ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the concepts of decentralisation and centralisation of educational organisation and governance. It analyses some of the ambiguities and difficulties of the transformation process. The democratic movement in South Africa has been systematically involved in developing policy for school governance since 1990. In the pre-election period, policy development was undertaken by the National Education Policy Investigation - sponsored by the National Education Co-ordinating Committee - and the African National Congress, under the auspices of the Centre for Education Policy Development. South Africa’s school reform has entailed a major redistribution of power to the new provinces and to schools. The process of policy formulation leading to the South African Schools Act was marked by sharp differences of opinion and conflict as well as by areas of consensus. The formal process of policy development by the new government began with the first White Paper on Education and Training.
