As South African schools face the pressures of a rapidly evolving education system, teacher mental health—particularly in lower quintile schools plagued by overcrowding, poor infrastructure, and limited support—has reached critical levels. Supporting their wellbeing is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
This according to the Jake Gerwel Fellowship (JGF), a not-for profit organisation that offers professional induction and psychological support to Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT) who work predominantly in underprivileged schools.
“Teacher stress is a global issue, but while many countries have implemented structured support systems to help educators cope, this safety net is virtually non-existent in South Africa, leaving educators to sink or swim on their own. The result? Exhaustion, frustration, and alarming levels of burnout,” says Banele Lukhele, CEO at JGF.
“You get thrown into the deep end with no support. I love teaching—but when things go wrong, teachers are the first to be blamed and the last to be helped,” says one teacher at a Quintile 1 school in the Western Cape, echoing the reality faced by many educators across the country.
A 2023 study revealed that a staggering 70% of South African teachers experience high levels of stress, with burnout especially prevalent in poorer schools. In fact, 25% of teachers in South Africa report experiencing job-related stress a lot,’ - far higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 18%.
When teachers are buckling under pressure, it’s not just their health that suffers; it directly impacts students’ learning outcomes. Overwhelmed teachers struggle to engage learners, classroom morale plummets, and the entire education ecosystem starts to collapse.
“For most educators, the transition from university to the classroom is tough, with teacher training programmes equipping educators with the theory but often falling short on preparing them for the psychological demands of the job,” says Lukhele. “The mental and emotional strain can be overwhelming—especially in lower quintile schools where support is scarce.”
Red flags, not red pens
All teachers, not just NQTs, report feelings of isolation and anxiety. Veteran educators in high-pressure, low-resource schools are also burning out, often becoming too overwhelmed to offer mentorship or embrace change.
This is where intervention is becoming critical.
“With the generous support of our funding partners and donors, we’ve been able to build a support model that encompasses both the hands-on mentoring and training that NQTs need, through pairing teachers with coaches, as well as providing psychological and counselling support through one of our partners, the Lyra Wellness platform,” says Lukhele.
JGF also facilitates Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), where teachers can collaborate and share best practices to manage the emotional toll of teaching. “Community is everything,” adds Lukhele.
“Teachers need to know they’re not alone. That sense of solidarity can be a lifeline.”
But the responsibility to improve mental health in teaching doesn’t lie with teachers alone. For meaningful change to happen, schools and policymakers must prioritise teacher well-being.
This includes reducing class sizes, hiring teaching assistants, ensuring safer working conditions, and allocating proper funding for induction and mental health support, which are essential for easing the transition into teaching.
The saying the quality of an educational system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers,’ has never been more relevant. We can’t expect quality learning in classrooms where teachers are barely coping.
As robotics and artificial intelligence become more integrated into the classroom, the pressure on teachers to keep up with new technologies will only add to their stress and workload.
“The quality of South Africa’s education system hinges on the well-being, support, and preparedness of its teachers. If we want our educators to thrive and our learners to succeed, we need to make structural changes.
“It’s time to treat teacher burnout for what it is: an urgent threat to our future—and a call to action we can no longer ignore,” concludes Lukhele.
