The aim of the study was to investigate participants’ views on the role of school
governing bodies (SGBs) in enhancing school effectiveness in South African schools
with a view to promoting learners’ sustainable academic achievement.
The study was undertaken at ten (10) South African schools in the Western Cape
*Province in South Africa, in a metropolitan area. The study adopted the case study
as the principal research design, and it was informed by the mixed methods paradigm;
thus, qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. Non-probability and
probability sampling techniques were used for the selection of the site of study and the
participants.
A representative sample of 189 participants was used from a target population of 567
participants. The study was informed by multiple theories. The study found that most
of the participants perceived maladministration and mismanagement of the SGBs as
a major problem affecting the governance in most public schools in South Africa. It
was found that the adoption of a vibrant and robust school governance strategy is the
solution/panacea to solving this persistent problem of a lack of proper governance in
schools.
The introduction of a school governance education and regulatory framework for the
SGBs was singled out to be the ‘pivotal’ strategy that policy-makers should adopt to
strengthen the role of the SGBs. It was further established that the role of the SGBs in
South African schools should be strongly supported by a multi-agency response to
enhance the effective running of the education system to propel learners’ academic
achievement.
The study findings further revealed that the SGBs in South African schools lack the
necessary assumed or anticipated knowledge regarding school governance. The
study has the potential to contribute to the scholarly literature on how the SGBs can
be supported to enhance effectiveness in South African schools and improved
academic achievement. An analysis of global experiences and best practices revealed
some new insights which could improve the functioning of the SGBs in South African
schools. It also emerged that training trainers or educating teachers and other stakeholders can help capacitate individuals and transform South Africa’s basic
education.
The study concluded that school governing bodies are an indispensable entity in
education and require the necessary backing by multi-stakeholders. Therefore, there
is a need to strengthen the local school governance strategies and support existing
mechanisms currently being employed in South African schools to successfully
provide an environment that supports learners’ sustainable academic achievement.
In line with the above, the study recommends the resourcing of the SGBs to assist
them in executing their mandate. In addition, the study recommends further research
in this seemingly grey area to contribute to the knowledge body regarding instituting
good school governance in South African schools. / Educational Management and Leadership / Ph. D. (Education Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27030 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | King, Alice Ayanda Kayakazi |
| Contributors | Lekhetho, Mapheleba |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiii, 308 leaves) : color graphs, application/pdf |
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