Schools within the uMgungundlovu district: Principals’ perspectives on categorization and school functionality

Zakhele Dennis Nzuza

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2024, vol. 103, issue C

Abstract: School categorization has impaired the functionality of schools and led to dysfunctional teaching and learning processes. This study explores principals' perspectives on categorization and school functionality. The existing literature on school categorization focuses on the geographical areas of schools and resource allocation, ignoring the complexities of learner behavior and other dynamics within schools. Based on a qualitative case study within an interpretive paradigm, this study was conducted in the uMgungundlovu district of KwaZulu-Natal using semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and observations with five purposefully selected principals of five primary schools. Data analysis revealed that schools were paying significant maintenance and bills to sustain themselves without sufficient funding. In addition, the quintile classification indicates that the socioeconomic status of schools weakens the institution's ability to provide intensive development and growth for administrative and learning needs and to the extent that schools generate their resources for the reconstruction of structures and facilities, affecting the well-being of teachers and learners, as well as external factors such as professional development and academic training, which have a significant impact on the delivery of quality education.

Keywords: Categorization; Functionality; Principal; Quintile; School (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718924000193
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:103:y:2024:i:c:s0149718924000193

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2024.102418

Access Statistics for this article

Evaluation and Program Planning is currently edited by Jonathan A. Morell

More articles in Evaluation and Program Planning from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().