WCED to Continue Successful Teaching Assistant Project in 2007

Due to initial indications of success, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has decided to continue with its Teaching Assistant project as part of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, to help improve the reading and mathematics skills of children in the Foundation Phase.

Said Education MEC Cameron Dugmore: "Ensuring that our children can properly read, write and calculate, is the number one priority for this department. We owe it to our children to give them a good foundation for all future learning.

"We said we would evaluate the project at the end of the year to determine whether or not it should be continued. Initial indications clearly give compelling reasons for us to continue.

"The evaluation conducted by the service provider "Creative Educational Learning Aids" states that all schools are experiencing successes in terms of better classroom management, progress of learners, reduced stress levels and absenteeism of teachers.

"The fact that learners who were unable to write their own names at the beginning of the project can do so now, is a major achievement. We have decided to continue the project and 510 Teaching Assistants will be working in at least 160 of our schools during 2007.

"I would like to pay tribute to our WCED officials, in particular the project manager Sandra Fortuin, for the sterling work that has been done. To our teachers and the 510 teaching assistants who worked so hard, a big thank you.

"Your efforts have made a real difference in the lives of our learners in 2006. I am making an earnest appeal to you to consider career in teaching.

"In addition to addressing the very basic needs of our learners, this project is creating jobs that meets the objectives of the President's Expanded Public Works Programme. It forms part of our Human Capital Development Strategy, which is part of the province's iKapa Elihlumayo strategy to 'grow and share the Cape'.

"I will be submitting a full report on the project to Minister Naledi Pandor."

Certificate Ceremony

Four-hundred and sixty-four Teaching Assistants (TAs) who have taken part in the teaching assistants course this year, have been awarded with certificates of attendance. Next year they will be eligible for a certificate accredited by the SA Qualifications Authority.

Today (Thursday 30 November) Education MEC Cameron Dugmore will be presenting 266 Teaching Assistants from Cape Town with their certificates, whilst 198 TAs from rural areas have already been awarded. The ceremony is to take place from 14h00 in the Athlone Civic Centre.

Initial reports have indicated that the Teaching Assistants were making a difference, but taking into consideration that the piloting was only from March to November, the intervention period was too short to see a huge increase in the literacy and numeracy levels in the 2006 Grade 3 assessment results.

This pilot project was carefully monitored to ascertain the effectiveness of the classroom support provided by the teaching assistants. EMDC Teaching Assistants Programme support teams as well as an external service provider conducted the monitoring and evaluation.

The teaching assistants attend several week-long training programmes during the course of the year, provided by the Further Education and Training (FET) colleges. They also attend organised orientation sessions with teachers, principals, professional support teams in EMDCs and officials, to ensure that everybody understood their the roles.

This project is part of a broader Literacy and Numeracy Strategy of the WCED, which saw the deployment of 510 TAs to 160 schools. Criteria for allocating TAs included schools in disadvantaged areas in nodal development zones; schools generally in poor areas; under-performance in literacy and numeracy; schools where learners are not learning in their home languages; and schools that actively help learners with learning difficulties.

The WCED has also allocated posts to selected schools offering inclusive education for learners with disabilities; also large classes, especially in the Foundation Phase; and multi-grade classes, which have more than 30 learners.

For enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za