The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga, has urged parents to ensure that every school has an effective School Governing Body (SGB) by the end of this week. Minister Motshekga has also encouraged parents to sustain their participation in the SGB elections which conclude on March 28, Saturday.
It is important that parents use the opportunity to contribute meaningfully in the running of their children’s school and play an active role in the education of their children. It is the responsibility of all parents to participate in the elections by voting if they are unable to stand for a position on the SGB thus ensuring the school is in the best possible hands.
The elections end on the 28th of March and it is up to everybody who is eligible to ensure that all schools have an SGB by the time this process comes to an end. All SGB structures will expire on this date and the implication for not electing a governing body before March 28 is that such schools will not have legitimate SGBs. They will be unable transact or enter into contracts.
“I would like to commend all of those parents who have already participated in this process and thank you for heeding the call to make education a societal issue,” said Minister Motshekga.
“We have received tremendous support from parents in the 2015 SGB elections. There are schools where attendance exceeded expectations with school halls over flowing with parents. This is an indication of our maturing democracy and the fact that our parents have begun to understand their indispensable role of supporting education for the benefit of all the country’s children”.
The Department of Basic Education alone cannot achieve all its ambitious targets without the spirit of volunteerism demonstrated by parents and communities in supporting education programmes.
This is the third largest exercise of democratic voting rights in our country after the Local Government elections. There are roughly 23 000 schools participating in these elections and we expect around 250 000 SGB members to be elected through this process.
Training for the newly elected SGB members will commence once the elections are concluded. New chapters have been added onto the training sessions to ensure that SGBS become even more effective.
Enquiries:
Elijah Mhlanga
Cell: 083 580 8275
Troy Martens
Cell: 079 899 3070
