The impact of the role of school governing bodies : a case study undertaken in the Gert Sibande district of Mpumalanga at Badplaas and Mashishila circuit schools

Abstract

This study explored the role of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in public schools in the Gert Sibande district of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It focused on executive members of the SGB of three institutions and their school principals, who play a key role in school governance. The study was conducted using three case studies with the pseudo names as: Lepogo, Nkwe and Tau schools. The executive members of the SGBs comprised the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Treasurer. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of their roles on the implementation of educational policies, including the South African Schools Act of 1996. The study used qualitative methodology in the form of conducting focus group interviews (see Annexure A), doing document analysis (see section 3.7.3) and making observations (see Annexure B) during the meetings with SGBs. The findings indicated that the SGB members who were interviewed had minimal knowledge of how their roles impacted on the schools that they governed. It was also clear from the interviews that the training they received on an ad hoc basis was insufficient. Furthermore, this training was also conducted by individuals who seemed to be unsure about how to interpret the school policies in SASA policy documents. With regard to sub-committees, such as the recently introduced Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) comprising all stakeholders in education; it was disappointing to find, based on the three schools which participated in the study, that this was ineffective, and no meetings were held after its formation. The study revealed that the school policies embodied in SASA documents and the Constitution of South Africa were not used effectively, in order to give proper guidance on how SGBs should execute their roles. Moreover, the study revealed that retired officials were given the task of training the trainers, who were then expected to train the members of the SGB, and this was ineffective. Finally, the study revealed that the principals were expected to represent their schools and simultaneously represent the Department of Education in an ex officio position. This was not working, since no person can serve two masters at the same time. Therefore, the study emphasised the need to appoint neutral people to deal with school governance and report directly to the HoD (see Figure 5.1). All stakeholders are important, but they need to respect boundaries. In conclusion, the recommendations and the proposed model were deliberately designed and structured to offer practical solutions to the problems discussed in the research findings. It is also important that the training should be accompanied by some kind of assessment, in order to determine whether or not the SGB members have understood what they were taught. Furthermore, there should be follow-ups to ascertain to what extent the SGB members have implemented what they were taught in their schools, which is not happening at present.