To Be Or Not To Be A School Governor?

Ever thought about being a school governor? If you are white, middle class, married and have children, then the answer is probably yes!

The importance of governors has grown in recent years as schools gained more independence for their management from local authorities. Evidence suggests a clear link between good governance and pupils’ achievements and the quality of teaching.

Recent government research indicates that 11% of the 235,000 to 350,000 governors’ positions in England remain vacant at any one time. The majority of the filled positions appear to be held by middle class men and women who are married and have children.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against such people. As a lawyer, married with two children, I fall squarely within this category myself! The problem, however, is that too many people like me become school governors and consequently are over-represented within our school governing system.

Governors do not represent the diversity of our population. We need more representation from black or ethnic minority groups, the young, disabled, and working class. It is not just in class, ethnicity and culture that the system is under-represented. Too few business people take an interest in governing educational establishments. This needs to change.

So what is the government doing about it? On the 8th May 2008 Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, launched a review of school governing bodies to look at ways of strengthening governing bodies up and down the country and make them more efficient.

The report, which is to report in the autumn, will also look at the training of governors to provide them with the skills to perform their tasks.

The purpose behind this review is to improve under-performing schools by ensuring that governing bodies are more efficient and effective.

Alongside this report the government is also looking to promote a wider vision for our schools. They want schools to open their facilities to the wider community so as to benefit other young people and adults. Their vision also includes schools linking up and coordinating with other neighbouring schools, children’s services and outside organisations so that their facilities can be enjoyed by a greater number of people within the community.

To achieve this, governing bodies will need the skills to ensure that this wider vision for schools is a success. Skills can be obtained through training, but they can also be found if the governing body has diverse experiences. There is no substitute for having a cross-representation of people from the community who bring a variety of skills to their school governing body.

It remains to be seen whether the Government can interest a wider variety of people to become school governors.

For further information, contact Simon Musannif   

Published 29/05/2008. The author of this article is Simon Musannif