• The Gauteng education department says it needs 300 more coding and robotics teachers for Grade 10 to 12 classes.

• Many schools in the province still do not have electricity, internet or computers, making it impossible to teach technology subjects.

Learners in Gauteng are being left behind as a serious teacher shortage stops schools from offering coding, robotics and other key tech subjects.

Matome Chiloane, the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in Gauteng, said in a written reply that the province is short of 300 coding and robotics teachers for Grades 10 to 12.

There is also a shortage of 35 teachers for Computer Applications Technology and 36 for Information Technology in the same grades.

Mathematics is also badly affected, with 227 more teachers needed for pure maths and five for maths literacy.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng raised the issue in the provincial legislature. DA spokesperson Michael Waters said the shortage is unacceptable and that it shows learners are not being properly prepared for the future.

He said the national policy calls for coding to be taught from Grade R, but the province is failing to deliver.

Waters warned that the province will never build a strong technology workforce if it does not fill these critical teaching posts and fix basic infrastructure problems.

He said: “The digital economy is growing fast, but learners in Gauteng are being left behind.”

He also pointed out that many schools still do not have electricity, internet or computers, making it impossible to teach Information Technology or coding.

Waters added that the problem could get worse as nearly half of the current teachers are expected to retire within the next 10 years.

Pictured above: MEC Matome Chiloane.

Image source: Gauteng Department of Education