Parents, together with the learners, are the customers and therefore major stakeholders of schools. The management of performance is vital for these stakeholders to ensure the most effective application of their resources. Therefore, this research on how SGBs and SMTs in Section 21 Schools apply performance management, at school level, to ensure effective management of the school and its resources was undertaken. Other key questions were: Which performance management tools do these schools use and what are the perceived benefits, gained by the application of performance management at school level?
The research was supported by a detailed literature review covering education in South Africa, performance management and the available frameworks to evaluate the application of performance management and to gain a base for the analysis of the empirical data. Qualitative research was chosen as the preferred method of research since this was an exploratory study and qualitative research allowed key factors to emerge. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants in order to obtain insight into the application of performance management and participants‟ perspective of the benefits gained by applying performance management. Interviews were conducted with the principals and a parent representative of each of the SGBs at these schools. An interview guide was used to guide the interviews.
The findings showed that all the schools under investigation made use of the Integrated Quality Management System. Participants however agreed that this system was not adequate and they needed to add their own performance management tools in order to maintain their current performance and position as prestigious schools. Although all participating schools were using some form of benchmarking, setting goals and targets, measuring learners‟ performance on all activities and measuring learners‟ behaviour, the findings also revealed that most of the schools did not implement a formal system covering all the dimensions of a school. It was evident from the findings that most of the participating schools benefitted from the application of performance management in the form of effective management and personnel development. Findings from the evaluation of the performance management systems revealed that the implementation of performance management systems is seldom carried through to the final stages and information is not always used to draft strategy in order to improve performance.
It was concluded that SGBs and SMTs of the participating schools complied with some requirements indicated in literature to apply performance management systems. However most of the methods or systems are not fully implemented and there are many shortcomings. The findings suggested that the Integrated Quality Management System is reviewed by the Department of Basic Education. Furthermore, it also suggested that schools need to create formal procedures and policies in order to ensure the complete and effective application of performance management and establish a clear link between performance measures and the overall strategy of the school. The study also suggested that the schools‟ management have to design a performance management system, incorporating all the dimensions of their school and refrain from focusing only on incentives. / MCom (Management Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/10501 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Booyse, Nicolaas Johannes |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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