs having committed to staying in the classroom for at least three to five more years. That's not a coincidence but the results of targeted, evidence-based and wraparound support.
Teacher stress is not a uniquely South African issue, but while other countries have developed structured support systems for educators, South African teachers are too often left to sink or swim. The weight teachers carry in South Africa, including violence, overcrowded classrooms, unrealistic admin loads and trauma-affected learners, is not new, but what is, is the sheer scale of the exodus.
Many feel isolated, silenced by hierarchy, and wholly unprepared for the psychological demands of the profession. It's not just a matter of equipping them with the right tools but about giving them the space and support to use them.
This is where coaching becomes not just helpful, but transformative. It offers NQTs a bridge between theory and full-time practice, helping them develop self-reflective and self-improving processes. Each teacher in our programme is paired with a veteran educator, someone who's walked the path and knows where the potholes are. These coaches help NQTs navigate lesson planning and classroom management, identity-building, and crucially, offer emotional regulation. I like to think of it as human, as opposed to professional development.
Coaching is content-agnostic and context-responsive, meaning it works across subjects, school phases, and geographies. This makes it one of the few scalable tools that both honours a teacher's individuality and supports systemic growth. It empowers teachers to contextualise their challenges and cultivate resilience, not in isolation, but with structured, compassionate guidance.
As a JGF NQT says, 'My first year of teaching did not go so well. If it weren't for my coach, I would have resigned by June.'
Beyond individual coaching, we foster professional learning communities and safe spaces where teachers can troubleshoot real-time challenges, share strategies, and lean on each other for strength. We've also partnered with Lyra Wellness to offer mental health support when teachers need more specialised care
But here's the truth, we can't do this alone.
Supporting our teachers must be a collaborative effort. Programme implementers like JGF can only succeed if school management teams (SMTs), parents, and policymakers are on board. SMTs must create school cultures that prioritise psychological safety, and parents must engage with teachers respectfully, acknowledging them as co-partners in education rather than customer service agents. District and provincial departments must invest in induction, mentorship, and wellness not as nice-to-haves but as non-negotiables.
Coaching is also a future-proofing investment. When today's NQTs eventually step into leadership roles or even start their own schools, they bring with them the modelling and methods of coaching. In this way, coaching becomes a generative cycle with those who receive support becoming the ones who provide it. This is how we shift from isolated interventions to embedded, systemic change.
It is time that we stop treating teacher burnout as a side effect and recognise it as an urgent threat to our education system and our country's future. If we keep losing teachers, we'll lose everything else too.
We often say the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, but that wisdom is meaningless if our policies and practices fail to protect those very teachers from systemic collapse. South Africa needs to move beyond the rhetoric and provide teachers with the support they need to remain where they matter the most, the classroom.
Wraparound support, especially coaching, isn't a luxury. It's a lifeline. If we don't act now, we'll lose not just a generation of teachers but the generations of learners who depend on them.
| Lukhele is CEO of the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship which aims to support and retain passionate young teachers by equipping them with coaching, community, and professional development to grow in South Africa's classrooms.
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