© Kamla-Raj 2013 J Soc Sci, 34(2): 177-190 (2013) Causes of Stress in Public Schools and its Impact on Work Performance of Educators Kiveshnie Naidoo 1 , Christoff J. Botha 2 and Christo A. Bisschoff 3 1 Management College of South Africa 2 Potchefstroom Business School, North-West University, South Africa 3 Potchefstroom Business School, North-West University, South Africa Telephone: 1 <+27(18)2991672>, 2 <3+27 18 299 1411>; Fax: 1 <+27(18)2935153>, 3 <+27 18 299 1416> E-mail: 1 <Kiveshnie.Naidoo@mancosa.co.za>; 2 <Christoff.Botha@nwu.ac.za>; 3 Christo.bisschoff@nwu.ac.za KEYWORDS Educators. Teachers. Stressors. Productivity. KwaZulu-Natal. Factor Analysis ABSTRACT This article reports on educator stress in public schools. In doing so, the article sets the objectives of identifying the causes of stress in public schools of educators in KwaZulu-Natal. The data were collected by means of a stratified random sample drawn in a cross-sectional survey design of educators employed in public schools in four districts in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. A total of 368 questionnaires (of which 350 were usable) were received from 1500 distributed questionnaires The theory on the causes of stress were empirically postulated and analysed by means of data employed exploratory factor analysis. In total seven key causes (factors) of educator stress were identified. These factors explain a favourable cumulative variance 69%, and are (in declining order of importance) Organizational support, Overload, Remuneration, Control, Job insecurity, Relationship opportunities and Growth opportunities. 1 The article is based on the PhD research at the North-West University, RSA by K. Naidoo INTRODUCTION Sixteen years after apartheid, questions are being asked about what substantive changes have been achieved in the educational context where the intentions and effects of apartheid were most insidious and overt and the efforts to change are most visible and dramatic (Naidoo 2012; Department of Education 2003). Since 1994, there has been a significant refashioning of the education and training landscape in South Africa. This commenced when the 18 racially- divided departments were restructured into nine provincial education departments resulting in education becoming a provincial phenomenon. The question then arises as to whether there has been adequate preparedness to embrace this change in order to prevent stress and allow for smooth transition. Teachers enter the profes- sion with high expectations, a vision for the fu- ture and a mission to educate children. The de- mands, pressures and conditions they work un- der can stifle the zeal of present educators. Re- search by Brown and Uehara (2012) in Asia and Margolis and Nagel (2006) in the mid-west area of the United States of America showed that any changeover to the new education system has a direct impact on the schooling system, the educators and learners’ performance. In addi- tion, these changes add to educator stress and educator performance decreases as a result. Sim- ilar trends have been witnessed in South Africa (Naidoo 2012). Stressful situations, a lack of or- ganisational support, poor leadership, poor re- muneration, a lack of growth opportunities, and work overload had arisen which snowballed over decades and suddenly exploded into the new millennium with ever increasing demands on all stakeholders involved in the education of chil- dren (Naidoo 2012; Taylor et al. 2008: 66). In addition, the budget allocated to educa- tion is huge when compared to most other coun- tries where the norm is around 20% of total gov- ernment expenditure. South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordan recently announced that regarding education, the total amount of spend- ing equates to R190bn in 2012/13 (21%) to R215bn in 2013/14 (an estimated 24%). The key amounts to be spent include R9.5 billion for the expansion of further education and training col- leges and skills development, as well as R8.3bn