| Summary: | The preamble of the South African constitution clearly states. as one of its principles that it aims to:" lay foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people" Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). The Department of Education, through the South African Schools Act No 84 of 1996 aim to instil the principles of democracy, equity, equality and transparency in schools, as it provide for a "uniform system for the organisation, governance and funding of schools" SASA (1996). The large responsibility of managing and governing schools is in the hands of schools with the help from the Department of Education. It is for this reason that this study aims to explore the role and effectiveness of School Governing body as it carries this amount of responsibility mentioned above. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role and effectiveness of a School Governing Body of a rural high school in the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education and Culture. This investigation was done through interviews with the parent members of the School Governing Body to find out their perceptions of their roles and effectiveness in the SGB. Questionnaires were also administered to learner members, educator members of the SGB and the Staff Management Team of the school to evaluate their perceptions towards their roles, and roles of others in the SGB. The study also aimed to check on whether there are conflicting ideas amongst different member components of the SGB. The findings of this study have shown that there are differences in the understanding of roles to be played in the SGB. Learners, educators and SMT members feel that they play a positive role in the SGB whilst the parent members do not understand their roles, and this impact negatively on the effectiveness of the SGB. The study also showed that the low levels of literacy amongst parents disadvantage them in terms of their understanding of educational issues and how to perform required tasks, however good cooperation and understanding amongst member supplement the weaknesses of this SGB. The recommendations suggest the need for workshops and capacity development programmes to improve confidence amongst parents as well as to provide information to all SGB members. === Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.
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