Speaker, the question relates to the President's announcement of the Remuneration Commission. The reply is that the review of the remuneration and conditions of service of teachers will form part of the work of the Presidential Remuneration Commission.
It is premature to discuss whether the salaries would go up or down or in any other direction, or whether they would be adjusted, and other related norms. So, we have to wait for the commission. That is why we have a commission to be able to advise us otherwise.
The second question concerns absenteeism. Following the study on teacher absenteeism that was done in 2009, all provincial education departments have focused their attention on leave management. Particular emphasis is on improving the management and administration of normal sick leave and temporary incapacity leave, given that sick leave was found to be one of the areas accounting for significant incidents of absence.
This also includes strict application of leave without pay in instances where educators are absent without a valid reason or are unable to produce the relevant documentation. As a department, in conjunction with the Department of Public Service, we are considering improving the current paper-based system to monitor and to improve attendance through an ICT system which will be more reliable and effective, providing information timeously. Thank you.