The influence of school proprietors on the roles and responsibilities of school governing bodies in church-owned schools in Lesotho

Abstract

The focus of this case study inquiry was to explore the influence of school proprietors on the roles and responsibilities of the School Boards (SBs) in church-owned secondary schools in Maseru. The samples consisted of SBs chairpersons, school principals, parents’ representatives, and teachers’ representatives in the SBs and educational secretaries from three church-owned secondary schools. Interviews were used to collect data. The findings of this study revealed that the perceived roles of proprietors were to develop the learners holistically including religious values and morals. The SBs managed human resources, physical infrastructure, and school funds, and policy implementation. The relationship between proprietors and SBs was both positive and negative. The proprietors influenced SBs through promoting religious values and morals and by ensuring achievement of their academic goals. The proprietors’ sense of ownership and the desire for maintaining quality education motivated them to monitor the functions of SBs’ in their schools.