1. SUBMISSION OF CLAIM FORMS

Principals of schools with Grade R and heads of early childhood development (ECD) institutions are reminded that subsidy applications are to be submitted to the local education district office by no later than the following dates:

Term District Office Head Office
1st Term of 2012 Friday, 10 February 2012 Friday, 24 February 2012
2nd Term of 2012 Friday, 18 May 2012 Friday, 1 June 2012
3rd Term of 2012 Friday, 17 August 2012 Friday, 31 August 2012
4th Term of 2012 Friday, 16 November 2012 Friday, 30 November 2012

Schools that fail to adhere to the above dates run the risk of forfeiting their subsidy. Schools requiring assistance with the completion of the subsidy claim forms may contact the IMG ECD manager at the relevant education district office.

2. REGISTRATION OF SCHOOLS ON EMIS & GRADE R LEARNERS ON CEMIS
2.1 In accordance with the National Norms and Standards for Grade R funding (Government Notice No. 30679 of 18 January 2008), all ordinary public and independent ECD schools offering Grade R must be registered on EMIS and be in possession of a valid registration certificate. This certificate is valid for only five years.
2.2 All Grade R learners must also be registered on CEMIS.
2.3 All Grade R practitioners must be registered with the South African Council for Educators (SACE). More information is available on the SACE website at www.sace.org.za

3. NO-FEE SCHOOLS OFFERING GRADE R
3.1 No-fee schools that receive Grade R funding from the state are not allowed to charge school fees for Grade R learners (See National Financial Management Guidelines in Respect of Schools Offering Grade R Classes, October 2009, page 4).
3.2 Parents may be requested to make voluntary contributions. However, it must be emphasised that these contributions are not compulsory and may not be used to exclude learners whose parents are not able to make such contributions.

4. ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT

In terms of Section 55 of the Public Finance Management Act, No. 29 of 1999, all educational institutions who receive funding from the state must keep full and proper records of their financial affairs, and annually submit an audited financial statement to their executive authority - in this case the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). In this regard, all ECD institutions must submit an annual audited financial statement, relating to the previous academic year, to their local education district office before the end of May each year. Failure to do so will effectively delay the next subsidy payment to the institution.


5. PAYMENT OF GRADE R PRACTITIONER'S SALARY
5.1 Schools are reminded that the Grade R practitioners at all schools must receive the full 80% subsidy allocation which is transferred bi-annually.
5.2 School governing bodies of NQ 4 and NQ 5 schools are requested to augment the Grade R practitioner's salary so that the practitioner receives an amount which is more than the minimum of R5,000.00 per month.
5.3 Furthermore, SGBs must register with SARS as employers. The UIF and PAYE must be deducted from the Grade R practitioner's salary and paid over to the relevant government departments.

6. NUMBER OF GRADE R LEARNERS ALLOWED PER CLASS

Recent audits at selected sites have confirmed that a class size of more than 30 learners negatively impacts on the provision of quality education in a Grade R class. As from January 2012, CAPS will be implemented in the Grade R classes and therefore schools are reminded that the maximum number of Grade R learners allowed per class is 30.

7. SPENDING OF LTSM MONEY

All the money received for LTSM (20%) for the two terms must be spent within that period and only for the purpose of LTSM provision.

8. The content of this circular must be brought to the attention of all role players involved in ECD at public and independent schools.


SIGNED: PA VINJEVOLD
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2011:11:30