❓ Hon Adele Farina asks about the accuracy of combining figures for education assistants and special needs education assistants provided in previous QoNs, to which the Minister confirms the risk of double-counting and provides FTE data instead.
AnsweredQoN 4235Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) The Minister’s answer to question on notice No. 2996, provides separate figures for education assistants and special needs education assistants. To get a total number of education assistants and special needs education assistants by headcount, would it be appropriate to simply add together the numbers in the two columns, or is there a risk of double counting? (2) If there is a risk of double counting, will the Minister provide the total number of education assistants and special needs education assistants, by headcount, at each of the schools listed in question on notice No. 2996, for the same date specified in the answer? (3) The Minister’s answer to question on notice No. 4004, provides separate figures for education assistants and special needs education assistants. To get a total number of education assistants and special needs education assistants by headcount, would it be appropriate to simply add together the numbers in the two columns, or is there a risk of double counting? (4) If there is a risk of double counting, will the Minister provide the total number of education assistants and special needs education assistants, by headcount, at each of the schools listed in question on notice No. 4004, for the same date specified in the answer?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 September 2016
Responded by
Minister for Education
Response time
29 days
1. Yes. In the response to QON 2996, the columns that include "total education assistants" in their title include all types of education assistants, including special needs education assistants. It would be double-counting to add the staff numbers listed under "total education assistants" and "special needs education assistants", as the latter is a sub-group of the former.
The response to question on notice No. 2996 provided data for schools in the Southwest education region, while the response to question on notice No. 4004 provided data for schools in the South West electoral region.
2. Refer to tabled paper for average paid FTE January to August in 2015 and 2016 for education assistant staff in schools in the South West education region.
For the eight months from January to August 2016, the Department has employed an average 825 FTE education assistants in the Southwest education region, which is 56 FTE or 7.3% higher than the same period in 2015.
FTE measurements take into account the paid workload of each employee converted to a percentage of a fulltime employee. Further, because staffing levels can fluctuate significantly throughout a year, due to the timing of vacation periods, it is more accurate to report average FTE levels over a number of pay periods. Caution should be used when using headcount data at a single point in time during the year.
Under the Student Centred Funding Model, principals are responsible for determining the proportion of their one-line budgets to spend on salaries, and for determining the types and numbers of staff to employ.
3. Yes. There is a risk of double-counting if the numbers in the two columns are added together, as some staff may be employed as both a (mainstream) education assistant and a special needs education assistant.
4. Double-counting will occur when using headcount as a measure due to having the same staff member in both roles for mainstream and special needs. This double-counting can be avoided by using an average FTE measure instead.
Refer to Tabled paper for average paid FTE January to August in 2015 and 2016 for education assistant staff in schools in the South West electoral region.
For the eight months from January to August 2016, the Department has employed an average 1,088 FTE education assistants in the South West electoral region, which is 61 FTE or 5.9% higher than the same period in 2015.
The response to question on notice No. 2996 provided data for schools in the Southwest education region, while the response to question on notice No. 4004 provided data for schools in the South West electoral region.
2. Refer to tabled paper for average paid FTE January to August in 2015 and 2016 for education assistant staff in schools in the South West education region.
For the eight months from January to August 2016, the Department has employed an average 825 FTE education assistants in the Southwest education region, which is 56 FTE or 7.3% higher than the same period in 2015.
FTE measurements take into account the paid workload of each employee converted to a percentage of a fulltime employee. Further, because staffing levels can fluctuate significantly throughout a year, due to the timing of vacation periods, it is more accurate to report average FTE levels over a number of pay periods. Caution should be used when using headcount data at a single point in time during the year.
Under the Student Centred Funding Model, principals are responsible for determining the proportion of their one-line budgets to spend on salaries, and for determining the types and numbers of staff to employ.
3. Yes. There is a risk of double-counting if the numbers in the two columns are added together, as some staff may be employed as both a (mainstream) education assistant and a special needs education assistant.
4. Double-counting will occur when using headcount as a measure due to having the same staff member in both roles for mainstream and special needs. This double-counting can be avoided by using an average FTE measure instead.
Refer to Tabled paper for average paid FTE January to August in 2015 and 2016 for education assistant staff in schools in the South West electoral region.
For the eight months from January to August 2016, the Department has employed an average 1,088 FTE education assistants in the South West electoral region, which is 61 FTE or 5.9% higher than the same period in 2015.
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