support for schools, teachers and learners
2 October 2007
Western Cape Education Department has started implementing a new
departmental structure designed to improve service delivery to schools and to
ensure quality education for all. The WCED has completed the first phase of a
redesign process by appointing senior management responsible for implementing
the new structure over three years. The new senior management team reported for
duty on 1 October 2007.
The redesign project represents the first stage of the Human Capital
Development Strategy (HCDS) for the Western Cape, which involved investigating
whether the WCED has the capacity to implement the HCDS. The HCDS is a
cornerstone of iKapa Elihlumayo, the provincial government's Growth and
Development Strategy (GDS). The WCED has the core mandate of the provincial
government for Human Capital Development in the Western Cape.
The provincial Cabinet approved a new macro-structure of the WCED on 12
February 2007 and a new micro-structure on 28 August 2007. Key features of the
new micro-structure include strong circuit teams, led by Circuit Team Leaders.
The 49 circuit teams in eight districts will include curriculum advisors for
Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET), Special Needs Education (SNE) professionals
and advisors for Institutional Management and Governance (IMG).
District Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum advisors will work
across circuits. SNE professionals will include psychologists, social workers
and learning support advisors. The fact that we will allocate the bulk of the
resources to the districts and circuits, confirms our commitment to provide
quality education to all our learners. The allocation is based on a 25:75
split, where districts receive 75% of the resources and head office, 25%.
Our plans include the following:
* We plan to increase district staff by 69% to make it easier for districts
to bring support much closer to schools where support is needed the most, and
to improve the quality of education provided by these schools.
* We will improve the capacity of districts and circuits to support and develop
Institutional Management and Governance (IMG). We are reducing the number of
schools per IMG advisor from about 26 to about 15.
* We are increasing the capacity of districts to provide curriculum advice by
24% and special needs education by 16%.
* We are improving capacity for handling labour relations issues on the
district level and we are introducing a new post for strategy and support in
the districts.
* We are establishing new posts for Circuit Team Leaders, who will manage
multidisciplinary teams with skills ranging from management, governance and
administrative advice to special needs education and all levels of general
education and training. Further education and training advisers will work
across circuits.
* We are establishing new posts for School Enrichment Co-ordinators, to assist
schools with managing sport and cultural activities, as well as dedicated staff
to coordinate the integrated quality management system.
* We are paying special attention to Early Childhood Development (ECD) and
Adult Education and Training (AET). We will increase the number of posts for
ECD curriculum advice at district level by 700%, from one per district to
eight.
* We are increasing the number of curriculum advisers based in districts for
the Foundation Phase (grades one to three) by 96%, from 25 to 49, and the
intermediate and senior phases (grades four to seven) by 69%, from 52 to
88.
The increase in the number of Foundation Phase advisors will make it
possible to pay even greater attention to improving the literacy and numeracy
skills of learners in Grades 1 to 3. We are hoping that this will free time for
teachers and Learning Support Teachers to attend to other barriers to
learning.
The increase in the number of intermediate phase advisors will correct a
perceived bias towards support for the senior phase and further education and
training in schools. The increase in the number of social workers based in
districts will help to address social issues that confront so many of our
learners in poor communities, which prevent effective teaching and learning
from taking place. The increase in the number of assessment co-ordinators will
make it easier to manage assessment in each district.
The above steps are following extensive investigation and discussion with
stakeholders on how to develop a structure that will bring development support
much closer to schools. We have just concluded the first phase of senior
management team restructuring to implementing the microstructure over the next
three years. The new team reported for duty on Monday 1 October 2007, following
an intensive interviewing and appointment period, in July and August. We were
impressed by the high calibre of the applicants, from among existing staff and
from other centres.
Their enthusiasm for the project and their wish to join the WCED reflects
the high regard that many in the broad education community have for the
department and the confidence they have in our efforts to implement the Human
Capital Development Strategy for the Western Cape. To reiterate what we have
said before, the points of departure for the redesign of the WCED have been
that:
* the circuit is the most critical unit of organisation for delivery to
education institutions
* the district is the most critical unit of organisation for management
* the head office is the most critical unit of organisation for policy,
co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation.
The new SMS is now responsible for implementing the second phase, the
micro-design, which will bring development support much closer to schools via
districts and strong circuit teams. The Redesign Project has identified the
kind of support our schools, colleges and other learning institutions need to
ensure quality education for all. The WCED has increased the number of branches
in the macro structure from three to four, to improve capacity for
well-informed, well coordinated strategic planning and policy development,
while also restructuring existing branches to ensure a sharper focus on key
services.
We have also increased the number of districts from seven to eight, to match
municipal boundaries and to facilitate co-ordinated planning with other spheres
of government. Services provided by the new branch, strategy and planning will
include research, centralised management information, policy co-ordination,
planning and quality assurance.
The branch, Curriculum Management, will provide centralised capacity to
develop and co-ordinate curriculum development and support for general and
further education and training, as well as the growing functions of assessment
and examinations. The branch, Institution Development and Co-ordination, will
bring together the reporting lines of eight education districts and the
province's six FET colleges and will provide management and governance support
to both schools and colleges. The branch includes a Special Needs Education
Directorate and an Operational Support Directorate, to manage large-scale
infrastructure projects and programmes.
The branch, corporate services, is responsible for managing both human and
financial resources. Directorate names refer to human capital, to reflect the
WCED's special responsibility as a lead department responsible for human
capital development. The branch includes a directorate for departmental human
capital development, including the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute,
which will provide one of the main human capital development facilities for the
WCED.
We will invest R160 million over three years to implement the redesign
project, including set-up costs, which represents about 1,7% of the budget of
the third year of implementation. But I believe the return on this investment
in the form of improved quality of support will far outweigh the costs. We
could argue that we should be spending this amount on schools. We need to bear
in mind that we have been increasing expenditure on schools every year for the
past five years, while neglecting support structures. The time has now come to
improve support to schools to ensure a better quality of education for all.
For enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Cell: 082 550 3938
Fax: 021 425 5689
E-mail: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education, Western Cape Provincial Government
2 October 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
