Education
With reference to the amount of R7 billion requested by the Department of Basic Education for allocation to 319 000 education and other assistants:
(a) How many of these assistants will be allocated to Western Cape schools, (b) what is the rand value of the roll-out in the province, (c) what are the criteria for the allocation, (d) what are the guidelines provided to provincial departments for the Education Assistance Programme (EducAP) in particular and (e) when is the programme expected to commence?
(a) 20 400. This is divided between Education Assistants (those supporting teachers in the classroom) and School Assistants (maintenance, care and support, cleaning, readers, IT support, administration)
(b) R814 291 million for the full project: R291 337 million for the salaries and training of Education and School Assistants, R521 745 million to provide salary relief to School Governing Body-appointed teachers in both public schools and government-subsidised independent schools, and R1.2 million for the provincial project team to manage the project.
(c) Each school (Public and Special Needs) is allocated a minimum of 2 Education Assistants.
- In allocating Education Assistants, provinces are to prioritise: (a) schools for learners with Special Educational Needs, (b) Quintile 1 - 3 and no fee schools; (c) schools with multi-grade classes; and (d) rural and township schools.
- Additional Education Assistants will be allocated as follows:
- Quintile 1 – 3 in a ratio of 1:72
- Quintile 4 – 5 in a ratio of 1: 147
- Allocation of Education Assistants will be capped at a maximum of 20 per school and at a minimum of 10 per school.
School Assistants will be allocated to Quintile 1 – 3 and no-fee schools in ratio of 1:76, with minimum of 2 School Assistants per school.
(d) Education Assistants must have a NQF4 (Matric) qualification, but preferably NQF7(degree), or unemployed graduates and teachers. School Assistants must have an NQF4 (Matric) qualification.
(e) The programme commences in November 2020 and appointments of the Education Assistants and School Assistants will last from 1 December 2020 until 31 March 2021.
