1. In order to ensure continued funding of subsidies to independent schools, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) wants to draw your attention to paragraph 177(4) of the amended National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF), which states that the secondary phase of an independent school may be considered for a subsidy for a particular year if

  1. its final Grade 12 pass rate is equal to or higher than the provincial average Grade 12 pass rate for public schools in the previous year;

  2. not more than 20% of Grade 11 learners are repeaters who took Grade 11 in the same school during the previous year;

  3. not more than 20% of Grade 12 learners are repeaters who took Grade 12 in the same school during the previous year;

  4. the school does not engage in practices that are calculated to artificially increase the school's Grade 12 pass rate; and

  5. learners repeat a grade not more than once in the Grades 7 to 9 phase.
2. Independent schools that do not meet the conditions in paragraph 1 (a), (b) or (c) above will only be considered for a subsidy by the Head of Department if the relevant schools can show good cause for the deviation.
3. Schools that wish to apply for funding for 2011 have until 27 September 2010 to submit their applications in order for the WCED to comply with the requirements in paragraph 62(a) of the National Norms and Standards for School Funding. In terms of the said paragraph, eligible schools have to be informed by 30 September of a year of an indicative amount to allow independent schools to plan their budget and school fees for the following year.


SIGNED: PA VINJEVOLD
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2010:09:14