The Emergence of Decentralised Centralism in the South African Education Governance System

After the advent of post-apartheid democracy, the government was confronted with the dilemma of how to address the inequities of the apartheid education dispensation by increasing access and participation while simultaneously allowing self-managing schools and promoting efficiency. In addition, the political transformation was accompanied by a strong emphasis on the need for shared responsibility for the governance of schools by local school governing bodies (SGBs) in partnership with the state. However, it is argued that ‘decentralised centralism’ has permeated the South African education system at the expense of the notion of community participation. The first part of the article examines the concepts of decentralisation and decentralised centralism. This is followed by an examination of the enactment of decentralisation in the South African education system. The third section shows how re-regulation of the periphery has gradually led to the education system becoming more centralised and how vested interests contributed to the development of decentralised centralism. The article concludes with a discussion of the schism between policy idealism and the practical reality and the connection between a legitimacy crisis and political realism as drivers of the movement towards decentralised centralism in the South African education system.