You saw in the previous section, the main role of a school governing body is to give direction to the school so that it meets its mandate. The body defines the mission of the open school within the parameters of the defined needs of the society. It also aligns the mission of the school with broad development goals, and aspires to support the achievements of those goals. In many instances, this is done taking into account the resources available. Often, the resources from government are limited and the governing body may also assume the role of mobilising additional resources to meet its noble goals. Within a country, all institutions strive to meet excellence and school governing bodies find pride in their schools being recognised as the best. So, the role of mobilising resources and monitoring their use by school management becomes key. Thus, part of the role of a school governing body is to oversee school management.
Learning activity 2: Role of school governing body
You should aim to complete this activity in 30 minutes.
- Choose any educational institution of your choice and list the main activities undertaken by the school governing body.
- Discuss/share your list with a colleague and ask them to indicate whether they agree with your list or not. They can also add to your list.
Our reflection and feedback on the Role of school governing bodies
There are various aspects of school management that a school governing body needs to support and manage. Depending on the context, a school governing body can play a central role in the appointment of school managers. However, in some contexts, this role is the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Education and members of the governing body are not consulted at all in the appointment process. Their role is to work with whoever is appointed in a school. They support with deciding on key capital investments that affect the teaching and learning processes, they monitor the allocation and use of resources, they approve school budgets and monitor school expenditure to ensure organisational viability. Broadly, they make regular assessments of the impact the school is making in the community and/or in the society.
Who should be in the school governing body?
Learning activity 3: Composition of school governing body
You will need 30 minutes to complete this activity.
- Reflect on the governing body of an institution you identified in Learning Activity 2.
- Name the type of people who constitute that governing body. (Examples can be a local community elder, a senior teacher, a retired company manager, a local business person).
- For each person you identify, briefly describe the expertise they bring to the governing body, which may enhance the effectiveness of the body.
Post your answer in the discussion forum and engage with someone else's post.
Our reflection and feedback on Composition of school governing body
From the roles outlined above, you can see why members of a school governing body need to be people of good standing. They need to be people who are committed to the success of the school organisation, who are prepared to sacrifice their time and discharge their duties for the progress of the school, often by attending body meetings regularly enough. It is often a huge advantage if members of the body have certain skills and expertise they come with. For example, some may have financial planning expertise, others may have organisational leadership skills, and yet others may have expert knowledge in education. A governing body consisting of people with a variety of skills and expertise is likely to perform better than one that is composed of people who hardly have any expertise relevant for school development.
In some instances, governing bodies simply become symbolic because they lack capacity to make any significant contributions to the life of the school. Where you have such weak school governing bodies, the school manager usually runs it alone and in fact, can mismanage the organisation because of lack of effective oversight. The credibility of members of a school governing body often determines the trustworthiness of a school organisation.
Members of a school governing body should be people who command respect in the community.
Before you move on to the next section on school management, listen to the short video, which summarises the role of a school governing body:
