Pretoria - Teachers applying for school principal positions may soon undergo a competency test to check whether they are suitable for such appointments.
Briefing the media on Friday following a meeting with the Council of Education, Basic
Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the council was considering whether to amend education legislation to enable heads of education departments to appoint school principals in certain categories of schools, and if School Governing Bodies (SGBs) should be allowed to appoint principals after approval by the head of education against a set of criteria qualifying them to do so.
"The council is currently considering whether prospective principals should undergo competency tests prior to appointment," Motshekga said.
She noted that the current procedure -- where the appointment of an educator post at a public school may only be made on the recommendation of the SGB -- posed some challenges and often resulted in protracted legal battles.
She highlighted that the SGBs were not equipped in terms of selection and the department wanted to revoke the powers vested in them.
"It's a critical issue [appointment] which we don't want to take chances with as school leadership is very critical," said Motshekga.
She added that from now on, principals will also be held accountable for their schools' performance. The holistic manner in which a school is run will also be included in their contracts.
However, Motshekga pointed out that the focus would be on the appointment of school principals in previously disadvantaged schools, where there were the most problems.
"We don't want to fix what's not broken. Some schools are managing properly and we don't want to interfere with that."
Turning focus to the matric exams, Motshekga said they were making excellent progress.
The official announcement of the results will be made on 4 January 2012 at 6pm and the results will be available at schools and examination centres and published on 5 January 2011.
