Many school governors lack the time or expertise to fulfil their role and major reform is needed, a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report warned last week.
Problems are particularly acute in disadvantaged areas, where governorsare harder to find and retain, it said. Professor Alan Dyson, who ledthe study, said: "School governors carry out an important and extremelyvaluable role but we are asking too much of them."
The report, Schools, Governors and Disadvantage, suggests three changes:widening recruitment; creating a group of skilled, committed andpossibly paid governors to work alongside the others; and devolving morepowers to local communities.
A National Governors' Association spokeswoman said: "One of the centralpremises of the report is that school reform has taken place withoutreal consideration of the implications for governance."
- www.jrf.org.uk.
