Implementation of the integrated quality management system policy in public schools in the Ugu District.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
With the advent of democracy in South Africa in1994, a plethora of old pieces of legislation and
policies have either been revised or new ones promulgated to address the gross inequalities of the
apartheid state. In the context of education new policies were designed to improve the standard of
education across public schools in the country. One such policy is the Integrated Quality Management
System intended to support teachers in achieving quality education. Policy Design and Policy
Implementation are separate concepts and it is well known that the intentions of the policy are not
always achieved during implementation.
It is clear that the State President, Jacob Zuma was cognizant of the disconnection between Policy and
Policy Implementation when he stated at a meeting with school Principals in 2009 that “our wonderful
policies that we have been implementing since 1994 have not essentially led to the delivery of quality
education for the poorest of the poor”. He questioned as to why the policies have failed to deliver
excellence and what should be done about it. Further, the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga
in her maiden Budget Speech asserted that:
“The findings of Professor Jonathan Jansen’s committee on National Education Evaluation and
Development Unit (NEEDU) confirms what we all know, what the view is outside there and reasons
for a general lack of public confidence in our education system”.
The study explores the extent to which the implementation of the Integrated Quality Management
System has indeed led to the delivery of quality education. The Policy was also intended to restore
public confidence in the education system and the study aims to explore the extent to which this has
been achieved.
The Integrated Quality Management System was intended to ensure that the State is obtaining value for
the money expended on education, the largest portion being allocated to the salaries of educators. It
would appear not to be the case. In this regard, a Report issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD 2008) found that international studies have shown that the
“returns to investment” in teacher education, or the quality of performance one might expect from
learners in return for money spent on educators, is very low in South Africa, to the extent that “low
educator productivity has been cited as the main reason for South Africa’s relatively poor
performance”
It is for the above reason that the National Policy on Whole School Evaluation which includes the
Integrated Quality Management System, designed to address the problems of educator performance
and poor learner attainment were put under the spotlight. The success of Policy Implementation, and
the possible adaptation of existing policies to ensure that the desired results are achieved are also
investigated in the study. Recommendations are made as to how policy might be reviewed or changed.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.
Keywords
School management and organization--KwaZulu-Natal., Total quality management in education--KwaZulu-Natal., Management information systems--KwaZulu-Natal., Theses--Public administration.