Abstract:

Many social experts and educationists have argued that the COVID-19 Pandemic has changed the grammar of schooling and rendered school managers impotent in the face of crises. Many schools have not been able to operate optimally as the pandemic continues to test the resilience of teachers, learners and their communities. In South Africa countless historically black schools could not cope with the changes enforced by the pandemic. Many of these schools experience several challenges including material and human resources. The struggles are even more in rural schools where there are usually under-qualified and unqualified teachers especially in learning areas such as mathematics, physical science and technology. This case study was conducted in three rural secondary schools where the school management teams were interviewed and observed during the times of COVID-19. Individual interviews as well as focus group interviews were conducted over a period of three months. The results show that school managers of certain schools, especially the historically disadvantaged rural schools, will be daunted by huge societal changes that impact on schools. Furthermore, these changes will thwart progress in these schools hence they will also be a hindrance to learner success and teacher motivation. The conclusions demonstrate that school managers in disadvantaged communities require a number of skills and these include empowering parents and utilising community involvement. Furthermore, twinning with other schools and finding mentors are among the useful strategies to improve management for successful schools. All these can be achieved when school managers have been prepared well for guiding schools of the future.

Keywords:

Educational Technology, Rural school managers, School effectiveness, School improvement.