Question NW235 to the Minister of Basic Education

Reply:

1. (a) 14 343 Students were granted bursaries from the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme in the 2016 academic year;

(b) Placement of Funza Lushaka graduates is an ongoing process as it part of the processes of the filling of posts in schools. As at the middle of February 2017, the placement status in each province was as follows:

PED	Placed	Unplaced	Total Allocation
Eastern Cape	433	128	561
Free State	294	6	300
Gauteng	810	44	854
KwaZulu-Natal	996	45	1 041
Limpopo	377	10	387
Mpumalanga	375	5	380
North West	216	0	216
Northern Cape	137	6	143
Western Cape	430	219	649
Grand Total	4 068	463	4 531

 

(2) The determination of the educator post basket for each province is an annual process which is determined by balancing both the curriculum needs and the available budget or affordability. An affordable post basket is then allocated accordingly also taking into account factors such as prevailing allocation levels and targeted learners to educator ratios. All posts are distributed to schools using the post provisioning model and there is no specific allocation for new teachers. It is also important to note that the process of declaring posts is subject to consultation with the Teacher Unions and School Governing Bodies.

(3) The National Department does not routinely collect this operational data as it is not required to report on the indicators prioritised for monitoring at national level. The information will be requested from provinces and supplied accordingly once obtained.

(4) The standard practice for tax calculation is to calculate tax based on a monthly salary. This is to ensure income is placed in an appropriate tax bracket.