School board ‘visibility’ during the COVID-19 pandemic: Education management musings from a tripartite case study of schools in Central Uganda

Abstract

School level education management requires the active involvement of both school administration and the board of governors. Without board’s supervisory eye, school administration may end up with many lapses to the detriment of education quality. How, then, did school boards execute their oversight mandate during the difficult times of COVID-19? Using a tripartite case study design, I examined school board ‘visibility’ in school management during COVID-19 with focus on ensuing education management lessons. I discovered that during the pandemic the visibility of different school boards varied from ‘considerable’ to ‘no visibility’ depending on certain interesting factors. I concluded that there is no single uniform descriptor of board’s visibility during an emergency such as COVID-19. Secondly, there are both materialistic and altruistic antecedents of board’s visibility level. The study serves as a correction to the stakeholder model’s excessive faith in board members’ disinterested commitment to service of the common good. It also recasts the question of board membership in view of better school management.