Abstract:

Shortage of mathematics teachers in South African schools is becoming an alarming issue. As the shortage of mathematics teachers persists some schools have devised strategies to deal with the problem at hand without waiting for the Department of Education to remedy the problem. This study sought to explore how some of the South African school manage to offer Mathematics in the light of the shortage of Mathematics teachers. The study was guided by the interpretive paradigm and adopted a qualitative approach in form of a case study design. Qualitative data were generated from semi-structured interviews which two randomly selected school principals were engaged in. Natural Meaning Units (NMUs) were used to analyse data from semi-structured interviews. Howie’s (2002) model on school effectiveness informed and aligns with the study as it emphases factors related to mathematics achievement.

The findings revealed that some schools remedy the mathematics teachers’ shortage situation by:
(i) hiring mathematics tutors,
(ii) continuous monitoring of the attendance of learners during winter, spring, and Easter programmes offered by the Department of Education,
(iii) provision of enough resources,
(iv) inviting mathematics veteran teachers, and
(v) letting learners watch mathematics satellite teaching programmes.

Therefore, the study recommends the following:
(i) the Department of Basic Education (DBE) strengthens hiring practices by allowing schools to hire educators as early as possible to ensure that learners are not left unattended
(ii) introduce intensive part time classes where schools will be combined and expert teachers in mathematics are hired to offer lessons
(iii) invitation of veteran teachers to do extra weekend classes in mathematics and
(iv) intensely engage learners to satellite mathematics teaching sessions.

Keywords:

Mathematics, school, shortage, teachers, programmes.