governing teacher education colleges in south africa

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The council was frequently referred to as a stakeholder forum including “all the immediate
stakeholders (students, the working community at the college, faculty, government, business
and industry).” 50 Concerns were expressed about the need to expand the present composition
of college councils to make them more representative and legitimate and the need to extend
their powers and functions. Generally the Council determines college policy whereas the
rector is responsible for the general administration and management of the institution and
for the execution of those policies set forth by the council. As Cleary has correctly pointed
out, the dividing line between these two provinces is often unclear. 51 College administration
is broadly responsible for administration, financial control, staff appointments and
disciplinary issues.
The functions of the council comprise inter alia: (i) defining and reviewing the mission,
goals, objectives and policies of the institution; (ii) monitoring the educational programme;
(iii) deciding about the employment of the rector; (iv) developing institutional policy; (v)
ensuring professional management of the college; (vi) managing financial resources and
facilities; and (vii) monitoring and evaluating institutional performance. 52 Council members
are in a position to see the overall institutional picture and to take the long view. However,
the balance between the council and the college executive responsibilities and between the
provincial government and the council have been areas of intense contestation.
Senates comprise essentially of faculty and students and those responsible for academic and
professional issues. Only the two historically white colleges have senates. The other two
colleges don’t. While the need for establishing senates is widely shared, an important point to
note is the contention that college senates should not be modelled on the traditional university
model where a clear distinction is made between academic functions of the senate and the
governance/administrative functions of the council. There needs to be a close relationship
between these two dimensions. 53 Hope was placed on senates as the key to leading colleges
into becoming genuine tertiary institutions: “So a senate to me will be part of the process...
especially now that we are talking of trying to be autonomous or tertiary institutions, we must
50 Stakeholder is a concept which has become very popular under the new political dispensation in
South Africa. Stakeholders are defined as persons or groups with a common interest in a particular
action, its consequences, and who are affected by it. All actors in an institutional context are potential or
passive stakeholders. In education these include groups such as parents, students, education faculties,
professional organizations and others. All these groups have an interest in setting the educational agenda
and shaping the organizations, which are established to participate in the process of education provision.
Their inclusion in the decision process is now widely accepted as an important method for increasing
information for decision making and for increasing commitment to decisions once made.
52 Robert E Cleary, "Trustee-President authority relations", in Marvin W Peterson (ed.), op cit, p.219.
53 Graystone, op cit, p.566.
53 Haroon Mohamed, Interview May 1998.
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