The role of politics in the migration of Zimbabwean teachers to South Africa

Figures & data

Figure 1: Extent of political violence at schools taught by teachers around 2008

Table 1: Whether school taught in Zimbabwe was affected by political violence before or after the 2008 presidential election (n = 192)

	Non-migrants		Migrants
	Number	%	Number	%
School affected by political violence*
Yes	57	59	73	76
No	39	41	23	24
Response to political violence
Retaliated	6	6	3	3
Contributed to migration to South Africa	0	0	63	66
Transferred to another school	15	16	4	4
Remained at same school	40	42	12	13
Left teaching profession	14	14	6	6
Stayed at home	19	20	8	8
Went on strike	2	2	0	0

Note: Some teachers did not complete the section on politics. *Significant at 5% level (p <0.05).

Source: Survey results.

Table 2: Distribution of political violence before or after the 2008 presidential election by location of school in Zimbabwe (n = 192)

	Urban		Rural
	Number	%	Number	%
School affected by political violence?*
Yes (n = 129)	54	46	75	54
No (n = 63)	40	63	23	37
Extent of political violence*
Large extent (n = 69)	27	39	42	61
Small extent (n = 61)	34	56	26	42
Not at all (n = 62)	39	63	23	37

Note: *Significant at 5% level (p <0.05).

Source: Survey results.

Table 3: Rate your satisfaction regarding your personal security, freedom of expression and participation in Zimbabwe in 2008 and currently (n = 192)

Rate of satisfaction	Non-migrants (%)		Migrants (%)
	2008	Current period	2008	Current period
Very bad	47	17	55	24
Bad	18	25	30	32
Neither good nor bad	15	23	11	38
Good	18	27	4	5
Very good	1	8	0	1

Note: Results of 2008 were significant at 5% level (p<0.05), and of the current period at 1% level (p <0.01).

Source: Survey results.

Table 4: Teachers' reasons for migration and non-migration (n = 200)

Reason for non-migration	%	Reasons for migration	%
Lack of information	7	Poor accommodation/other services	8
Lack of kin/friend in diaspora	12	High workload/lack of materials	6
Husband or relatives disapprove	8	Expensive food or shortages	36
Family roles and responsibilities	40	Political violence or repression	36
Lack money to process papers	13	Inadequate salary	76
Subject taught not in demand	17	Fellow teachers migrating	11
Do not have a degree	7	No future for me or children	21
Fear of violence or crime	33	Lack of promotion/movement to better school	1
Love for the country	21	Need for further studies	8
Want to be close to family	51	Inadequate incentives	27
Given adequate incentives	4	Join spouse	4
Job security, pension or other benefits	13	Teachers lost dignity or respect	30

Source: Survey results.

Table 5: Period arrived in South Africa by reasons for migration (n = 100)

Reason	Before 2008 (%)	2008 (%)	After 2008 (%)
Poor accommodation / other services	0	13	9
High workload / lack of materials	0	7	13
Expensive food or shortages	35	36	41
Political violence or repression	46	32	28
Inadequate salary	85	65	78
Fellow teachers migrating	12	7	13
No future for me or children	8	26	28
Lack of promotion / movement to better school	4	0	0
Need to further studies	8	13	6
Inadequate incentives**	8	26	41
Join spouse	0	3	6
Teachers lost dignity or respect	31	29	25

Note: **significant at 1% level (p <0.01).

Source: Survey results.

Figure 2: Migrant teachers' job satisfaction and migration plans

Source: Survey results.