THE SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

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CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

This chapter is devoted to the review of literature on the impact of the role played by School Governing Bodies in the running of schools in general and South Africa in particular. It does so by first discussing the school governance system. The following countries have been selected for the comparative part of the study: England, Canada and Zimbabwe.
Bantu Education was introduced in 1953 in accordance with the Bantu Education Act (No.47 of 1953). Its introduction was the result of a report by the Eiselen Commission, commissioned by the then Minister of Education, Dr HF Verwoerd, in 1949, to investigate the status of education in the country.
The segregation of the education system on the basis of race and colour was accompanied by adjustments to the per capita expenditure on learners, school governance structures and many other issues involving schools. According to Steyn et al., (2011:22) resistance against Bantu Education by Black education leaders, teachers and learners led to school boycotts and protests which challenged segregated education, rejected Bantu or Apartheid education as unequal and illegitimate, and culminated in the 1976 Soweto riots that spread throughout the country (see also 2.3.3 in this regard).
In order to discuss and show the impact of the role of School Governing Bodies, international experience and its influence on governance in the Republic of South Africa, School administration by School Boards, School committees, the Soweto Parent’s Crisis Committee, the National Crisis Committee and the School Governing Body are presented.

THE SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

Introduction

In the section, the history of the school governance structures in South Africa are discussed. The schools was administered under the so called:
(a) School Boards
(b) School Committees
(c) The Soweto Parents Crisis Committee
(d) The National Education Crisis Committee
(e) The School Governing Body.
The researcher decided to address each school governing structure in terms of its origin, composition, achievements and failures before moving to the introduction of the School Governing Bodies (SGBs).

School administration by school boards, school committees, the Soweto parents crisis committee the national crisis committee and the school governing body

School boards

Before the establishment of school boards, South African education was run by missionaries (churches), provincial education departments and a minimal number of private schools. Schools under provincial education departments taught the same syllabus to learners, regardless of race. Duma, Kapueja and Khanyile (2011:45), report that “the South African school governance in the past was in accordance with race distinctions”. In other words, the school governance structure was divided according to different racial groups within the South African population.
This was done during the era when South Africa was still under British rule and known as the Union of South Africa. The administration of Black education was a provincial responsibility until 1953 when the Bantu Education Act was passed, and the control of African schooling was transferred to the Union Department of Native Affairs.
When the National Party came into power in 1948, it introduced the concept of Apartheid, which involved the development of separate homelands for different racial groups as well as separate amenities for different racial groups. Given the primarily rural environments in which homelands were situated, the kind of education which had been the norm up to that time was considered as too “bookish” an affair, too “academic”, and too far removed from the everyday needs of African people.
(a) The origin and development of school boards
School boards were constituted through the grouping together of some school committees by their proximity to one another. The authorities appointed a person who served as secretary of the school board, and such school boards had to coordinate the work of the school committees under their jurisdiction and ensure that policies, which were formulated by the education authorities, were implemented at schools through the school committees.
In order to control Black schools, education authorities (mainly White officials) were given absolute power to nominate and appoint members of school committees. In rural areas, some headmen and chiefs were also delegated with limited powers to appoint individuals to serve on school committees. Some school committees were not democratically elected.
The duties and functions of the school committees/boards were restricted as they were not consulted and represented when educational policies, which affected their children, were formulated (Duma et al., 2011:45). They were merely responsible for the implementation of policies handed down to them by education officials and could be removed by the same education officials, with no access to any form of representation.
(b) Contributions of school boards to the education system Some church organisations and political parties, such as the African National Congress (ANC), vehemently opposed the work of the school boards. After the introduction of the Bantu Education Act, some teachers resigned to pursue other interests, while others were forced into exile. Those who opposed the Act were merely fired, with no option of any form of representation. In this regard, according to Rakometsi (2008:93), Verwoerd, the then Prime Minister of the country, made a veiled threat to teachers during his speech to the Senate:
“I wish to express the hope that teachers will not fail in this (that is, in accepting their duties as laid down in the Act) because for teachers who are not faithful in this regard there is no place in the service of the Bantu Education Department”.
The changes made to the education delivered to Black children, designed to prepare its recipients for servitude, was of inferior quality. School boards merely facilitated the passing on of elementary numeracy and literacy skills to Black children, which is why, during the period of existence of the school boards, most Black children dropped out of school. Those who persevered became clerks, police officers, nurses or teachers. However, professions such as medicine, engineering and others were reserved for Whites.
The contribution of these limited power accorded to school boards contributed to the provision of inferior education, the results of which are even now reflected in the alarming rate of illiteracy among Black adults (especially those who were of school-going age throughout the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties).

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.5 THE RESEARCHER’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, OBSERVATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS AND PRESUMPTIONS
1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
1.7 DATA ANALYSIS
1.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.10 DELIMITATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.11 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.12 EXPOSITION OF THE CHAPTERS
1.13 SUMMARY
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2. THEORIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO SCHOOL GOVERNANCE IN RELATION TO SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLING SYSTEM.
2.3 CONTRIBUTIONS OF SCHOOL GOVERNANCE TO SASA
2.4 SUMMARY
CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 THE SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM
3.3 A UNITED SINGLE EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR ALL
3.4 SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY IN RSA
3.5 THE IMPACT OF THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL IN THE EDUCATION OF LEARNERS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE SGBs
3.6 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF SGB EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
3.7 STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS CONFRONTING SGBs IN THEIR ROLE OF OVERSIGH REGARDING THE GOVERNANCE OF THE SCHOOL
3.8 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
3.9 SUMMARY
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESEARCH APPROACH
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 POPULATION AND SAMPLE
4.5 METHODS USED FOR DATA COLLECTION
4.6 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF QUALITATIVE DATA
4.7 ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH
4.8 SUMMARY.
CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE
5.3 FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY
5.4 SUMMARY
CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
6.3 CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM FINDINGS
6.4 INTEGRATED SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY MODEL
6.5 SUMMARY OF INTEGRATED SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY MODEL
6.6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
6.7 SUMMARY
6.8 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
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