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Abstract
Numerous research studies have examined the efficiency and efficacy of school governing bodies (SGBs) in managing finances in South African public schools. Findings show that in many non-fee schools, SGB members lack the financial expertise to find solutions to practical problems. The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 does not make provision for school management teams (SMTs) as agencies to be represented on SGBs. Principals, by virtue of their authority, are members of SGBs, while other SMT members may be elected to serve on SGBs as teacher representatives. Using a qualitative approach within a phenomenological design, this study investigated the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders about the role of SMTs of non-fee schools in financial management. Semi-structured interviews with 16 participants were used to gather data, which were then inductively analysed to identify themes and sub-themes. The findings revealed that many non-fee schools have not made tangible efforts to promote collaboration between SMTs and SGBs. As a structure, SMTs are not permitted to attend SGB meetings and are thus denied addressing pertinent financial issues to govern schools effectively.
Keywords: collaboration; policy formulation; policy implementation; professional management; school governance; school management teams
1. Introduction and background to the study
The framework that underpins the governance of public schools is the South African Schools Act (hereafter referred to as Schools Act) (RSA, 1996b), which accentuates aspects such as stakeholder engagement, shared accountability, and collective decision-making (Kruger et al., 2022). School governing bodies (SGBs) must manage school budgets, create and implement policies, strategise, and ensure effective school governance (King & Mestry, 2023). According to Sections 23 and 24 of the Schools Act, the SGB comprises parents who must be in the majority, educators, non-teaching staff, and secondary school learners (Mncube, 2009). SGBs must develop and implement policies to cover all aspects of school governance, such as addressing school improvement, managing finances, maintaining learner and teacher discipline, procuring and managing learning and teaching support materials (LTSM) and maintaining the school's infrastructure. Thus, SGBs must communicate effectively with stakeholders such as teachers, parents, learners and provincial education department (PED) officials (Van Wyk & Marumoloa, 2012).
The Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM) (DBE, 2016) and the Schools Act (RSA, 1996a) define school management teams (SMTs) as school leaders...