Training School Governing Body Members in Three Rural Schools in Taung: Empowerment for Good Governance

Abstract The advent of democracy in 1994 brought democratic institutions and practices to all spheres of the South African society. Education in particular has since then experienced tremendous transformation. The South African Schools’ Act of 1996 for example makes provision for the establishment of democratic School Governing Bodies for all public schools in the country. Prior to 1994, principals and chiefs of rural communities handpicked school council members. The South African Schools’ Act (1996) therefore democratized school governance by giving schools back to the communities and making it mandatory for parents to serve on school governing bodies. The governing bodies are responsible for school governance issues and to support school principals and their management teams for the realization of quality education. As former teachers in rural schools these researchers have observed that School Governing Bodies in rural areas face many challenges. Since the realisation of educational goals depends very much on good governance and leadership the researchers selected three schools in the Greater Taung Area Project Office for pilot training. The researchers assumed that the training of the school governing body members in rural schools could reduce the challenges and empower them to be good governors.