Strengthening Leadership Capacity Building Among Secondary Schools Principals: A Case of Ekurhuleni South District

Abstract

Despite increased attention to capacity building, there is still limited understanding of the role capacity plays in ensuring adequate performance in the public sector. School Principals are regarded as strategic, instructional, executive, organisational and cultural leaders. Experience suggests that achieving better education outcomes requires both an injection of resources and adequate local capacity to use those resources effectively. There are innumerable changes that principals must contend with, and these necessitate them to have the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes to manage and lead schools effectively and efficiently. This study was undertaken to explore how leadership capacity is strengthened for secondary school Principals with reference to the Ekurhuleni South District. It also aims to understand leadership development framework for school leadership. A qualitative research approach was selected to investigate the role principals play in building leadership capacity in post level one teachers. The population of the study comprised ten principals in public secondary schools in Ekurhuleni South District. Semi-structured individual telephone surveys were conducted. The questionnaire comprised Likert scale questions. The researchers obtained written permission from the GDE before commencement of any communication with the employees of the organisation. It is therefore important that capacity building programmes are put in place to strengthen the management and leadership of school principals. A set of recommendations including a capability audit and the use of successorship to build leadership capacity are offered for effective implementation of leadership capacity building in a school