Impact of financial literacy in the effectiveness of rural school governing bodies

Abstract

This study is an endeavour to assess the financial management at schools by School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in the rural areas of Mafikeng. The following questions have been addressed. Firstly, what is the level of control of school finances applied by SGB in the rural areas of Mafikeng schools? Secondly, what are the specific causes of poor finance management and what role can the SGB play in the Mafikeng area? And thirdly, what role could the Department of Basic Education (DBE) play to improve financial control exercised by SGB in the Mafikeng area? These questions have been derived from the areas of concern that were raised in research conducted by Mestry (2004), where he interrogates financial management knowledge of SGBs and indicates that issues of accountability and skills to ensure sound financial management require more research. A further interrogation of the functioning of SBGs by Deloitte and Touche (2008) further suggested that resource management is a problem in many schools in South Africa. The Mafikeng area has not had research in this area conducted, yet the rural areas if Mafikeng alone has 49 schools according to Statistics South Africa in 2014. Therefore in an attempt to interrogate these issues a self-administered questionnaire was given to four hundred respondents who were chosen using random sampling. The data collected has revealed that financial management in SGBs is indeed an issue that requires investigation. It was clear that most of the respondents are not satisfied with information they had received to execute their duties as SGB members. The DBE needs to give attention to th is aspect to ensure that the SGB members receive the required information. Furthermore the lack of adequate and trustworthy information to execute duties was identified as a major cause for poor finance management. The reasons for the lack of information were not established from the responses to the research questions. Lastly, it became clear that communication, cooperation and commitment are essential ski lls. This study suggests the application of the components of Organizational Commitment (OC) for developing healthy culture in schools to achieve educational goals. The same OC can be inculcated in the SGB. The provincial DBE should prioritise th is and include it in their programmes of engagement with SGBs in Mafikeng. It became clear that formalised training of the SGBs in key issues, as per the need of each SGB, could be arranged by the DBE. It's clear that the area of Mafikeng has its own dynamics and therefore needs tailored interventions. Training could cover a variety of themes, including communication, accountability of members, principles of sound financial management, information dissemination and decision-making, etc. The DBE could further support on-the-job training of SGBs.