Natural science teachers’ perceptions of their teaching competence in senior phase township schools in Soweto Area, Gauteng Province

Transformation and reconstruction have characterized the South African educational arena for more than a decade. This process of change was necessitated by a legacy of the apartheid regime that included inequalities in the educational budget, poor teacher training, especially within the Sciences, and poorly resourced Science classes. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of NS teachers’ perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase township schools in Soweto, a qualitative research method was used. This type of research approach was appropriate for this study as the researchers intended to explore NS teachers’ perceptions of their teaching competence in senior Phase township schools in Soweto. From this paper, it was found that there is a lack of qualified NS teachers in Soweto township. This means that South Africa is thus still faced with major challenges regarding the teaching of NS subject.