The Western Cape Education Department has adopted special measures to ensure that preprimary school education is not disrupted this year by teachers opting to accept mutually agreed severance packages.

The WCED has changed its policy on funding preprimary education, from funding teaching posts to subsidising learners, to free resources for extending access to preprimary school education to as many children as possible across the province.

As a result, the WCED is phasing out preprimary teaching posts, except for principals, and has offered the teachers mutually agreed severance packages.

Preprimary schools have expressed concern that this would disrupt preprimary education if teachers left the schools in mid-year.

The Western Cape Minster of Education, Ms Helen Zille, said that she had taken note of this concern.

"I have therefore asked the Acting Head of Education in the province to review the situation with a view to minimising the impact of these packages as much as possible. He has done so with the cooperation of the relevant national departments."

"Applications for the packages will be considered, and where granted, schools can apply to appoint teachers in these positions in contract posts, if necessary, till the end of the year."

As a teaching post becomes vacant, the WCED is now replacing funding for the post with subsidies per child at the affected school, while providing the same subsidy to a new preprimary school in a poor community.

"We began by subsiding children by R2 per child a day at eligible schools, and increased this subsidy to R3 a day on April 1, an increase of 50%," Ms Zille said.

"We anticipated that the change in our funding policy would cause problems for some schools," Ms Zille said. "We want to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum."

"However, in the longer term, these measures are necessary to ensure that as many children as possible have access to preprimary schooling, particularly in poor communities."