By Mzukona Mantshontsho
I remember attending the last day of a four-day workshop for all Representative Council of Learners (RCL) in Region D facilitated by the Matthew Goniwe Leadership and Governance Institute in the City of Johannesburg and hosted by Far North Secondary School in Cosmo City.
In my quest to understand leadership, I came across a statement made by Leadership Guru John C. Maxwell: “Everything falls on Leadership, Leadership is the Key Enabler, without Leadership there is Darkness”. Peter F. Drucker said: “Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things”.
Day 1 of the workshop looked at challenges face by all South African schools. There was a look at the National Development Plan and its importance. There was a session of understanding the role of School Governing Bodies (SGBs).
Day 2 looked at the role of RCL’s, decision-making, representing and reporting back to the learners as a member of the RCL. There was a session on identifying problems in school and solving them. Presentation skills were taught and role playing was practiced.
Day 3 looked at developing and running a campaign in the school environment to solve challenges in school. Public speaking, report writing, leading and understanding people skills were taught.
Day 4 was about each member of the RCL understanding themselves, dealing with stress and being positive.
A Representative Council of Learners is elected by learners in public schools from Grade 8-12, to represent their interests.
Every school must elect an RCL, and the RCL must elect two members to the School Governing Body.
An RCL is not a prefect body. It is made up of the democratically elected representatives of learners and should represent the interests of the learners and consult them on issues that concern them. Each class in a mixed-sex school from Grade 8 and above elects two representatives onto the RCL (one male and one female).
In a single-sex school each class has one representative.
