Today's Labour News

Sunday Times reports that perks, good salaries and well-mannered pupils are among the reasons some South African teachers are choosing to take up jobs overseas.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), New Zealand, Australia, the UK, South Korea, China, Japan and Qatar are among the countries enticing local teachers. While there are no official figures on the number emigrating, an expert has warned that SA is losing some of its best young talent "at alarming rates". A first-year teacher with a four-year degree teaching at a government school locally earns R317,139 a year, while a teacher with two years’ experience earns R318,648. Schools in Abu Dhabi recently advertised posts for maths and art and design teachers with a tax-free salary of between R51,000 and R58,000. A private school in Australia, has advertised posts for SA teachers to teach English, maths, music, physical education and science. An annual salary of R1m is on offer to teachers with at least two years' teaching experience. Australia’s department of home affairs confirmed that 210 permanent visas were granted to South African teachers between July last year and June compared to 14 in the previous financial year. The Japanese embassy confirmed that 103 South African teachers were granted working visas to teach at government and private schools in 2021, and 152 in 2022. The Korean embassy granted foreign language instructor and teaching assistant visas to 420 South Africans in 2021, 1,263 last year and 992 so far this year. New Zealand and the UK are also enticing applicants with relocation grants of R113,000 and R239,000 respectively.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page