The Northern Cape Department of Education, the Lesedi Solar Trust and Public School Partnerships commissioned Proteus to assess the feasibility of an innovative school partnership model. The study examined whether leadership, teaching and learner outcomes would benefit from additional capacity, resources and support at the governance and management level. After a 3 day consultation process with all partners, Proteus produced a ‘road-map’ with practical recommendations for a sustained and impactful partnership.
The DG Murray Trust’s (DGMT) Public School Partnerships programme is an initiative that centres on the partnership between a network of public schools and a civil society organisation, or Operating Partner (OP). The OP is commissioned to increase the capacity, accountability and flexibility of the governance, management, leadership, teaching, and operaPons of those schools. The Lesedi Solar
Park Trust is a shareholder in the Lesedi Solar Park and is mandated to invest proceeds into initiatives with lasting impact in the communiPes within a 50km radius of the plant.
In light of growing concerns regarding the quality of education and persistently low learner outcomes, two members of the NCDoE and two Principals from the Lesedi area visited 3 “Collaboration Schools” in Cape Town, November 2022, to observe how different OPs implemented contextually relevant versions of the model. Following this visit, there was significant interest in developing a similar model, suited to the needs of the Northern Cape.
Proteus Advisory facilitated a series of workshops to explore the feasibility of a partnership between a group of existing OPs, the Lesedi Solar Park Trust and a group of public schools. Our consultation process consisted of a series of 3 consultation sessions with focus groups to ascertain their respective interests, objectives and conditions for a successful partnership. The focus groups were made up of nominated members from school leadership teams, governing bodies, the Northern Cape Department of Education (NCDoE) and OPs. During the consultation process, key insights and opinions were drawn from the groups through targeted questioning and facilitation, utilising the 3 key levers for effective PPPs (Capacity, Flexibility and Accountability) as a focal point for discussion.
Following the consultation process, Proteus submitted a feasibility report, with a set of recommendations for a public private partnership model that could be developed and implemented within the current legislative and regulatory framework.
The feasibility report outlined the key findings, recommendations, and proposed roadmap for implementation resulting from our consultation process with the Lesedi Park Solar Trust, Public School Partnerships (PSP), the Northern Cape Department of Education (NCDoE) and Operating Partners (OP). The purpose of the report is to guide this group of stakeholders toward the implementation an effective partnership framework that can provide additional capacity, resources and support at a school governance and management level in order to improve leadership, teaching and learning, and learner outcomes.
Following the review of these recommendations, the Lesedi Solar Trust, PSP and the Northern Cape Department of Education have indicated that they would like to proceed with the development and implementation of a partnership model. In this next phase of work, Proteus will be supporting this group stakeholders to:
