1. Teaching staff establishments for 2018

Please refer to Western Cape Education Department (WCED) Circular 0031/2009, dated 28 August 2009, for a full description of the legislation and measures applicable to the annual issuing of teaching staff establishments to schools. The said circular can be accessed on the WCED’s website under circulars 2009. The contents of that circular remain applicable to 2018, except for the following amendments:

1.1 In terms of the measures of the Revised Post Distribution Model, public ordinary schools and public special schools must be issued with their annual teaching staff establishments by 30 September of the preceding year. Thus, for the 2017 academic year, all teaching staff establishments issued to public ordinary and public special schools (as well as all additional posts created for and issued to a public school in 2017 as a result of either increased learner enrolment or the curriculum needs of the school) will expire on 31 December 2017.
1.2 The teaching staff establishments for 2018 will be published on the Central Education Management Information System (CEMIS) under the link Administration (Establishments) on 25 August 2017.

2. Additional allocations (Post Level 1 posts)

This office is obligated to review the allocation of the 2018 teaching staff establishment if any information about a school, as contained on CEMIS, is found to be incorrect.

3. Revision of 2018 teaching staff establishments
3.1 Schools may request a review of the computation of their teaching staff establishment if the CEMIS learner enrolments reflected on the teaching staff establishment letter differ from the learner data on 31 July 2017. In order for this office to carry out the computation, the school will have to submit evidence to the Directorate: Strategic People Management that the learner enrolment used and stated in the teaching staff establishment letter is incorrect. In addition, schools which indicate that they have sufficient classrooms and have enrolled or intend to enrol additional learners for 2018 may apply for additional posts. Applications have to be submitted during the period 28 August 2017 to 15 September 2017, and all applications must be done on CEMIS. Applications for additional posts will only be considered if it is completed on CEMIS.
3.2 In the event that a school phases out a grade or grades, its teaching staff establishment will be revised, based on the number of learners remaining at the school. In the case of learners moving out of the school with the phasing out of a grade or grades, the teaching staff establishments of the receiving school(s) will be revised.

4. Recalculation of teaching staff establishment owing to change in learner enrolment during 2018
4.1 The WCED reserves the right to abolish Post Level 1 posts if there is a drop in the school's learner enrolment in the course of 2018. In such cases, teachers appointed in a temporary capacity will be transferred, after consultation, to posts at other schools. Therefore, when recruiting teachers on a temporary basis, principals have to inform applicants that they will be appointed on the understanding that they may be transferred to other schools if their posts are abolished as a result of a drop in learner enrolment at the school.
4.2 All contract appointments are to be made for 12 months if it is against an additional contract post granted to the school for 12 months. These nominations are to be submitted to Head Office through the Contract Appointment Tracking (CAT) system.
4.3 Contract appointments against permanent vacant posts are to be made for a period of six months, if the school qualifies for such a post. If the same post is still vacant after six months it should be filled by the same incumbent provided his or her performance is satisfactory.
4.4 All schools are called upon to update their enrolment totals on CEMIS by Tuesday, 06 March 2018. The teaching staff establishment of all those schools where learner enrolment is less than their learner enrolment on 31 July 2017 will be recalculated by 23 March 2018. If the school is to lose a post or posts, then the number of contract appointments equal to or fewer than the number of posts the school loses, will be reviewed accordingly from 01 April 2018.
4.5 In cases where there is an increase in learner enrolment from 17 January 2018 to 31 January 2018, the school may apply online, during the period 15 January 2018 to 31 January 2018, for (a) growth post(s). The learner enrolment total taken into consideration will be the enrolment total on CEMIS at the time of application. Only applications submitted on CEMIS will be considered.

District offices are called upon to ensure that all schools have submitted their applications online by 31 January 2018.

4.6 Principals' attention is drawn to the following:

  • Nominations for teachers in additional posts, applied for as a result of the growth and/or curriculum needs of the school, may be made only after written approval has been granted by Head Office.
  • teacher may not commence with her/his duties prior to the approval granted for an additional post by Head Office.
5. Filling of advertised posts
5.1 All posts that have already been advertised in a WCED vacancy list may be filled permanently, provided that those posts appear on the 2018 teaching staff establishment.
5.2 Should an advertised post not appear on the 2018 teaching staff establishment, the school is not entitled to that post and such a post will be regarded as erroneously advertised.
5.3 The stipulation that an advertised post (particularly a promotion post) may be filled only if it does not create an additional excess teacher, remains in place.
5.4 Should the school principal and the governing body be of the opinion that the post description of the advertised post no longer meets the curriculum needs of the school, they may request this office to regard the post as erroneously advertised. A detailed explanation, signed by both the principal and the chairperson of the governing body, is to accompany such a request.
5.5 To ensure stability in 2018, the WCED envisages using the conversion process to fill Post Level 1 posts for appointment on 01 January 2018. Where posts have been captured for advertising in Vacancy List 02/2017 and the school has identified a suitable teacher who can be converted from temporary to permanent status, the advertisement can be removed from the vacancy list.

