Message from Western Cape Education MEC Cameron Dugmore to all Western Cape
Education Department (WCED) staff
7 December, 2007
This year was without a doubt a very difficult year for the entire education
community in the country and in this province. We are all aware that the
prolonged industrial action earlier this year has impacted heavily on all of
our lives. However, I have no reason to be anxious about the performances of
our schools, and remain confident in your abilities to deliver quality services
to our teachers, schools and communities.
The strike in June not only affected schooling for up to three weeks, but
also impacted on the department's capacity to continue deliver services,
especially in communities that could least afford this disruption. I want to
thank those who have participated in the industrial action, for conducting
yourselves in a dignified manner during the strike, and that there was no
victimisation against anyone for whichever decision he/she has made on whether
or not to participate in the industrial action.
I believe you did your best for our schools and the learners. I am confident
that the extra effort put in by all of you will make an important difference. I
am sure many of you have sacrificed family and personal time in order to meet
deadlines and deliver quality services. Earlier this year the Western Cape
Education Department (WCED) launched a Service Delivery Charter, committing
itself to ensure that all teachers are competent and well prepared, and that
teachers will be able to recognise and assist learners experiencing barriers to
learning.
The unveiling of the WCED's Service Delivery Charter is part of an ongoing
programme to improve service delivery, to ensure quality education for all in
the Western Cape. The service standards, in three categories, apply to the
department as a whole, and form the basis of the WCED's Service Delivery
Charter. The standards cover Teaching and Learning Assessment and Support,
Management and Governance, and Learning Site Environment.
The department is currently engaged in a redesign project to ensure that it
has the capacity to implement the Human Capital Development Strategy of the
Western Cape. We are strengthening circuit teams to bring development support
closer to schools that need this assistance the most. The WCED will provide
training for staff at various levels to build a culture of service excellence
over the next three years. This training will include training for office-based
staff, setting and managing service delivery standards by middle and senior
management, and building a culture of customer care based on the Batho Pele
principles, to 'put people first.'
The WCED has introduced a compliments and complaints mechanism, called
Thetha Nathi, for clients wishing to complain about poor service delivery or to
report examples of service excellence. Improving service excellence is not a
once-off event, but a process. The WCED's success in the annual Premier's
Awards for Service Excellence has already demonstrated the department's
commitment to service excellence. The Service Delivery Charter will take this
process further.
Our service delivery standards must focus across all levels of our education
system, but must unequivocally emphasise our schools that face daily challenges
of poverty, crime and underdevelopment. I also want to encourage you to access
the services offered by the Employee Health and Wellness Days arranged by the
Directorate Internal Human Capital Management.
There is a toll-free helpline available, which provides a host of
counselling support, ranging from personal relationship issues, debt
counselling, stress and anxiety issues, legal issues, to substance use and
HIV/AIDS. The directorate promotes a healthy lifestyle. During these opening
days a host of screening services are available, such as for blood pressure,
cholesterol checks and body mass index screening. Remember, prevention is
better than cure.
I want to take the opportunity to thank the Directorate: Internal Human
Capital Management, which has offered to me and the thousands of employees body
massages, reflexology and other healthy treats. The response from you to the
Wellness Days has been overwhelmingly appreciative, and I am informed that many
of you have requested for more Wellness Days. I understand that seven are
already planned for 2008.
We must always remember that the delivery of the curriculum remains our core
mandate, and the learner in the classroom is thus our key concern. All of us
have a critical role to play to ensure that our youth acquire the skills,
knowledge, values and attitudes needed to develop their own potential and
assist in placing our country on a sustainable and shared growth path. The year
2007 is coming to an end I wish you a happy and safe, holiday break. Please
enjoy your well-deserved holiday responsibly. For the many personnel who will
be working throughout the holidays and assist with the announcement of the
matric results, thank you very much.
Warm regards, enjoy and have a safe journey.
Contact:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Issued by: Western Cape Education Department, Western Cape Provincial
Government
7 December 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://wced.wcape.gov.za)
