Stakeholders’ involvement in decision making at secondary schools in patriarchal South Africa: Are they really on board?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the nature and extent of stakeholder involvement in decision-making at secondary schools in patriarchal South Africa. This investigation was conducted in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Apart from literature review on the legal basis of school governance, and participatory decision making, the paper reports on the findings in which empirical investigation based on quantitative research approach was used to collect data from school principals. The findings of this investigation reveal that there is great need for school principals to involve stakeholders in decision making, and that participatory decision making in certain schools remains a far-fetched dream irrespective of democratic school governance policies existing in patriarchal South Africa.