The WCED provided the following answers to questions from the Cape Argus on teacher migration and related issues, in response to claims that the Western Cape is experiencing An "exodus" of teachers.

1. How many teachers resigned between January and July this year?

595. A total of 987 teachers resigned in the 2007/08 financial year. This represents 3.2% of the WCED's staff establishment of 31 000 teachers last year. We believe this compares favourably with staff turnover rates in large organisations in all sectors.

For example, the annual staff turnover rate in the South African call centre industry is believed to be between 5% and 15%. This is considered low compared to international trends of more than 20%.

It should be noted that the WCED received 31 269 applications for 3 811 teaching posts that we advertised in February 2008. This does not suggest an exodus of teachers from the Western Cape.

2. How many teachers (in this same period) resigned to work overseas?

Of the 595, a total of 49 educators indicated the reason for their exit as "emigration, teach overseas, work abroad".

3. How many teachers left to work in education overseas last year?

A total of 66 educators indicated the reason for their exit as "emigration, teach overseas, work abroad".

4. What is the extent of the teacher/ principal poaching problem in the Western Cape?

We assume that you are referring to teachers and principals who may have been employed by schools in other countries.

The 66 teachers who left the Western Cape to teach in other countries last year represent 0.2% of the teachers employed by the WCED last year. This does not suggest that schools overseas are "poaching" our teachers in significant numbers.

We welcome the experience that many of these teachers gain overseas. Many return to enrich education in South Africa, thanks to their overseas experience.

5. Who do you find are mostly poached (eg. young, freshly graduated teachers, experienced teachers, principals, primary/ high school level, subject specialists etc)?

See 4.

6. Which countries are mostly poaching our educators, and what kind of jobs are they being offered?

Unfortunately, we do not have a breakdown of the countries concerned.

7. I have noticed a trend where subject specialists (particularly maths and science teachers) are being poached. What impact is this having on our education system in the Western Cape?

There is a general shortage of maths and science teachers in the country. The WCED is currently assessing the shortage and what this means for education in the province.

8. What incentives/ measures is the department taking to dissuade teachers/ principals from leaving for overseas?

The WCED and the national Department of Education have developed a range of initiatives to support and develop teachers, and to improve conditions of service. This is an ongoing process.

Recent examples include the national Occupation Specific Dispensation for Educators (OSD), which seeks to develop and implement a customised approach to remuneration for teachers.

9 (a) I expect that changing mindsets/ crime etc at schools is a long-term challenge for the department. However, there are some issues that educators have that can be linked directly to decisions taken by the department. There are two things I would like explained with regards to this: a. OBE has been known to cause a lot of paperwork for teachers/ principals, which takes time away from discipline and teaching. Is there any plans to improve this system?

We should be careful not to attribute teacher movement to one or two factors. The world has opened up to knowledge workers such as teachers, to create opportunities that did not exist before.

This in turn, has created fascinating opportunities for education, as we help prepare young people for the global knowledge economy. Our national curriculum provides an instrument for doing so. This is an exciting time to be involved in education.

9 (b) Please explain the remuneration system for principals and why this system is used. Apparently it depends on how big their school is.

Principals are paid according to their responsibilities. Basically, we grade schools according the size of their staff establishments and pay principals accordingly.