Through her “Meet and Greet” roadshows, the North West Department of Education MEC, Viola Motsumi, and parents held a meeting with the National School Governing Body Association (NASGB) on Tuesday at Mmabatho Palms Hotel in an effort to strengthen the relations between them.
Since the appointment of Motsumi, the department said she has embarked on a series of roadshows to meet various stakeholders to strengthen relations.
“Already MEC Motsumi has met various stakeholders, namely senior departmental management, corporate staff, district officials, all school principals, teacher representatives, unions and now school governing bodies associations,” it said.
Motsumi indicated that the aim of such engagements was to strengthen the relations with the department.
“The school governing body is the most critical component of the department, hence l have arranged a meeting with them. We cannot operate in isolation without the parents of learners, we need them in everything we are doing. We need the voice of the parent component in our structures. Without the learners and without the parents there is no department of education.
"In my engagements with school principals, they indicated that in some schools there is a conflict between themselves and the SGB. Such meetings are important because they are going to clarify the roles of everyone at school. For the department to achieve positive results is because of the good and harmonious relations between the school and SGB component. I decided to strengthen that area with these meetings,“ she said.
However, the NASGB expressed that the department was always delayed in training their members. The body highlighted that lack of training of the SGBs will lead to their dysfunction at schools.
The NASGB further pledged their support to the department.
Speaking on the issue, Motsumi promised that the department would address all the challenges identified by the SGB Association going forward.
“We will surely ensure that all issues raised here are attended to. After all these meetings with stakeholders, l am going to visit schools and assist where there are challenges,” said Motsumi.
The department said the MEC was expected to meet all school governing body associations after Easter and would later meet the chairpersons and secretaries of SGBs across the province on the date that will be communicated soon.
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