Democratisation of education in South Africa: issues of social justice and the voice of learners?

Abstract

The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 mandates that secondary school
learners, who are members of the Representative Council for Learners, should
be part of school governance through participation in school governing bodies.
But they are often not afforded a full opportunity to participate in crucial
decisions by the adult members of governing bodies, directly or indirectly. I
explore the participation of learners in school governance by means of a literature
review and empirical investigation using a qualitative approach. The
findings are presented in terms of the role of learners in the school governing
bodies, learners' involvement in decision making and in curriculum issues, and
the role of governing bodies in promoting democracy in the school and in the
wider South African society. Findings suggested that spaces should be created
for learners to participate sufficiently in SGBs in order to allow them to exercise
their right to participation, thus engaging fruitfully in deliberations dealing with
school governance. This would in turn lead to social justice and there would be
a great potential for their voice to be heard. They would in turn engage fruitfully
in dialogues as they felt included in debates and decision-making processes.
Silencing the voice of learners, implicitly or explicitly, means that the issues of
social justice and democracy are not taken into consideration in SGBs.

Keywords: democracy; education; learners; school governance; social
justice

South African Journal of Education Vol. 28 (1) 2008: pp. 77-90