A critical analysis of the role of school governing bodies in the recruitment, selection and transfer of educators in the Butterworth district

• Main Author: Sifuba, Mpilo
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Walter Sisulu University 2011
• Subjects: Teachers > Recruitment and selection > School governing boards
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/d1006494

Recruitment, selection and transfer of educators were decentralized after South Africa became a democratic state in 1994 and shifted to School Governing Bodies. The legislation promoted a shared governance and participation of parents in issues that are related to recruitment, selection and transfer of educators, but parents are struggling and facing challenges in performing these tasks as School Governing Body members especially in the Butterworth district, as a result of that Butterworth district is experiencing problems with increasing number of disputes resulting from the appointment of educators after they have been recommended by the School Governing Bodies. This study focuses on the recruitment, selection and transfer of educators in the Butterworth district of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study sought to reveal the thinking behind government insistence on giving the School Governing Bodies a responsibility to recruit, select and transfer educators knowing fully well that they do not perform this responsibility. A qualitative approach was used to explore and challenge this phenomenon. This approach is concerned with understanding social phenomenon from the participant’s perspective. In depth semi – structured interviews with open ended questions were used to bring the researcher more closer to a more plausible perspective of this phenomenon. Moreover, they were used because they are the most appropriate method to capture the data. The findings revealed that School Governing Bodies are faced with challenges such as: high level of illiteracy, manipulation of School Governing Bodies by school management, unions and candidates, the issue of regionalism and kickbacks, capacity building and empowerment and role played by the Departmental Officials. By conducting this study, we hope that the findings might contribute in identifying the disjuncture between the policy and the practice in issues pertaining to educator recruitment, selection and transfers.