Education

All schools in the province elected their school governing bodies during March and April 2015.

2. Between April and August 2015 the Circuit Managers at the district offices conducted the induction of the newly elected governors. The training focussed on roles and responsibilities, functions and composition of SGBs, developing a code for SGBs, the difference between management and governance, developing policies and whole school development. Recruitment and selection of staff also formed part of the induction training at selected schools that advertised posts in 2015.

3. No attendance certificates were issued to individual SGB members after attending the 2015 induction training. Certification will, however, be considered for the upcoming 2018 induction training (new SGBs will be elected in 2018).

4. There are many SGB members that visit schools periodically in order to support the principal, teachers and learners as per section 20(1)(e) of the SA Schools Act. This is done particularly by heads of SGB sub-committees, e.g. assets and properties, finance, environment and premises, extra-mural programme, human resources, discipline, IT, Risk management, Internal audit, etc. Please note that visits must be in accordance with agreed upon protocols and must be conducted in line with the functions of the SGB. No single member may visit a school simply because s/he has time and is not mandated by the entire SGB. We will assist SGBs and principals to adopt the necessary visitation protocols in 2017.

5. No reporting tool was developed for this purpose. However, the roles and responsibilities section of the induction programme does touch on what SGB members need to do if they choose to visit schools. They must, for instance, carry out what has been agreed to in a governing body meeting and should make an appointment with the principal. They may also not visit classes under any circumstances – this is the principal’s duty (section 16(3) of SASA). It must be noted, also, that the principal is obligated in terms of section 16A(1)(c)(ii)(bb) of SASA to table an academic performance improvement plan to the SGB, as well as provide a report on the professional management of the school (section 16A(2)(b) of SASA). The two provisions mentioned above therefore do not permit the SGB “to visit the school to observe the running of the school…”.

The WCED meets quarterly with School Governing Body Associations under the chairmanship of the Head of Department in order to afford them an opportunity to give their inputs on various educational matters as well as to be briefed on educational developments in the WCED. Furthermore, SGB Associations are free to submit recommendations to the HOD on matters of common interest in line with their legislative functions.