No new support staff at schools in the Cape
WCED won’t hire despite massive influx of new pupils
WHILE about 25 000 new pupils entered the province this year and similar numbers are projected for the new year, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) won’t be increasing the number of posts for support staff and some contracts won’t be renewed.
This decision will affect administration and cleaning staff, including clerks and general foremen as well support staff in hostels.
And one teacher union says if schools lose support staff members, one of the consequences could be that the school fees are increased in order to fund the posts.
According to the department, “current fiscal challenges” will mean it would be retaining the number of support staff members at schools that maintained or increased their pupil numbers.
“Schools that stand to lose posts due to learner decreases will receive adjusted public service support allocations for the period 01 April 2017 to 31 March 2018,” acting provincial head of education, Brian Schreuder, said in a recent circular on support staff for public schools, excluding special needs schools.
Information provided by the department showed there were 7 074 public service employees employed at education institutions in the province.
“Ordinary public schools that stand to lose public service support staff posts on 01 April 2017 and who have contract employees in the affected posts, may not extend the contracts of the affected employees beyond 31 March 2017. Principals must inform contract employees by 30 November 2016 at the latest that due to the abolishment of posts, their contracts will not be extended beyond 31 March 2017,” Schreuder wrote.
Yesterday, Millicent Merton, a spokeswoman for the department, said additional public service staff at predominantly rural schools, with hostels, had been approved.
“The latter was as a result of increases in hostel boarders due to logistical reasons and distances between learners homes and schools offering boarding facilities. At special public schools, with hostels, additional public service support staff was allocated to schools for the deaf and blind to support learners that reside in hostels.”
Morne Janson, provincial secretary of the SA Teachers Union (SA Onderwysersunie) said support staff played an important role at schools and helped to alleviate the pressure on teachers.
He said schools that received a lower allocation in support staff might have to cope with an increased workload for the remaining staff, or have to cut certain services.
They might also have to get support in the form of volunteers to take over certain services. Janson said it could also happen that school governing bodies increased school fees in order to fund the posts their school had lost.