Get out of the murky waters and learn to play nice

School governing bodies wield great power at the coalface of education, often in conflict with the powers and interests of education authorities.

In what former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke described as "the murky waters of the shared space between school governing bodies and provincial executives", the newly proposed amendments to the Schools Act will certainly spark a new power struggle between the two parties.

The original idea behind the school governing bodies' concept was for them to supplement resources provided by the state to improve the quality of education at schools.

Unfortunately, some of the bodies ended up abusing their powers to fit their own agendas. But on the plus side, many turned their schools into highly coveted academic institutions. This, however, made them easy targets for the education department, itself battling to fix some of the poorly run public schools.

Last year these tensions ended up in the highest court of the land, which held that the department had the authority to exercise reasonable control over admissions and capacity.

That judgment should be heeded when the newly proposed amendments are discussed.

The two most important stakeholders in our public school system need to play nice and refrain from falling into the temptation of abusing their powers for their own gains.

In Moseneke's wise words: "It is quite in order that a school seeks to be a centre of excellence and to produce glittering examination and other good outcomes. But public schools are not rarefied spaces only for the bright, well-mannered and financially well-heeled learners.

"They are public assets that must advance not only the parochial interest of the immediate pupils but may, by law, also be required to help achieve universal and non-discriminatory access to education."