Development of a governance framework for improving the performance of basic education in the Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

The Eastern Cape provincial government is responsible for providing citizens with high-quality goods and services. To achieve this objective, public institutions ought to operate efficiently to fulfil the needs of citizens. This study argues that there is a disconnect between the needs of citizens and the performance of the Eastern Cape provincial government regarding basic education outcomes. Consequently, there is poor performance among learners, inadequate infrastructure and resources, and poor school administrative traits. This is inconsistent with the objectives of Public Administration espoused in the Constitution of South Africa. Given these challenges, the researcher developed a Sustainable Governance Framework for Improved Academic Performance in the Eastern Cape. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology and follows an interpretivist research paradigm. This research design enabled the researcher to collect qualitative data from various stakeholders such as government officials in the Department of Basic Education School Governing Body members, parents, school principals, and learners. Data collection techniques such as interviews and document analysis were used to collect data about the experiences, views, and opinions of the research participants concerning the performance of learners in the Eastern Cape. An interpretivist paradigm influenced how the researcher selected the study sample for data collection. Interpretivism allows the researcher to perceive social reality as a complex and subjective phenomenon, resulting in various individual perspectives, experiences, and views. An interpretivist research philosophy and a qualitative methodology enable the researcher to collect and analyse complex, subjective data based on multiple viewpoints. Given the foregoing, thematic data analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data collected for this study. Thematic data analysis enabled the researcher to categorise multiple viewpoints into themes. This was crucial to answering the research questions because it allowed the researcher to identify trends in the collected data. The chosen research design is consistent with the research problem given the ultimate objective to develop the framework based on qualitative, complex, and subjective data. Empirical findings indicate that various internal and external factors contribute to the poor academic performance of learners. The primary challenges schools face include inadequate resources, high staff turnover, lack of community support, and poor infrastructure. School Governing Bodies are critical in the functioning and performance of schools in the Eastern Cape. They are instrumental in improving performance and ensuring that schools are governed according to the specifications of the Department of Education. Based on the research findings, literature review, and an analysis of existing models and frameworks, the researcher developed a Sustainable Governance Framework for Improved Academic Performance in the Eastern Cape.