By-elections to fill vacancies in school governing bodies are currently underway at a number of public schools in South Africa. It is important to the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS) to support these newly-elected SGB members so as not to disrupt the work of governing bodies.

“This year FEDSAS launched two big initiatives to make it as simple as possible for new SGB members to improve their knowledge. An e-learning course will be available until the end of March, which enables SGB members to complete the training in their own time and at their own pace. Secondly, the publication A practical guide to school governance is now available as an e-book in all 11 languages,” says Dr Jaco Deacon, Deputy CEO of FEDSAS. This publication is specifically aimed at the induction and training of school governing body members.

Deacon says FEDSAS introduced the FEDSAS E-learning platform last year, where new courses are added regularly. “The platform is managed by the FEDSAS Centre for Technology and several elements of FEDSAS’ training material and publications are already electronically available.”

Although the FEDSAS E-learning platform does not replace FEDSAS’ primary training it does provide access to training material for SGB members who cannot attend training sessions. “In addition to the course for newly-elected SGB members there are a number of courses available for members to refresh and improve their knowledge.”

The FEDSAS Centre for Technology has also made 13 of FEDSAS’ publications available as e-books on the Snapplify platform. “It is important to us to keep up with technological advancement and people’s changing needs. Online publications make access to information easier, especially for governing bodies in rural areas that would otherwise struggle to get hold of the material.”