Statement by Ron Swartz, Western Cape Head of Education

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has completed the process of determining post establishments for schools in 2004, following extensive consultation with governing body associations and teacher unions.

The process has involved:

• Determining the WCED’s maximum number of educator posts for 2004;
• Determining the number of posts that can be allocated to each school and other educational institutions.

We are grateful to the unions and governing body associations for engaging with us so thoroughly in these discussions.

They addressed relevant policy issues, and we are satisfied that we are now in a position to allocate staff in the fairest possible way to our schools and related institutions.

Our total staff establishment for 2004 includes 29 715 posts for teachers, which represents an increase of 19 posts on 2003.

A certain number of these educators work in support structures. The total number of posts allocated to schools is 24 079, which represents 62 posts more than those available in 2003.

In addition to this, the department will again allocate 458 posts, over and above the school establishments, to ease the burden in our poorest schools.

As is the case every year, some schools will find that they will gain teachers while others will lose teachers.

The most important reasons for changes in staff establishments include changes in learner numbers at individual schools, curriculum changes and efforts to redress human resources at our poorest schools.

Teachers in excess of requirements at certain schools will again be able to apply for transfers to other schools or can apply for voluntary severance packages.

We are still determining the number of teachers likely to be declared in excess, but we are satisfied that they will represent a very small proportion of the total number employed by the province.

The staff establishments are determined according to a national formula in line with the post provisioning model promulgated last year.

In recent years, the Western Cape has experienced a large migration of learners into public schools from other provinces and from rural areas to urban areas. This migration has placed severe pressures on available resources, including human resources.

The WCED has noticed a movement between schools of about 30 learners per school a year, which adds to the complexity of determining staff numbers, and adds a degree of instability to the system. Unfortunately, the WCED has no control over these external factors.

We started discussions with stakeholder groups at an early stage, to ensure that we could deliver on our promise to release staff establishments to all schools before the end of the third school term.

We will provide every school with its staff establishment before 26 September 2003. This will enable schools to plan adequately for next year.

The WCED will also provide every school with full details on how we have determined their post establishments, by way of an analysis sheet indicating all the factors and weightings involved. This follows a plea from principals last year for further information on how their staff establishments came to be determined.

I would like to thank WCED staff involved in this process and our stakeholder groups for their constructive approach in dealing with the issue of post establishments, in the best interests of all learners of the Western Cape.