6. Filling of vacant substantive teacher posts (based on teaching staff establishments of 25 August 2017)
6.1 The Department is still experiencing financial constraints on the Compensation of Employees (CoE) budgets for the 2017/2018 to 2019/2020 medium-term expenditure frameworks. One of the strategies explored in 2017 was to reduce the impact on CoE expenditure by effectively managing the utilisation of excess teachers, which included the lateral transfer of teachers between schools with vacancies and utilising excess teachers where curriculum challenges were experienced.
6.2 The department will again implement measures and monitor closely the effective management and utilisation of excess teachers in 2018. The following actions will be taken within the timeframes identified:

Intervention activities Timeframe
All teachers who cannot be absorbed on the 2018 teaching staff establishments for 2018 are formally declared in excess. 01–30 September 2017
Districts identify suitable posts for teachers declared in excess for placement in 2018 and consult principals/governing bodies on the placement of excess teachers. Formal placement letters are to be issued to teachers who can be matched and placed against vacant substantive posts for 2018. 01–31 October 2017
Districts provide list of “unplaceable” excess teachers to Head Office for cross-district placements. 31 October 2017
Head Office makes recommendations to districts for cross-district placements. 01–30 November 2017
Formal placement letters issued to teachers who can be matched and placed against vacant substantive posts for 2018. 01–30 November 2017
Excess teachers who cannot be matched and placed are not to form part of the school’s timetable for 2018. 10 December 2017
In the event that schools require additional teachers due to growth in learner numbers, districts will consult principals/governing bodies on the placement of excess teachers. Formal placement letters will be issued to teachers who can be matched and placed. 15 January 2018
6.3 Teachers who have already been declared in excess, based on previous teaching staff establishments and in accordance with previous processes, and who are still in excess, retain their in-excess status. These teachers will be dealt with in terms of the prevailing collective agreements of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC).
6.4 Permanently appointed teachers are to be identified as in excess in terms of Collective Agreement 4 of 2016 of the ELRC.
6.5 Efforts to place excess teachers will continue during the 2018 academic year in the event that teachers leave the service of the WCED and the excess teacher profile meets the curriculum needs of the vacant teacher post(s).
6.6 Appointment of new entrants

Another strategy to curb costs on the CoE budget is to appoint new entrants to the education profession in the WCED instead of teachers who are already remunerated at high salaries. In so doing, we will also make provision for new teachers to enter the employ of the WCED.

A new-entrant teacher is defined as a final-year student and/or any suitably qualified teacher who graduated in the past three years and who has never been employed by the state. This group includes Funza Lushaka bursary holders.

At the same time, we acknowledge that schools should have the ultimate choice to recruit the best person for their school. In order to ensure that we balance the different interests, if principals and governing bodies have strong objections to the appointment of such new entrants at their schools, they are invited to approach the Head of Education directly in writing (copying the relevant District Director) and await the outcome of their petition. Such petitions should be submitted at least two weeks before the teacher is to assume duty to allow for proper consideration of each case.

6.7 Other suitably qualified teachers

Only qualified teachers with an REQV 13 or higher qualification may be considered for vacant substantive teacher posts. This office will consider the employment of other teachers only if no qualified teachers can be identified from the aforementioned categories.


7. Filling of additional teacher posts (based on applications for growth and curriculum needs between 28 August 2017 and 15 September 2017)
7.1 Preference for the filling of additional teacher posts will be given to teachers in the following order:

  • Excess teachers
  • New-entrant teachers
  • Other suitably qualified teachers

Only qualified teachers with an REQV 13 or higher qualification may be considered for vacant and additional teacher posts. This office will consider the employment of other teachers only if no qualified teachers can be identified from the aforementioned categories. Applications for the appointment of temporary teachers in the following categories do need prior approval from the Director: Recruitment and Selection:

  1. Teachers over the age of 65 years;
  2. Teachers that exited the employ of the state due to:
    1. Retirement
    2. Resignation
    3. Ill health
    4. Misconduct
    5. Abscondence
  3. Foreign teachers;
  4. Unqualified and underqualified teachers.
7.2 District offices may approve transfers to schools in cases where the transfer will promote the process of redeployment, i.e. where the transfer will bring about the redeployment of an excess teacher to a vacant substantive post. This measure also applies in cases where the transfer will allow for a new-entrant teacher to be appointed in the post vacated as a result of the transfer.

8. Enquiries

All enquiries pertaining to this circular and the relevant legislation should be addressed to circuit managers.


9. General

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all teachers and members of the governing body.



SIGNED: BK SCHREUDER
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2017:08:24