“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.”
~ Nelson Mandela

Status of Newly Qualified Teachers in South Africa, 2025

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by

Alison Papenfus

Graduates who have a B Ed, or a B degree and PGCE are fully qualified to teach in a school anywhere in South Africa. Unfortunately staff cuts in State Schools and a tendency by teachers to hang on to teaching jobs means that currently there are insufficient vacancies for all the graduates that the universities have produced.

In Gauteng the Department of Education (GDE) has an on-line directory of all unemployed teachers who have registered with the GDE, and they insist that all appointments of teachers into their school should be done from that list. So here is our advice to newly qualified teachers who are seeking employment.

  1. Take all your degree certificates, SACE registration and Police Clearance, and go to the nearest office of the GDE
  2. Register as an unemployed teacher
  3. Go back a week later and make sure your name is on the list – with the correct phone number!
  4. Once you are SURE you are on the list, make a few copies of your smart (yes, really smart!) CV, and go around schools in your area where you would like to teach.
  5. Explain to the secretary that you are on the GDE list, and ask for an appointment to see the Principal. If they say they don’t have any vacancies – don’t leave your CV, they are not supposed to keep it. Contact them in 30 days to see if anything has changed.

Job hunting takes time and will cost a bit of money. But if you are prepared to do some walking it doesn’t have to cost that much. Remember – it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil! Keep asking, someone will give you an interview.

Remember – it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil! Keep asking, someone will give you an interview.

Research into teachers careers indicates that newly qualified teachers who stay two years at the same school in their first job are more likely to make a career in teaching, and more likely to be promoted later. So once you have that first job hang in there! Learn everything you can, take all the advise that is offered, and grow into the outstanding teacher you intended to be when you started your studies!