SGBs now more powerful, says federation

AS school governing body elections approach across the country, stakeholders in education say the organisations are more powerful than ever before.

The upcoming elections will be held from March 1 until 31.

Graham Bam, provincial manager of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools, said the advent of democracy had brought changes to school governing bodies, but news headlines around hair and language policies may have encouraged more parents to take interest in school governance. He said, “controversial factors” such as codes of conduct and hair policies had piqued parents’ interest.

“Parents and students have become more aware of their rights and so they want to be part of school governing bodies of their schools.

“Public schools now belong to the communities in which they serve. It gives a lot of power to parents, more so than in the rest of the world,” Bam said.

He said although the SA Schools Act, established in 1996, had not undergone major amendments, there had been a growing interest in recent years.

On controversies over hair and language policy, he said schools in the province had “wake-up calls” in the last three years. “We learnt that all schools should take consultation from anybody that is involved, from hair to school uniform. Language policy is a very emotive subject at present.”

He said the result of the pending Constitutional Court case between Gauteng MEC of Education Phanyaza Lesufi and Overvaal could have a direct impact on schools in the Western Cape.

A governing body’s term runs for three years and members can be re-elected.