Perception of educators towards the implementation of an integrated quality management system in the White Hazy Circuit : Mpumalanga Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess and reflect on the perceptions of educators towards the implementation of an Integrated Quality Management System in the White Hazy Circuit, Mpumalanga Province. The IQMS is a clear reaction to the autocratic mode of evaluation that operated during the Apartheid era and is a major shift from the old paradigm of external evaluators. The new paradigm calls for a joint collaboration between schools, districts and supervisory unit with the main aim to enhance the quality of education in South Africa. The researcher used quantitative method for this study. In its quantitative approach the study was to describe, analyse and interpret the data to determine if there were any negative perceptions among White Hazy educators about IQMS implementation. The reason to use this approach was to obtain the detailed descriptions of the information required for the study. Secondly results are based on objective method which can be expressed in a specific management technology. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires (N = 97). Respondents of all post level in the teaching profession participated. The participants were selected randomly to give equal participation of all respondents from 16 selected schools. The participants come from both primary and secondary schools. The study highlighted that compliance, lack of training, shifting of responsibility to one another and insufficient time for development play a significant role in IQMS implementation. The findings revealed that the IQMS Policy is implemented in schools. However, there are some areas where there is a lack of school based teacher development to some schools and there is no consistency in the implementation which affected teacher performance and learner performance. The results which arose from the study suggested the following recommendations: quarterly training to enhance service delivery and the reviewing of the current policy to cover trends of contemporary conditions in schools and to capacitate school management teams to become effective in the IQMS implementation.