Weak functioning of school governing bodies
School Governing Bodies (SGBs) were established in terms of the South African Schools Act to oversee administration and decide on the policies, rules and budget, among other things, implemented into schools. Each SGB is made of parents, teachers, members of staff and students of grades 8 and higher (Van Wyk, 2007). However, most SGBs are weak in functioning and are not able to make the best decisions to ensure a high quality of education for the students. Firstly, parents have limited time and cannot make time for meetings due to work and other commitments. Parents may also be unaware of their role and the importance of their role in the SGB, and may not treat it with importance or may not play their part to help improve the school. Parents will also have to pay the cost of taking leave and for transport to fufill their responsibility. Secondly, there might be members of SGBs who are more influential or more educated may play a more dominant role in every meeting (Asmal, 2003). One such member can be the principal of the school, due to his position of power, level of education compared to the other members like parents, first-hand access to the resources and situation at school and because its the principal that ultimately executes the final decisions. The presence of a more influential member may intimidate the other members, making them feel more inferior and intimidated to speak up, and this might affect the decisions made and delay the improvement of the school’s situation (Van Wyk, 2007).