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18 November 2005

Factsheet 1 : Average time educators spend on their various activities according to analysis of 3909 time-diaries

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
Press Release
  • Fewer hours are spend on school-related activities during and outside the formal school day in rural areas than in urban areas, ranging from an average of 38.3 hrs in rural areas to 41.5 hrs in semi-rural areas and 43.8 hrs in urban areas.
  • The average number of hours educators spend on all school-related activities across all school types is 41 hrs.
  • Educators in former white (HOA) schools reported spending more time on all their activities during and outside the formal school day than do educators in former African (DET), coloured (HOR) and Indian (HOD) secondary schools.
  • Educators within the 36-45 age group and below 26 yrs of age reported spending less time than those in other age groups on school-related activities.
  • Educators with fewer than 3 years’ experience reported spending least time on their activities.
  • More total time is spend on school-related activities by educators in schools smaller than 200 learners and less time is spent by educators in schools with more than 200 learners.
  • Educators in classes with over 50 learners spend noticeably less time on their activities than educators with fewer than 50 learners per class. Educators with more than 40 learners per class spend noticeably less time on their activities than educators with fewer than 40 learners in the class.
  • Educators with class sizes of 36-40 learners reported the highest total average time of 44.12 hrs spent per week in all activities while those in classes of 71-80 learners reported the least time at 37.33 hrs.
  • Social science educators report spending more total time on their activities than educators in other learning areas.
  • Heads of Department and School Principals report spending more time than ordinary educators and Deputy Principals on their various activities.
  • Educators with low qualifications (Matric or lower) report spending less time on their activities than those with higher qualification.
  • At weekends, the average time spent on school activities is slightly over three hours on Saturdays and just over two hours on Sundays.

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