It became a characteristic and prominent feature of junior secondary schools. With the advent of junior secondary schools and their subsequent mushrooming across the length and breadth of Botswana, a going it alone policy was going to be cumbersome and overwhelming. Government, in its wisdom elected to co-govern schools with the community. This approach was a departure from the norm, where central ministry exercised direct control over the affairs of schools. Direct control insulated schools from the community it was created to serve. The BoGs brought a new and likable tune. There was transfer and devolution of power to the grassroots. A sense of collective ownership of schools embedded in the system developed some spirit of love and pride towards schools.
Among other powers, BoGs enjoyed financial autonomy enabling timely and speedy procurement of adequate critical teaching and learning inputs. Shortage of essential teaching materials then was an alien phenomenon. While the system worked and served the schools well, it was also riddled with some imperfections. Accountability became an issue tempting government to abolish BoGs in favour of a more centralised and watertight system. But with hindsight benefit, the abolition of BoGs proved to be a retrogressive step as experience has shown that the advantages of the old system far outweighed its disadvantages. More controls and rules within the system should have been introduced to eliminate loopholes.
