In a bid to improve South Africa's education system, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga yesterday announced new guidelines for the selection of members of schools' governing bodies.

Speaking at a briefing on the upcoming school governing body elections called "National Guidelines for School Governing Body Elections", she said that functional and effective school governing bodies would make the improvement of schooling outcomes more plausible and realistic. She said functional schools and effective parental governance "were two sides of the same coin" and pledged to work with schools to improve the performance of their governing bodies.

In March about 27,000 public schools will start the process of electing oversight bodies, each of which will require a minimum of 15 members.

The matric pass rate has improved slightly in the past three years. The matric class of 2011 achieved a 70.2 percent pass rate, up from 2010's 67.8 percent.

"A careful selection of parents is of paramount importance. Research has shown that learner achievement is dependent also on the level of support and active involvement of parents and members of the community," Motshekga, who is leading the fight for better schooling, said.

Image: Getty