Abstract
M.Ed.
The existing governance system in our schools received criticism for its
failure to accommodate parents, teachers students and other social forces
in the governance process.
One of the demands made by teachers, parents, students and political
organisations to the education authorities was the replacement of previous
school management systems of parents' committees with the Parent-
Teacher-Student Association (PTSA). It is, however, a matter of uncertainty
whether the inclusion of parents, teachers and students in school
governance will bring about quality governance of schools, because
institutions which allow democratic participation do not necessarily
guarantee quality governance.
Therefore, the establishment of a PTSA as a democratic school governance
body needs to be researched thoroughly before it can be implemented by all
the schools. This study attempts to research the views of all stakeholders
on the implementation of PTSA's. For this purpose four focus group
interviews were conducted with parents, teachers, principals and students.
Information gathered from these interviews, supported by the available
literature, is used to draw up guidelines for the implementation of a PTSA.
Guidelines pertaining to the following were developed:
The constitution. This was regarded as extremely important by the
respondents.
Involvement of affected parties. The proposed governance structure
will only be accepted if all affected parties are involved. Training of stakeholders. Taking part in school governance requires
certain skills which not all stakeholders may ipso facto possess.
Training is therefore necessary.
Duties of the PTSA. Various duties were identified.
Difficulties in the implementation of the Association.
In conclusion, limitations of the study were pointed out and topics for
further research were identified.
In the interest of quality education it seems imperative that the government
should consider the development of a constitution for Parent-Teacher-
Student Associations as a matter of priority.