School marketing and school choice : a marketing programme for school in the North West West Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine from the literature, the nature and scope of school marketing and school choice, and to determine the different marketing strategies used by schools, and furthermore, to empirically determine the factors that influence parental or student choice of schools with the ultimate aim of developing a school marketing programme for schools in the North West Province. The study was conducted in the Central and Bojanala West regions of the North West Province. Out of a total population of about (n = 761) schools in the two Regions, a sample of (n = 500) schools were randomly selected (that is 250 schools per region). Of the 500 schools sampled, fifty (50) were private or independent schools. A questionnaire was developed and administered to all the principals of the sampled schools. A total of 416 usable questionnaires were returned. Furthermore, the researcher also conducted semi-structured interviews with sixty (60) parents, twenty (20) school principals, five (5) Area Project Managers (APM) and ten (10) Institutional Support Co-ordinators (ISCs or former circuit managers). The aim of such interviews was to gather more information on school marketing and reasons for parental school choice. The literature revealed that in South Africa little is documented on the strategies that could be used by the schools in marketing themselves in order to attract i:iS many learners as possible and retain such learners in big numbers. The literature also revealed that school marketing and invitational education are closely related and interdependent. It was evident from the literature that parents are less consistent in their reasons for making a positive choice of schools. Most important reasons are academic

criteria, situational or convenience criteria, security criteria and voice and exit options. But parents are more consistent on reasons why they reject or avoid some schools. The most common reasons obtained from the literature are transport or distance to and from the school, school reputation, ethnic composition, school environment and the behaviour of learners attending the school concerned (cf. 3.4.2). From the quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the following emerged as major reasons for parental school choice: oood academic results. schools with resources that match the individual children's needs, schools in close proximity to their homes and with a good reputation (cf. 7.3.3). It was also evident that parents tend to reject schools with bad reputation, schools where learners' appearance is unacceptable, where educators lack enthusiasm and commitment and learners are ill-disciplined. It was evident during the interviews with school principals and officials of the Department that school principals need training in school marketing. As a result, this study recommends that a training programme on school marketing should be developed for all stakeholders (cf. 7.4). The study further recommends that school principals should be trained on strategic planning