School governing bodies (SGBs) are important democratic structures and can be used as vehicles to transform the education system in South Africa.
The National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) has its roots in the broad democratic movement, and believes in the democratic importance of SGBs, as well as their potential to transform schools.
Registered as a non-profit organisation with the Department of Social Development, the NASGB’s objectives are expressed in the motto ‘Quality public education for all”. Our particular focus is on the needs and ambitions of the most deprived communities in the country.
We believe that the very existence of SGBs in all public schools is in itself a significant achievement, particularly in light of the historical fact that so many parents were deliberately marginalised from their children’s schooling by previous regimes.
But the workings of SGBs still suffer from the baggage left behind by apartheid. Poorer schools in black communities are often served by SGBs that struggle with technical planning, or with the complicated language of policy, because of gaps in members’ education. While some functions of governance don’t require formal education or training, quite clearly other functions do.
However, providing inadequate or irrelevant training for SGBs in needy communities only has a negative effect on the performance of our SGBs and undermines the democratisation of our education system.
The issue of financial resources is a huge burden for our poorer schools and it is totally unacceptable to put the burden for raising additional funds on SGBs that operate in impoverished communities.
In fact, all financial obstacles that hinder equal access need to be addressed by a coherent national campaign. A closer look needs to be given to other costs associated with education, including so-called ‘hidden” costs, such as school uniforms, sport equipment, excursions and so on.
Those who were privileged do not want to unlock the doors of learning. SGBs in some formerly white schools continue to charge exorbitant fees, apparently to maintain their so-called high standards.
In effect, though, this practice discriminates against poor parents, and makes the some schoos as inaccessible to the majority as it was during apartheid. While we may have shed the division of education along black-and-white lines, post-1994 has seen a new divide forming along class lines.
Beyond finance, the Department of Education needs to look closely at how working-class black parents are systematically marginalised from governance structures, such as SGBs, at formerly white schools. This can happen because school meetings, where decisions are made, are often held in the evenings — and these parents have to travel distances and don’t have their own transport. The language used in meetings also alienates these parents, who may already be uncomfortable with the culture and dynamics of the school.
There is a challenge for our lawmakers to find systematic ways of dealing with these issues without taking powers away from SGBs.
To date, the lawmakers have failed to handle this challenge on numerous occasions, resulting in the confrontations we have seen between the education departments and various SGBs, particularly those from formerly white schools.
Victor Mathonsi is the coordiantor of the NASGB