DBE New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP) for South Africans

DBE New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP) for South Africans

Lala Maje, the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) acting chief director of education human resource development, claims that newly qualified teachers are ill-prepared to handle the difficulties they encounter in classrooms.

In order to help newly trained teachers integrate seamlessly into the classroom setting, the DBE is gradually implementing the New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP).

As part of the program, freshly certified teachers are matched with mentors who have more teaching experience so that they can learn from one another.

The program is also intended for foreign-born instructors and those who left teaching for more than five years before returning.

Since Maje’s profession also got its start in a classroom more than 20 years ago, she claims to have first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a teacher.

“What you go through at the start of your teaching profession can make or break you. Teachers must, for instance, complete attendance records, plan lessons in advance, and obtain department head clearance before they may begin teaching.

In addition to making sure that teaching and learning occur, she says, “they deal with different attitudes from learners and maintain order during the lessons.”

The Teacher Education Summit, which DBE and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) jointly hosted in 2009, led to the creation of the NTIP.

To create an induction program for all new teachers who enter the teaching profession, the department’s Initial Teacher Education Directorate worked with DHET, provincial education departments, and partners like the South African Council for Educators (SACE), Joint Education Trust Education Services, the North West University, the University of Witwatersrand, and the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB).

According to Maje, the program was tested during the 2020 academic year, and the department decided to introduce it gradually this school year in DBE-selected schools in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Western Cape education districts.

The goal, according to Maje, is to have all incoming teachers participate in the program starting in 2024.

She continues by saying that DBE, working with VVOB, will offer the assistance needed by the provincial ministries to administer the initiative and establish a uniform standard across the board.

According to Maje, SACE will soon decide the program’s duration based on their professional criteria for teachers.

The newly qualified instructors will be prepared for the classroom after finishing the NTIP.

A guidebook has been created to help newly certified teachers and mentors, according to VVOB spokesperson Gerrit Coetzee, who spoke at a recent roundtable discussion hosted by the DBE.

“When newly hired teachers receive support and mentoring, they gain more self-assurance in carrying out their duties in the classroom, school, and community. The NTIP also seeks to direct new instructors toward areas for ongoing professional growth, exulted Coetzee.