Promotion of public participation in school environment

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the promotion of public participation in school-based management. It shows the dire need of the public in running the affairs of education of their children and how their involvement may improve the quality of education in South Africa. In this article, we argue that public participation in education is a constitutional requirement which must be treated with care and respect by those with interest for quality public education. We depart from the assumption that the education system will lose value if parents as key stakeholders can be left behind in decision making processes. Involvement of ordinary people in our country is a constitutional right and adherence to this important democratic right shows that indeed education is taken very seriously as a societal activity. In order to fully understand the complexity of this phenomenon, this article presents a conceptual framework ranging from parents' participation through to participative management theories.