Abstract
D.Ed.
The primary aim of this research was to develop an appropriate management framework to manage education-business partnerships and partnership projects by: determining to what extent education-business partnerships and partnership projects could best be managed at all levels of education especially at the school level; and developing an appropriate framework for managing education business partnerships and partnership projects. In order to achieve the general aim of the research project the following
specific aims were investigated, namely to: describe and analyse what education-business partnerships are; describe the management of education-business partnerships and partnership projects as a component of education transformation; investigate a framework for managing education-business partnerships and partnership projects by reviewing the significant literature and examining the possibilities for the South African
context; investigate empirically the perceptions and perspectives of business and education in respect of managing education-business partnerships and partnership projects; and devise an appropriate management framework for effective education-business partnerships and partnership projects, and the application of it in practice.
The researcher has found that during his sojourn with the Mpumalanga Department of Education that there was no management framework in place to manage education-business partnerships and partnership projects. Neither in Mpumalanga Province nor in any other province are there best practices or benchmarks for managing partnerships. If there are then these are still very much in their infancy. In light of the above this research was conducted. Since 1994 the South African government has attempted to address the
legacy of apartheid through a number of policy documents and legislation. Central to these policies and legislation have been the issues of redress, equity, quality and access to education. Similarly, the South African government and especially the education departments (national and provincial) are exploring new, effective and efficient forms of service delivery. These have given rise to new forms of social cooperation in the form of partnerships. In the case of education, partnerships are viewed as creative, innovative, productive and practical responses to the challenges faced by the South African education system. Government in general and education in particular realise, that service delivery is not the exclusive preserve of government alone but that there is a need to engage business and civil society organisations in partnership to address these challenges. In particular, government needs to create a sustainable environment for
education-business partnerships to develop.