Professor Loyiso Jita began his professional journey as a science and mathematics teacher after earning his degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS). He later became a lecturer at the University of Zululand, during which he received a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue his PhD at Michigan State University in the United States.

In the mid-1990s, he joined the Education Policy Unit (EPU) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as a Policy Researcher. There, he played a leading role in compiling and presenting the submission on the Violation of Educational Rights of South Africans during Apartheid to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University in the USA, Professor Jita joined the University of Pretoria (UP) in 2001, where he was later appointed Director of the Joint Centre for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (JCSMTE). In 2008, he moved to the University of South Africa (Unisa) as an Associate Professor and later became the first Director of the School of Education. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2011 and served as Acting Deputy Executive Dean in the College of Human Sciences at Unisa.

In 2012, Prof Jita joined the University of the Free State (UFS) as a Research Professor in the School of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Technology Education. Two years later, in November 2014, he was appointed the inaugural SANRAL Chair in Science and Mathematics Education.

Prof Jita has published extensively on topics such as instructional leadership, teacher development and change, science and mathematics education, and lesson study. He has presented more than 50 papers at national and international conferences and has successfully supervised over 40 PhD graduates. He currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State.