School Development Commitee Capacity Reinforcement in Masvingo

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The City of Masvingo in partnership with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has embarked on a two-day induction workshop for Council owned schools’ (SDCs) school development committees with the aim to reinforce the capacity of the SDCs who are charged with the responsibility of governing schools and increase parents’ active participationin school management.

The program which has snowballed to become an annual event each time a new SDC is ushered in capacitate both school heads and committees on roles and responsibilities of SDC, the role of the Responsible Authority, financial management, asset management, vehicle policy, recruitment procedures, audit, leadership and management principles.

Over the years, there has been a remarkable improvement in SDC governance and management of schools. There was a leap in the number of effectively and efficiently governed Council schools.

After training on financial and asset management, instituted changes have led to transparency in the management of school finances. This in turn has won SDCs greater confidence from the parents who are now more willing to pay school levies.

Basically, to sustain close supervision of schools, demanding accountability is crucial.

The two-day workshop established the following areas of concern; governance, financial management and school-community relations. The identified capacity gaps were refined.

The workshop was graced by His Worship, the Mayor, Cllr Aleck Tabe and District Schools Inspector, Mr Ishmael Chigaba.