School
Operating
Partnerships
In an effort to respond to the structural challenges in South Africa’s education system, a group of local and international funders – led by the DG Murray Trust in partnership with Provincial Education Departments – began exploring frameworks that would allow non-state providers to support the delivery of public education.
The group of funders fund School Operating Partners, who are non-profit organisations specialising in education delivery, that can help public schools pursue high quality education by focusing on building capacity, accountability and flexibility:
Building Capacity
By creating space for partnerships that bring new ideas, skills and inputs into the school.
By ensuring there is capacity to develop additional skills and resources.
By providing support to ensure good governance, school management and instructional leadership that is supportive of teachers and learners.
Ensuring Accountability
By creating spaces for accountable leaders to be developed.
By developing a shared culture of excellence within schools.
By instilling a sense of shared responsibility and pride between school leaders, school operating partners, learners and parents.
Encouraging Flexibility
Giving the school and operating partners flexibility in hiring staff and determining staff configurations.
By creating space for flexibility in educational approaches to the ultimate benefit of learners.
By giving school leaders flexibility in the school environment – particularly removing the compliance load placed upon them.
What does a Collaboration Partner do?
The list above shows the schools currently served by our School Operating Partners.
Note that in the Western Cape public school partnerships schools are called ‘Collaboration Schools’, and in the Eastern Cape they are called ‘Partnership Schools’.
Several other organizations, independently, also perform a School Operating Partner role at a variety of schools. At the current time these include:
- Mellon Educate (Happy Valley Primary – Cape Town)
- JGE Funding Trust (Jakes Gerwel Technical High School – Bonnievale)
- School Turnaround Foundation (Zwelethemba High – Worcester)
Why do we need
Public School Partnerships
