Policy-making by public school governing bodies: law and practice in Gauteng

The South African Schools Act stipulates that school governing bodies are responsible for drafting certain school policies. This article reports on a qualitative research study conducted in 50 schools in Gauteng to trace the functionality of the school governing bodies with regard to policy-making. A critical evaluation of the admission, language and religious policies as well as codes of conduct provides substantial evidence that school governing bodies are committed to the values of equality and human dignity, and actively promote non-racism and non-sexism in their policies.