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12 October, 2006 | |
WCED increases number of teaching posts for third year in a row By Ron Swartz, Head of Education in the Western Cape Russell Bell claims in an article in the Cape Times on Tuesday, 10 October 2006, that schools are facing "another wave of rationalisation" in the Western Cape as we allocate staff establishments for 2007. He says that high schools will be "stripped" of about 500 ad hoc posts created by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and suggests that this forms part of a pattern of rationalisation since 1993. Nothing could be further from the truth. We recommend that Bell reads our circular to schools of 15 September 2007 which explains how posts will be allocated, and which addresses key points that he has raised. The media have already reported that the WCED will in fact increase the total basket of educator posts by 500 in 2007, to 30 872. The department will therefore increase the total basket of posts for the third year in a row. The increase represents the highest increase in the number of posts for this period. We allocate posts according to a national post provisioning model and our available budget for the year. The most important factor taken into account by the model is the number of learners at a school. The WCED allocates more teachers to schools if they attract more learners and fewer teachers if they have fewer learners. Other factors include medium of instruction, the number of grades, poverty rankings and the number of learners taking a specific subject. The WCED made 458 ad hoc posts available a few years ago for redress purposes in poor schools, mainly to improve learner/teacher ratios. Till now, teachers held ad hoc posts on a contract basis, which made it easier for the department to allocate the posts to meet specific needs. Teacher unions have insisted that we appoint these teachers on a permanent basis. The WCED wished to retain the 458 ad hoc posts, but accepted the unions' position after intense consultations. This has meant that we have had to allocate the posts using the post provisioning model, which in turn means allocating more posts to schools with more learners. As a result, some schools will lose posts previously allocated on an ad hoc basis, while others will gain them. Poor schools will continue to benefit. However, by converting the posts, we have limited the extent to which we can use these posts flexibly to meet specific needs. The WCED is phasing in the conversion of ad posts contract to permanent positions over three years, starting with 152 in 2007. We will distribute these posts according to the national provisioning model, while allocating the remaining 306 posts according to poverty rankings, as we have done over the past few years. In 2001, learner enrolment in Grade 1 dropped by 22 000 because of a change in national admission policy. This cohort of learners will be in Grade 8 in 2007, which means that learner numbers in high schools will drop by a similar amount. However, the WCED has decided that the total number of posts allocated to high schools across the province in 2007 will remain the same, although the picture may change in individual schools, in line with the post provisioning model. We will therefore not cut the number of posts in high schools to accommodate growth in primary schools, as some principals are claiming. The WCED expects an increase in the number of learners at primary schools next year, although we do not have a clear indication yet of where this growth will take place. We are therefore keeping 431 of the additional 500 posts in reserve to accommodate this growth. Schools are responsible for submitting information on learner numbers on time to the WCED's Central Education Management Information System (CEMIS). Post provisioning is based in on this information. Our circular of 15 September says that schools have until 20 October to submit information if they did not update their data before the post provisioning exercise. This will provide an opportunity to review special cases. Bell claims that the WCED has not consulted schools. In fact, the WCED consults stake holders extensively in line with agreements reached in the Education Labour Relations Council. These stakeholders include governing body associations and teacher unions. Our circular of 15 September informed our schools fully of relevant measures and opportunities for review. Most of our schools have taken note of the circular and will respond according. We believe that communication cuts two ways and is not assisted by misinformed and emotive responses. We look forward to working with all schools on ensuring a smooth start to 2007. This article appeared in the Cape Times of Thursday, 12 October 2006. | |
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