The DBE hosted a two-day New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP) workshop and Steering Committee meeting at the Birchwood OR Tambo Hotel from 30 to 31 March 2026, bringing together key stakeholders from across the education sector. These included the DBE, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), the South African Council for Educators (SACE), VVOB, JET Education Services, Provincial Education Departments, teacher unions, universities, non-governmental organisations, and school-level representatives.
The workshop formed part of the national process to review and strengthen the NTIP programme material, framework and online activities with the view to draft policy on NTIP with theory of change, reviewed learning materials and new online content that will be on the Teacher Development Moodle platform. This work is done with VVOB as the funder and partner to better support newly qualified teachers as they transition from university into the real-life context of teaching.
Opening the engagement, Ms Lala Maje, Director for Initial Teacher Education, emphasised the programme’s core purpose, noting that “the programme is positioned to assist teachers to transition from theory received from universities to a real-life practical work situations to be able to manage the realities of schooling.” Her remarks reaffirmed NTIP’s role as a structured bridge between academic preparation and the professional demands of the real-life work environment.
The first day focused on stakeholder roundtable discussions and commission work, where participants generated recommendations on strengthening stakeholder buy-in and communication, aligning NTIP with the broader teacher development ecosystem, and refining learning materials to better reflect the workplace realities of new teachers.
On the second day, the Steering Committee, comprising of representatives from the DBE, DHET, SACE, VVOB, and JET Education Services, consolidated recommendations for further action on policy drafting, revision of materials, and the phased migration of improved content to the Moodle platform. A key outcome of the workshop was the strong sector-wide ownership of the review process, with inputs from provinces, teacher unions, universities, NGOs, and professional bodies directly shaping the next phase of the project. These contributions will inform the revised policy framework, implementation plan, and enhanced learning materials.
The next steps include online stakeholder engagements during April, expert review and development of material and a national stakeholder consultation in May 2026, where the draft NTIP policy will be presented for broader validation. The workshop marked an important milestone in the DBE’s efforts to institutionalise a coherent, standardised-based new Teacher Induction Programme across all nine provinces, strengthening teacher agency.