0.4 Summary, recommendations and conclusion  (Page 2/4)

5.3.recommendations

Based on the findings and the literature the following is recommended:

Review of the allocation of additional functions to school governing bodies

The school governing body may apply for the allocation of additional functions or the provincial Head of Department may allocate additional functions to school governing bodies based on the capacity of the school governing body [SASA (1996; 21 (1))]. Since a moratorium on the allocation of additional functions has been in place since March 2005, school governing bodies which have developed capacity over the last four and a half years have been denied the opportunity to apply and have forgone the benefits which come with these allocated functions. It is therefore recommended that:

• the moratorium be lifted
• the Head of Department invoke his discretionary powers and allocate additional functions to schools whose governing bodies display capacity
• the questionnaire (cf table 3) be modified from a YES/NO type response to an evidence based application
• the questionnaire be shortened to exclude irrelevant information
• the process of approval (cf figure 2) be shortened by cutting out irrelevant authorisation personnel thereby speeding up the process

The HOD may, on reasonable grounds, withdraw a function of a school governing body [SASA (1996; 22 (1))]. In my capacity as both Master Trainer for School Financial Management and as a Superintendent of Education, I have come across many Section 21 schools whose SGBs lack capacity to carry out their allocated functions. There are also many schools, which as a result of this incapacity, have been defrauded of hundreds of thousands of rand. The Pinetown Education District is aware of these cases and yet research has shown that no school in the district has had its allocated functions withdrawn. It is further recommended that:

• the capacity of Section 21 schools’ governing bodies be reviewed regularly (based on reports submitted to the Education Districts)
• the Education Districts or the Provincial Education Department conduct random sampling of other “non errant” Section 21 schools’ governing bodies for general review.

Drafting of a generic school finance policy

Clarke (2008; 291) states that one of the main purposes of the schools’ finance policy is to put in place a system of controls (checks and balances) to ensure that the schools’ finances are safeguarded and correctly managed. Blandford in Mestry (2006; 35) concurs: “The formulation of rules and regulations for the handling of money … is necessary.” Based on the literature reviewed in chapter three an example of the rules and regulations for the management of cash could be: (i) indicate the person/s responsible for collecting the cash; (ii) all monies received must be receipted; (iii) monies received should be banked daily; (iv) if monies cannot be banked provision must be made for safe storage; (v) proper accounting records (including source documents) must be maintained to record these transactions; (vi) audit trails should be used to verify and validate each and every transaction