Failure and drop-out rate in rural high schools (RHSs) in South Africa remains a prevailing crisis. This has been attributed to issues such as poor/limited infrastructures, poverty, unemployment, among others. Thus, this case study explores the issue of a purposively selected South African Rural High School (RHS) with 15 years' success rate at…

Since the arrival of COVID-19, schools have been confronted with complex problems, and the burden on women principals in rural schools has been enormous. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the workload of women principals, affecting both their work and home life. This study sought to explore how the leadership roles of female…

This paper explored the factors influencing the leadership strategies of school principals in rural primary schools regarding the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the process of teaching and learning in their schools. School principals are responsible for ensuring that there is ICTs integration in their schools'…

Identification of learning barriers is a critical issue for support provision in inclusive classes, as it informs individualised support plans for each learner who experiences barriers to learning. However, the school support stakeholders in Quintile 1 rural schools in South Africa face challenges in identifying learning barriers experienced by…

Violence, crime, and abuse against learners present a grave picture of problems in South African schools and are on the increase, as substantiated in articles. daily newspapers and news bulletins. The problem of violence is a complex one, and has been elevated to a national concern. The study was based on the perceptions and experiences of school…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by SMTs in dealing with poor academic performance in the Mopani-West District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Studies have indicated that schools in rural areas fail to meet their full potential due to a combination of factors including insufficient instructional resources,…

This study reports on the challenges facing multigrade principals. Principals are regarded as curriculum leaders and have critical roles to play in the success of the school. However, school principals experience a myriad of complex challenges in the execution of their roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to…

This article reports on a study that was prompted by the resistance to school mergers by local communities in the rural region of Limpopo, South Africa. Traditional leaders, who are prominent people in rural communities, were at the forefront of protests against school mergers. Thus, it was necessary to investigate the tensions experienced by the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the integration of instructional and transformational leadership models of leadership in sustaining quality teaching and learning in schools. The study sought to establish how principals integrate instructional and transformational leadership in enhancing learner performance.…

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) is gradually increasing in South African schools. In the Gauteng province, the Department of Education has prioritised the provisioning of electronic textbooks (ebooks) to public schools since 2014. However, to this day, there seem to be multiple barriers that hamper the adoption and use…

This manuscript reports on the role of the instructional leadership practices of secondary school principals on learner academic achievement. A phenomenological research design under the qualitative research methodology was utilised to explore this phenomenon. The study was conducted in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province in South Africa.…

The digital divide and the low socio-economic status of many South African school communities, including rural Limpopo, the site of this research study, created an immediate and urgent need to transform teaching and learning during the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic. Within this context, this study demonstrated the importance of technology…

The COVID-19 pandemic experience has brought to the forefront the importance of leadership as institutions across the world are now trying to emerge from hibernation and rebuild broken academic practices. As such, this study sought to examine school principals' experiences on school management in the context of COVID-19 stringency in four rural…

Purpose: This paper examines motivational practices and engagements of schools -- through strategies developed by principals with the members of the school management team -- to improve academic performance. Design/methodology/approach: The research used an interpretive approach within a qualitative design in which schools were purposefully…

Poverty is rife in many African countries and this has serious implications for the provision of quality education. Rural schools face severe challenges that are unique to their environment. A lack of parental interest in children's education, insufficient funding from the state, a lack of resources, underqualified teachers, and multi-grade…