The role of school governing bodies in the management of school finances in selected primary schools: a case of Sekgoses East Circuit of Education

Abstract

The School Governing Bodies (SGBs) play a vital role in the governance of public schools in South Africa, particularly in managing school finances as mandated by the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996). Poor financial literacy, training shortages, and weak institutional support within SGBs inhibit effective financial supervision in rural settings such as the Sekgosese East Circuit of Education (SECoE). This qualitative study employed an interpretivist paradigm and explanatory desktop research design, motivated by Agency Theory (Jensen & Meckling, 1976), through purposive sampling of 192 documents to explore the role of SGBs in financial management. We find that, while SGBs do budgeting, payments, fundraising, and reporting, financial decisions and actions are often handled by principals, leading to diminished levels of accountability, transparency, and community trust. While mechanisms like audits and reporting establish accountability, non-compliance and principal influence undermine legitimacy. It results that strengthening financial management by SGBs demands that SGBs be continuously trained, that their reporting tools be simplified, that partnerships should be enhanced, and oversight mechanisms be better put in place. Suggestions are: building SGB capacity with ongoing, continuous financial literacy programmes; dismantling principal domination with clear governance structures and empowering local community stakeholders; strengthening accountability with timely auditing, accessible reporting instruments, and local community engagement; and sustainable improvement strategies via user-friendly templates, partnerships with NGOs, corporates, and government departments, and strong monitoring mechanisms. These steps are necessary to improve transparency, effectiveness, and credibility in school financial governance in rural South African schools.