Challenges in the implementation of whole school evaluation at secondary schools in the Libode District, Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of Whole School Evaluation (WSE) policy in the Libode District, Eastern Cape Province (ECP). The ECP consists of 23 districts with different learner performance levels. Libode is one of the districts in ECP with poor learner performance. The qualitative case study was used to examine the role of the stakeholders in implementing WSE policy. The empirical research was done through the semi-structured interviews with district and provincial education officials, open-ended interviews with School Management Teams (SMTs) and documents from sampled schools were analysed. The findings suggested that there was a concern in the implementation of WSE in secondary schools; they are not implementing the School Self-Evaluation (SSE). This suggested that there was a need for training schools on how to conduct SSE. The stakeholders were not conversant about the policy and inevitably not performing their roles as stipulated in the policy. This suggested clarity and redefining of roles of the stakeholders and capacity building. There were systemic barriers in the implementation of WSE policy. That implied provision of human and financial resources and accountability of the role players in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the policy. In conclusion, the findings and recommendations in this study will provide valuable contribution to the implementation of WSE in Libode secondary schools.