The DBE’s Initial Teacher Education Directorate, in partnership with the Flemish Association for Development Corporation and Technical Assistance (VVOB), held a two-day roundtable on the New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP) at Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg in the Gauteng Province from 7 to 8 March 2023. This is a national programme intended at supporting new teachers who are placed in schools within their first two years of permanent employment.
The purpose of the roundtable was to review the NTIP materials for both digital and print, as well as programme support systems for monitoring and reporting. The induction programme includes the initial orientation of a new teacher where school ethics, rules, culture and school policies are explained; furthermore, the induction process involves a new teacher being paired with a trained mentor in their school and supported throughout the first two years of work.
Since its inception in 2017, the partnership between the DBE and VVOB has enabled the development of material and programmes which led to the pilot. The partnership continues to support various provinces in the implementation of the NTIP. The Department has also worked with PEDs and partnered with the South African Council for Educators (SACE), JET Education Services, the North-West University (NWU) and the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) to develop the induction programme for all new teachers that join the teaching profession. The partnership with VVOB led to the pilot of the NTIP in 2020 whereby three provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and the North-West participated with selected schools. A field-test was done by Benita Williams Evaluations and the results were released in 2022, hence the roundtable was necessitated.
The roundtable of 112 stakeholders participated in commissions to engage on modalities for monitoring and support at all levels; modalities for reports for the programme and teachers’ personal professional development; and the analysis and assessment of NTI materials.
DBE’s Acting Chief Director for Education Human Resource Development, Ms Lala Maje said, “Government and other funders invest in educating students to become teachers through qualifications offered in Higher Education Institutions, with some of the teacher graduates entering the Education Sector as newly qualified teachers and exiting within two years, or some even during the same year of entry. The induction of new teachers is necessary to ensure that new teachers are supported in their roles as qualified teachers, to ensure that the they are supported as they navigate the complexities of their new context in the schools they are placed in, and also to impact positively on learning and learning outcomes. The DBE will be phasing-in NTI in four provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, the North-West, Free State and the Western Cape. In the remaining PEDs, the Department will support preparations for implementation in 2023, by driving advocacy of the programme, assist the provinces in planning, gathering data and putting systems in place for implementation of the programme”.
Mr Gerrit Coetzee, VVOB representative, acknowledged the support of stakeholders in the inception during 2017 until the pilot stage in 2020. He singled out every stakeholder who has played a major role in the NTIP: “The material developed by VVOB is available for the DBE, and provinces may also use these as VVOB offers the material without any conditions, meaning reviewing and adapting them is allowed”.