Limpopo and Free Stats have registered lowest rates of teacher absence during 2017/18, according to basic education minister Angie Motshekga during the release of the 2017/18 school monitoring survey in Pretoria on Monday.

"We also have provinces that have registered an increase in hours dedicated to teacher development. Limpopo recorded an increase of 22 hours on average, Gauteng 37 hours and the Western Cape reported an increase of 57 hours," Motshekga said, noting that the teacher absence was a cause of concern as it had gone up from 8%-10%.

"This is troubling we must do more to support our teachers."

The 2017 survey was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 1,000 schools offering grade 6 as well as in a nationally representative sample of 1,000 schools offering grade 12.  Motshekga said only public schools were part of the sample.

"The survey focuses on gathering information that is not available on data allocated by Stats SA. We view progress and challenges that the sector experiences and in some areas we think we could have done better," she added, noting that the survey noted that about 95% of pupils across all quintiles had access to their own workbooks in both the Home Language and Mathematics.

The minister has ordered that the survey results be made publicly available so that they can be criticised on the basis of facts and not hearsays.

"We accept our shortcomings and stand ready for criticism. The results of this survey are a mixed bag. There's still more work that needs to be done."