The statutory process pertaining to the basket of posts for 2011 has now been completed. I am pleased to announce that after very careful deliberation and consultation, 599 additional teaching posts have been allocated to schools in comparison with 2010. This despite the fact that the total number of educator posts in the WCED has decreased by 367.

The process has been completed in order to ensure that all schools are informed of their teacher allocation for 2011 by 17 September. This will enable schools to plan and budget accordingly for the 2011 school year. It is important to note that once informed, schools will still have an opportunity to appeal their allocation, if reasonable grounds exist to do so.

In order to ensure that the dual imperatives of ensuring that the budget shortfall of the WCED was addressed and that schools were left relatively stable, the WCED adopted the following principles in allocating posts.

• Maximise stability of school establishments by including ad hoc posts, some growth posts and relief posts in the distribution model and by minimizing the number of schools that gain or lose teachers. Only schools losing or gaining more than 36 learners will gain or lose teaching staff.
• Curriculum and poverty redress, with Quintiles 1 and 2 receiving a higher allocation.
• Attention to the foundation phase, this has seen an additional 542 teaching posts being allocated to this critical phase of schooling.

The application of these principles has seen the overwhelming majority of schools remaining stable.

I would like to thank all the organisations that commented on the process, their input has helped to achieve a very favorable outcome, in a financially sound and sustainable manner.

Through ensuring greater efficiencies, by allocating growth and ad-hoc posts into the basket and by reducing the number of people on long-term sick leave, a win-win situation has been created.

In managing the budget constraints and basket of posts allocation, I made it clear from the outset that there were three non-negotiable priorities that had to be protected, because if funding was taken away from them, teaching would no longer be worthwhile. These priorities included:

1) Maintaining the staffing stability of schools as far as possible.

2) The provision of textbooks and other learning resources

3) The provision of safe and adequate school infrastructure

I am fully confident that all of these objectives have been properly considered and addressed and that we will be in an even stronger position than before at the start of the 2011 school year.

For enquiries, contact Millicent Merton:  082 3241 284 or brcasey@pgwc.gov.za.

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