OUR COMPANY PROFILE

When Placements in Education was founded in 1994 by Alison Papenfus schools had never needed to use a Recruitment Agency to find teachers. Our first task was to persuade clients that they needed the service. From zero our current active client list has grown to

 
During 2008 our clients have included the Cambridge International Examinations Sydicate from the UK, St John’s College in Parktown, the American International School of Johannesburg and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley on Klip.

Our enquiry list (Clients who ask for staff regularly) contains over 400 names of schools in South Africa alone. Enquires are also received from Colleges and Universities, clients have included Damelin, Eden College, Boston College, Wits Tech, University of the Witwatersrand, Varsity College and projects of the University of Pretoria. Although this activity remains smaller than the placement of teachers, we have noticed a steady expansion and anticipate that this will continue.

In 2000 we began placing teachers in other African countries. We currently have clients in 5 African nations. We also serve clients in the Middle East, Far East and Continental Europe. This offers South African teachers the opportunity to travel and work – and return to South Africa with wide experience – which they pass on to the learners they teach.

During 2007 we opened “Foreign Desk” to assist teachers coming to South Africa with Quota Work Permits. Most of these teachers are currently coming from Zimbabwe. This project has interviewed and assisted over 100 teachers in 12 months, almost all of whom are now employed in schools.

During 2008 we have been invited to tender on a Department of National Education Contract to recruit foreign teachers for South Africa; we have also been invited to submit our names for the UNISA database to recruit lecturers, particularly foreign lecturers, for the University.

With the current teacher shortage beginning to effect even the best schools we believe that the services of Placements in Education will be more necessary than ever, and that business will continue to grow.

The first audit of Placements in Education was for the year ending February 2006 – the first full year of operation. The income figures since inception are shown on the graph below

Philosophy

We believe that excellent education has nothing to do with the colour of the educator or the learners, but everything to do with the quality of the work the educator will accept from the learners.

In seeking quality educators for our clients our staff check the recent work references carefully to assess the potential of the applicant, and when necessary interview applicants in our offices opposite Clearwater Shopping centre

Services

1. Database of Education Staff available
   Placements in Education maintains a custom designed database of around 1000 qualified educators throughout the year. When an institution requests an educator we will fax or e mail appropriate candidates to them, usually within 4 hours. There is no charge unless the educational institution appoints a candidate sent by Placements in Education.
   A Supply Staffing service also exists for short term vacancies of a week or two. Teachers offering these services are contracted to PIE and serve the school in a temporary capacity for the duration of the vacancy.
2. Advertising and Response Handling
3. Reference Checking
4. Assistance for Foreign teachers wishing to work in South Africa
    

PIE Staff

Alison Papenfus is the CEO and Director of Placements in Education. She holds an MSc and Higher Diploma in Education. She has 12 years high school teaching experience, including 2 years as a School Principal and 5 years as Director of an association of non-racial Independent Schools in Southern Africa during the apartheid era.

Primrose Mathe joined Placements in Education in 2001 and is the Chief School Consultant at Placements in Education. Primrose is studying for her B Com through UNISA.

Mpho Mphahlele> is our receptionist and Pre-school consultant, handling staff requests for Nursery Schools and other pre-schools.

Annette Richardson joined Placements in Education in 2001, and is the Accountant for the company.

We have outsourced various non-core functions empowerment companies.

Our staff are 50% black, 50% white; all are female.

Memberships

Placements in Education is a member of

• APSO, the Association of Personnel Service Organisations in South Africa, and
• Corporate member of ISASA, the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa

Internet Presence

We maintain 2 web sites
www.placementsineducation.co.za which lists vacancies in Education both in South Africa and overseas. This popular web site receives up to 350 hits per day from job seekers.
www.staffroom.co.za which will be launched soon and is only available to PIE clients. This web site will allow employers to browse our database of staff available and to request the Profile of staff who are able to start work at once - without contacting the PIE offices at all. Fees for this service will be discussed with the clients.

Legal Entity

Placements in Education is a registered Pty Company. The Proprietor is Alison Papenfus, who founded the company in 1994. The Company registration number and VAT Registration no. are in the heading of this document.

Our books are audited annually by Maritz Brouard Accountants. A copy of the audit for the year ending February 2007 is attached, and a trial balance to February 2008 is attached. A further trial balance for the period February to July 2009 is also attached.

Financial Results¹

Placements in Education serves schools; most staff appointments are made in January of the year, and very few staff are appointed after August annually. The income figures, broken down into quarters, reflect the cyclical nature of our income.

The graph indicates clearly that the majority of our income is received before July annually; Our major income sources in the third quarter are schools in the Middle East and Europe whose academic year starts in September. In the fourth quarter income is derived from appointments which begin in January of the following year.

Every effort has been made to control expenditure – our major expenses are phone costs and advertising; these are compared here to the figures for rent and salaries.

In 2006 (year 13 on the graph above) the decision was taken to move to Display advertising in the Star rather than classified adverts in a number of media. This decision has paid off in terms of quality of applicants and income, but there is an inevitable increase in the advertising costs. However, during this financial year a number of large clients have chosen to pay for their own display advert, while asking Placements in Education to handle the responses to the advert. We believe this trend will continue as applicants become more difficult to find.

During 2006 the task of collecting invoices became noticeably more difficult and this trend has continued. In 2008 the tightening of the economy has reduced the income of many schools, and we anticipate that debtors days will increase this year.

Budget March 2008-Feb 2009

A budget was prepared for this period, but increases in interest rates, food and fuel have already impacted it, and will continue to do so.

The Budget attached shows a decrease in Rent from September 2008. We are currently exploring the possibility of buying an office suite nearby, unfortunately the suite has tenants who will not move out before December this year, so the purchase is likely to be delayed.

Conclusion

We believe that the success of our nation in the future depends on quality education in our educational institutions today. State schools, colleges and universities are at the core of nation building, and it is essential that they succeed if our young people are to have the skills to enter our fast developing economy. Educators are an essential part of the process of nation building. We know how and where to find excellent educators for our Clients. Placements in Education is proud to be associated with the success of education at every Phase in South Africa.

¹All figures are drawn from the Annual Audits, copies of which are available on request.