South Africa has a severe HIV/AIDS epidemic. About 5.6 million South Africans, the majority of whom are in the economically active age group, are currently living with the virus. Studies have been conducted to examine the impact of HIV/AIDS on various sectors of the economy, including mining, manufacturing, health and education. The effectiveness and functioning of the public sector is also increasingly threatened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The education sector is thought to be particularly affected by HIV/ AIDS because both the demand for and supply of educators are affected. Not only do children drop out of school because of HIV/AIDS, thus reducing demand for educators, but educators, school managers and education policy-makers are said to be dying of AIDS, thus reducing supply.
Despite the dearth of empirically-based studies on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector, the few studies that exist suggest that the impact may be significant, with high morbidity and mortality due to HIV/AIDS and consequently, the attrition of educators predicted. It was for this reason that the South African Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) – comprising all the unions: the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU), National Teachers’ Unions of South Africa (Natu) as well as the National and Provincial Departments of Education (DoE), commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)-led consortium and its partner, the Medical Research Council (MRC) to undertake a study examining the impact of HIV/AIDS on the supply and demand of educators to the education sector.