More than 4 000 South African teachers died of HIV and Aids complications last year, while 45 000 more - 12,7 percent of the teacher workforce - are HIV-positive.
And, according to a Human Sciences Research Council survey released on Thursday, no fewer than 11 South African teachers died of HIV and Aids complications every day last year.
Of those who died of Aids, 80 percent were younger than 45 and 33,6 percent between 25 and 34.
The survey was conducted at the request of the Education Labour Relations Council.
Head of research Dr Olive Shisana said the study was conducted at 1 700 schools across the country over a period of 18 months.
The study found KwaZulu-Natal had the highest prevalence of HIV-positive teachers (21,8 percent), followed by Mpumalanga (19,1 percent) and the Eastern Cape (13,8 percent).
Gauteng was third from the bottom, with a 6,4 percent prevalence rate.
Shisana said 10 000 of the 45 000 HIV-positive teachers needed anti-retroviral treatment.
The study found that HIV-related illnesses led to higher absenteeism and low morale among teachers.
"There are 356 700 teachers in 26 700 schools countrywide, and of the 1 700 we visited, 83 percent of teachers agreed to provide specimens for HIV testing. We also asked about their sexual behaviour and HIV/Aids-related issues."
The number of HIV-positive teachers was higher in the 25-34 age group, and 24 percent of those infected were women in the 30-34 age group. About 19 percent were men in the same age bracket.
National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA president Dave Balt said the fact that so many teachers had taken part in the research convinced him that the findings were accurate.
"It is much higher than we expected, and this needs to be changed. We can't afford to lose so many teachers. We need to embark on programmes of advocacy and training sessions on HIV/Aids for teachers."
"We also need to give moral support to teachers who are HIV-positive and provide them with medical assistance."
SA Democratic Teachers Union spokesperson John Lewis said the department of health must start to mobilise its resources to provide anti-retrovirals.
Department of education acting director-general Duncan Hindle said although the fact that so many teachers had died was alarming, the rates seemed lower than among the rest of the population.
"We also note that the surveyors came at those figures by sometimes making assumptions on the causes of death - like teachers who died of diseases such as tuberculosis."