1. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) launched its state-of-the-art Call Centre on 13 April 2004. The centre has provided a vital service to many thousands of callers over the past year.
2. We would like to remind principals and staff that the call centre was designed to focus specifically on issues pertaining to personnel and finances. The number is 0861-92-33-22.
3. Given the high demand for this service on personnel and finance issues, we request principals and staff of our institutions to limit queries directed to the call centre to these issues. Queries on other matters should still be directed to the relevant directorates. This will prevent the call centre from being unnecessarily inundated with queries.
4. We remind clients that the WCED website also provides information on many of the queries currently received by the call centre. The address of the website is http://wced.wcape.gov.za. Services on the website include, among others

  • a facility for tracking appointment processes;

  • a database of teachers seeking employment;

  • vacancy lists, as they are published;

  • circulars and minutes; and

  • pages dealing specifically with labour relations and human resource development.
5. Your attention is also directed thereto

  • that the telephone numbers of some of the personnel in the Directorates Personnel and Finance have been diverted to the call centre. They can no longer be called directly. (In the case of an emergency the deputy directors or directors can be called directly.)

  • that you can also communicate with officials by means of e-mail (refer to Circular 165/2003 for e-mail addresses).
6. The website will be continuously expanded to complement the work of the Call Centre and the Walk-in Centre at our Head Office in Cape Town.
7. The Call Centre also complements the work of related, telephone-based services provided by the WCED. These include the following:

  • The WCED’s Employee Wellness Programme, which offers a toll-free counselling service for staff needing confidential advice on life-management issues, such as stress, depression, relationship problems, illness, debt and substance abuse (telephone 0800-2044-81)

  • The WCED’s Safe Schools Call Centre, which offers a point of contact for learners experiencing abuse, and for schools needing to report crime and other incidents that might compromise school safety and security (telephone 0800-45-46-47)
8. Please bring the content of this minute to the attention of your personnel.


SIGNED: A.M. ATTWELL
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2005:05:31