In his article entitled ”How far have we come?”, Professor Jonathan Jansen raises the point that the first decade of democracy was successful in ”opening the doors of learning and culture, but is unable to really influence what is going on behind the doors”.
I agree wholeheartedly with this point, in view of my personal experience as a parent whose children attend a public Section 21 (formerly Model C) school. Jansen states that ”changing the institutional culture of schools is extremely difficult”. This, in my experience, is the understatement of the decade.
As a parent, I have concertedly been involved in my children’s school. Initially I thought it would be relatively easy to bring about change because we have legislation and policy on the side of transformation — but how naive can a person be? I soon realised that it takes much more than hard work to make any significant change.
It has been a tough battle to get on to the school governing body (SGB). While the school has a 58% majority black learner community, the governing body is 77% white. The SGB was elected, after two unsuccessful meetings to get a quorum, with the help of ”proxy votes”. The white members of the SGB sit on the most powerful committees — namely legal, finance and appointments — while the only two black parents on the body are part of the parent liaison committee. Although the legislation allows for co-option to get more black parents involved on the SGB, this measure was used to co-opt a white woman to take the minutes.
The SGB functions in a completely non-transparent manner. Important policy decisions — including religious practice and developing a mission statement — are decided by the SGB without consulting the broader parent community. Although the chairperson during his election speech promised to get more parents involved in the school, very little has been done except for the parent liaison committee inviting parents to be part of a play.
The government, through the provincial department of education, monitors the implementation of legislation and policy via district offices. The principal told us explicitly that the district office is very happy with the performance of the school. The school, in our view, is in breach of a number of Department of Education policies:
According to the principal, the district office gave the school permission to run these dual systems because lots of money was spent on prefect badges. Presently the school is contemplating changing the name of the SRC to the RCL, and prefects will be called ”disciplinary leaders”. However, the election of a RCL will be done in the same way as that of the SRC.
It is too early to make a judgement, but the training for the SRC was through a ”veld school” experience where the leaders went through a ”Kamp Staaldraad” kind of training camp.
Section 21 schools are generally found in areas that are in opposition to the ruling party. Schools are often seen as areas of struggle.
For example, in a by-election in our area for the local government seat during 2003, 14 political parties contested one seat, with the Democratic Alliance winning the election with 60% of the vote. In the recent national election of 2004, the DA was again the majority party.
When a new school policy on religion was discussed, the African Christian Democratic Party mobilised parents to vote for people on the SGBs that would ensure the schools in our area keep their Christian character and ethos.
At our school the SRC and prefects (with support from the SGB members, the principal and some teachers) mobilised learners to sign a petition asking the minister of education to allow them to continue with Christian prayers.
It is clear that parents who really want to see institutional change need to take an active part in the transformation of the culture at their schools.
It is imperative that they mobilise to become a pressure group for change. Sometimes parents feel that if they rock the boat too much, their children will be victimised by the school.
This is always a difficult choice, particularly with children in high school. However, a parents’ movement to ensure that institutional change happens at Section 21 schools is urgently needed.
Learners and teachers who strive for a non-racial, non-sexist curriculum and real social integration have the opportunity to ensure that legislation, policies and practices are implemented in their school, and should form alliances with parents who have similar ideals.
The provincial department of education should take its monitoring role far more seriously and, in particular, focus on areas where there are cosy relationships between district officials and Section 21 schools.
Provincial departments should themselves supervise elections of SGBs, particularly where there has been a history of lack of transformation, and should continue to monitor those who are co-opted and why — as well as make sure the processes have been open and transparent.
The department should also find ways of communicating with parents in the wider community other than by way of circulars, the SGBs and the school — especially because, in some cases, the information doesn’t seem to reach the majority of parents.
Joe Samuels is Director of Standards Setting and Development at the South African Qualifications Authority
