Abstract
M.Ed.
The dawn of a democratic political dispensation in South Afiica brought along many
challenges of which education was the most distinctive. The Limpopo Province just as
the other provinces also implemented a democratic school governing system in public
schools. The main idea or intention was that such a governing system should
systematically improve the culture of teaching and learning in schools and that
schools could gradually be transformed. Even though democratic elected governing
bodies are in tact, there is however a great lack of managerial competence, especially
amongst the parent component of the school governing body. The Department of
Education however did not take cognisance of the important role of effective and
sufficient training of members serving on school governing bodies. It stands to reason
that, if undivided attention is not being given to this aspect of management
competence, which requires effective training, that effective education will not
prevail. There is a great concern about the school governing bodies that does not fulfil
their roles and functions effectively as prescribed by the South Afiican Schools Act of
1996.
The emphasis of this study is on the management competence of parents serving on
school governing bodies. The aim of this study is thus to investigate the management
competence of parent members serving on school governing bodies as determined by
the law. The quantitative research method was used to determine the perceptions of
certain parents with regard to management competence and management competence
development.
A structured questionnaire consisting of30 items were distributed to 200 parent
members serving on school governing bodies in the Limpopo Province and
90% of the respondents completed the questionnaires. The nature of the target group
was thus comfortable, polygenetic and representative of parents in the Limpopo
Province. The 30 items were designed to test the perceptions of parents from various
groups as to determine the level of their management competence within the
perimeters of parent members serving on school governing bodies.
Successive first and second order factor analytic procedures were used to determine
the construct validity of the questionnaire. The procedure used resulted in the 30 items
being reduced to three factors namely:
• Factor 1, consisting of 11 items that was named policy implementation
competence with a Cronbach-alpha-reliability coefficient of0,920.
• Factor 2, consisting of 10 items that was called learning support
involvement with a Cronbach-alpha-reliability coefficient of0.920.
• Factor 3, consisting of9 items that was dubbed effective financial
management with a Cronbach-alpha-reliability-coefficient of0,919.
The reliability coefficient was exceptionally high in all three instances, which
confirms the validity of the data.
A literature study was undertaken on various aspects with regard to management
competence. The following management competencies were investigated:
management of educational policy, management of organisational cultures,
management of educators, management of physical and financial resources,
motivational strategies and school climate.
The empirical findings resulted in the fact that effective schools in the Limpopo
Province are dependent on effective policy implementation, effective learning support
involvement and effective financial management.
In addition, another finding resulting from the research was the fact that management
competence is a prerequisite for an effective school. The implication is however that,
all stakeholders in education have a moral obligation to create a participative
environment in order to assure effective education.
One of the recommendations resulting from the study is that effective training of
parent members serving on school governing bodies should be regarded as an
imperative prerequisite for the management of quality education.
The research was concluded with a chapter on findings, results and recommendations.