An investigation into policy implementation by primary school principals in the Free State province

Abstract

Despite numerous attempts by the Free State Department of Education to train primary school principals on how to design and implement school policies, numerous schools do not implement school policies satisfactorily. In this article we examine the implementation of school policies in township primary schools in the Free State province, South Africa. The sample of the study consisted of 60 township primary school principals who were randomly selected from 160 township primary schools across the province. The participants completed a questionnaire based on policy implementation in township primary schools. Prior to completion, the questionnaire was tested for reliability using the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was found to have a reliability score of 0.909, which indicates a high level of internal consistency. The questionnaire was electronically analysed using the SPSS. The results of the analysis reveal that some school policies were reasonably well implemented at schools, while other policies were poorly implemented. This article concludes with recommendations on addressing the problem.