Abstract
Abstract : In an effort to redress the past imbalances and/or inequities created by the apartheid regime, the post-1994 government introduced various policies that are aimed at narrowing the gap of unfairness in the allocation of state funds. The government introduced, amongst others, the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) that is aimed at bringing equity and fairness in the process of allocating funds to public schools. The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 outlines the roles and responsibilities of school governing bodies (SGB) and also contains directions on how to regulate and manage school funds. The South African Schools Act states that the SGB is responsible for managing the finances of a school. However, the SGB rely much on school principals to fulfil their financial roles and responsibilities. One of the reasons that the SGB rely on the school principal is due to their lack of knowledge and skills, to control the school funds effectively and efficiently. The reason for engaging in this study is to determine how school management teams (SMTs) of no-fee public schools can be empowered to actively participate in school financial management. SMTs in this study will only refer to the heads of department (HoDs) and to the deputy principal. The school principal is viewed as a separate entity although part of the SGB. A generic qualitative study within an interpretivist paradigm and guided by systems theory as a theoretical framework were used in this research. A sample consisting of sixteen participants were purposely selected from two primary schools and two secondary schools. The schools that were selected were all no-fee public schools. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The documents that were analysed included the school financial policy, audited school financial statements and minutes of SGB and SMT meetings. The participants in this research included the school principal, the SGB chairperson, deputy school principal and one HoD in each of the four schools identified. The qualitative data collected was analysed through identifying key themes and sub-themes. The study revealed that the perceptions, understanding and experiences of the role of SMTs in financial management differ in schools. Also, there is no collaboration between the members of the SGBs and SMTs when managing school financial resources. This is because school principals and SGB parent governors jointly assume the role of school financial management...
M.Ed. (Educational Management)