Publisher's Synopsis
Education is an essential ingredient of the socio-economic development of any country, and educators are a vital part of any nation's educational system. If educators are sick, or absent from school, or leave the profession, the nation stands to lose. Yet the health status of our educators may go unknown. Prior to this report, there were no primary level South African national data assessing the ill-health and attrition of educators. Rumours about their ill-health and attrition of abounded. It is for this reason that the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) decided to commission the Human Sciences Research Council-led consortium to conduct this nation-wide research assessing the health status and attrition of our educators, with a focus on HIV/AIDS and its determinants. The evidence presented in this report shows that the health of our educators is a source of great concern because the prevalence of HIV is high. The determinants are multiple: behavioural, HIV/AIDS knowledge deficit, lack of self-efficacy skills, migratory practises, gender, and alcohol misuse. Chronic conditions such as hypertension, stomach ulcers, arthritis and diabetes are common. The report also shows that our country is likely to lose a very high proportion of educators due to job dissatisfaction, job stress and low morale. Much needs to be done to improve the health status and the working conditions of our educators. The ELRC, which comprises the employer and the labour organisations, is best suited to facilitate the two parties jointly addressing the recommendations of this study.
