It’s been a year since the school governing body elections and new governing bodies have already gained extensive experience. The training team of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS) started with training in all nine provinces directly after the elections last year in order to equip governing bodies for the task.
 
“The education environment in South Africa changes all the time and it is important for decision-makers and role-players to be at the forefront of the latest developments. FEDSAS regularly develops new training programmes in order to address this need. This year’s topics were chosen through members’ enquiries as well as issues that concern most governing bodies,” says Dr Jaco Deacon, Deputy CEO of FEDSAS.
 
Deacon says FEDSAS is presenting some 140 training sessions and burning issue meetings country-wide. “Many of our sessions are also available online. The sessions are presented in different languages and the presenters consist of the same team of experts that presented last year’s SGB training.”
           
The burning issue meetings are free for FEDSAS members. The focus of the burning issue meetings as well as the webinars, conferences and seminars include topics such as What makes a school governing body excellent? Learner discipline, Financial management as well as Human resource management.
 
“Although the sessions are mainly aimed at members of governing bodies, educators who attend the sessions can earn CPTD points from the South African Council for Educators,” says Deacon.
 
Deacon says FEDSAS is of the opinion that a well-trained governing body’s influence will filter through to the entire school community. “Not only will good decision-making and leadership be of benefit to the school but eventually it will also be to the advantage of the broader society. A well-managed school also serves as model for learners when they enter society and become leaders.”
 
“To involve learners further, FEDSAS’ theme for 2019 is ‘Celebrate Diversity’. A social media campaign with the hashtag #LekkeDifferent offers schools and learners the opportunity to win prizes with creative ideas on how to celebrate diversity.”
 
Deacon says diversity and issues around the topic in schools is often managed through rules and regulations. “We want to encourage learners to enjoy the fun of diversity rather than seeing it as forced project. If we can get everyone talking about what makes us unique and what ties us together, diversity will become the positive force it is supposed to be.”
 
* Follow the #LekkeDifferent campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
* See the attached document for a complete list of training opportunities in all nine provinces.
 
(FEDSAS is a voluntary association of school governing bodies of public schools and supports quality education in these schools. More than 2000 public schools are already members of FEDSAS).