Learner governors' understanding and experiences of their role in school governance.

Abstract

The advent of democracy introduced a number of policies one which is the South African Schools Act (SASA) no.84 of 1996 which was aimed at redressing imbalances of past. With the introduction of SASA, learners were then afforded a space to participate in school governance. This study explored views held by learner governors from two rural Secondary Schools in northern KwaZulu-Natal regarding their understanding and experiences of their role in the School Governing Body. Literature reviewed in this study demonstrated that learner participation in SGB is still confronted with many challenges even though we are more than a decade into democracy. This study adopted qualitative research design and case to explore indepth data from the learner governors. An interpretivist paradigm was used to collect data about their lived experiences and understanding regarding their role in school governance. Data was generated through semi structured interviews and observation of SGB meetings. The study revealed that learner governors did not understand their roles as set out in the SASA and are not supported by either the Department of Education.