Abstract
M.Ed.
The year 1976 rung a bell of education pandemonium in the Republic of South
African schools to the entire world. Every South African citizen was puzzled as to
what remedy could be administered in South Africa to re-normalize this situation.
The Education System was collapsing and worsening day by day. Schools were
burnt down, physical facilities either stolen, broken or never supplied.
The 1994 first elections that included all South African citizens was hailed as a
step towards the right track to restoring school effectiveness. A spark of hope
was lit that physical facilities would be provided to schools and the culture of
learning and teaching would be restored and learners pass rate improved. The
poor grade 12 results, however attested to the deeply embedded problems of
schools ineffectiveness caused by the huge backlogs at schools in respect of
toilets, text books and stationery, furniture, administration blocks and security
fences which was inherited from the apartheid regime. Every caring citizen
wondered whether: Sufficient toilets provision could render schools effective;
Provision of the necessary textbooks and stationery could promote school
effectiveness;
Furniture supply to schools could improve school effectiveness; Erection of administration blocks could contribute positively towards school
effectiveness;and
Provision of security fence could make schools effective.
These wonderings were prompted by both educators and learners who,
whenever on strikes, demanded and cited scarcity of these facilities as
contributing to the burdens of schools ineffectiveness. This anormally led to this
research conducted to investigate what in actual fact constitutes school
effectiveness. Literature survey has unearthed the underpinning problems of shortage of
physical facilities. The Mpumalanga Department of Education gives
much attention to salaries for personnel which tendency culminates into the
continued backlog in provisioning of physical resources to schools, thus
rendering them ineffective. Budgetary constraints is the single major contributory
factor to this plight.
Empirical findings have exhumed educator's perceptions regarding these
physical facilities. The empirical findings have clustered all five facilities under
three factors namely : accountable collaborative management, which enjoyed
preference over other factors, namely: open democratic management and
normative management. Both the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of
Education in collaboration with the Non-Governmental Organization could play a
vital role in rescuing this situation. In fact, stakeholders with vested interest in
education could be the answer to this problem. Democracy, amongst other
meanings, implies joining hands by everyone in solving whatever social problem
in the society.