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Cyril Samuel is a facilitator/lecturer in financial management and a retired school Principal currently involved with Mentoring Programmes and developing and training school managers that are studying the Advance Certificate in Education (ACE) qualifications. He was a senior lecturer at Regenesys School of Public Management; prior to that he was the Head of the Curriculum Unit and then the Deputy Chief Education Specialist in the Policy and Planning Unit of the Johannesburg West District in the Gauteng Department of Education. He is a seasoned educator/principal who has served for more than 40 years as an educator and principal in both the Public and Independent schools. In addition to the above he serves on numerous Welfare, Social and Religious organistions mainly in executive positions.

His studies at various universities include a B. Com. (Unisa.); B. Compt. Hons. (Unisa.); a B. Ed. (Wits); a M. Ed.(Educational Management) and his doctorate in Education Management from RAU (now University of Johannesburg). He also completed the Assessor; Moderators and Facilitators qualification to satisfy the requirements of the Education SETA. Besides his studies he trained and lectured to a number of senior government officials from various public sectors departments.

Amongst other responsibilities, he served on the Executive of the Independent Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA); and is currently the chairman of the board of management of an Independent Primary school, the treasurer of the Education Management Association of South Africa (EMASA). He is also a member of a number of accounting bodies such as FICB; FASA; and SAIPA.

Tom Bisschoff was born in Pietermaritzburg in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, also called the last outpost of the British Empire by the rest of South Africa. He completed his high school education in this green and hilly city that reminds you of Bath in England.

After graduating in Accountancy he joined the teaching profession at a high school in Durban. He took up a lecturing post at the University of South Africa (UNISA - the largest distance university in South Africa) in 1976. In 1983 he became head of the Accountancy Department at a University of Technology (formerly known as a Technikon [Polytechnic]). In 1984 he was appointed professor and campus director at one of the campuses of Vista University (in 2004 incorporated into other existing universities such as the University of Johannesburg).

Since 1996 Tom has been Professor of Education Management at the University of Johannesburg (previously Rand Afrikaans University). He is presently the Head of Department.

Various articles appeared over the years in journals and he also authored and co-authored eight books in the field of Education Management and the teaching of Business Subjects. His most recent books are titled Public School Governance in South Africa (2007), Project Management in Education and Training (2004), Effective School Marketing (2004) and Financial School Management Explained (2003). Tom holds an honours degree in Accountancy and a doctorate in Education and is a National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) rated researcher in the field of Education Management. He was a guest editor for a special issue on Education Management in Africa for the prestigious International Studies in Educational Administration (ISEA) journal and is co-editor of the South African Journal for Education Leadership and Management (SAJELM) .

He is the vice president of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) and has been admitted, in 2006, as a fellow of this international body.

Vitallis Chikoko holds the research portfolio in the EMASA executive. He was elected to the executive in March 2007 at the EMASA annual conference. Vitallis is a lecturer in Education Leadership, Management and Policy in the Faculty of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) where he is currently head of the discipline. In his PhD, which he passed in 2006 at the UKZN, he studied school governance in Zimbabwe. Vitallis has taught at primary, high school and teachers college levels before joining the university sector. Prior to his appointment at the then University of Natal in 2002, he taught in the Zimbabwe Open University for 8 years. He has taught for a total of 25 years. His current research interests are in two main areas namely school governance and leadership and management in higher education. He has published in journals such as International Studies in Educational Administration (the journal for the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management: CCEAM), Africa Education Review and Education Studies.

Qualifications: B. A.(Law); Higher Ed Diploma.; Bachelor of Education, Diploma in Education Management; Masters Degree in Education Management. Current: recipient of a Spencer Fellowship towards a Doctorate in Education.

Served as a teacher and later head of department in a Secondary School in Gauteng. Was then appointed to the Education Management and Governance Unit of the Gauteng Department of Education. Acted as head of the Management and Governance unit in the Department. Managed the establishment of The Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance- the first education leadership institute in South Africa. Was then appointed as Director of the Leadership and Management directorate at MGSLG. Led the development of a practice based approach for the development of school principal.

Current Position: Acting Chief Operations Officer at The Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance.

Other affiliations:

• An executive member of the Education Management Association of South Africa.
• Chairperson of the National Standards Generating Body for the establishment of Norms and Standards for Education Management in South Africa

President of the Education Management Association of South Africa (EMASA). Raised in KwaZulu-Natal where she completed her high school career, she also obtained her first Bachelors` of Science degree through the University of Natal in 1988. Subsequently, she moved to Gauteng and pursued her career as a school based educator. She was appointed as Head of Department for Mathematics in 1993.

In 1992 she successfully completed her Higher Education Diploma. In 1995 she completed her Bachelor of Education Degree. In 1999 she obtained a Masters Diploma in Human Resource Management and in 2004 successfully completed her LLB.

In June 1997, she was appointed into the post of Deputy Chief Education Specialist (coordinator) for the Mathematical Literacy, Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences Learning Area. She also served as coordinator for the Foundation Phase. Her duty in these posts was the development of learning materials for both the Mathematics area and the Foundation Phase educators. She also had to train and develop educators in both fields.

Because of her strengths in leadership and management, she was identified to be seconded to the Education Training and Provisioning Unit and appointed as District Education Coordinator in 2000. As a DEC, she had to manage the human and material resources at both primary and secondary schools and a cluster allocated to her. She established mechanisms, procedures and processes to promote stakeholder participation through Representative Structures.

In June 2001, she was appointed as Chief Education Specialist for Curriculum Delivery and Support. The Directorate dealt with ensuring teacher development and that teaching and learning took place in all schools. This Directorate also housed the IDSO`s who are the managers of the schools. In 2002, the Directorate was split into two, with the Curriculum Directorate being separated from the IDSO Directorate. Alison headed the IDSO Directorate and was also responsible for Education Support Services and Learner Teacher Support Material. After acting (April 2008), in November 2008 she was appointed as the District Director for Gauteng East.

Throughout her career she firmly believes in organizational discipline and emotional intelligence. The driving force behind her is passion for education hence continuously striving to improve the Education System.

In May 2010 she was appointed as Chief Director: Districts Operations Management in the Gauteng Department of Education. Her responsibilities include:

-          Coordinate the implementation activities of District offices.

-          Co-ordinate the collection of information and statistics of schools and learners.

-          Oversee expenditure programmes of District offices to ensure expenditure remain within budget allocations.

-          Oversee that staffing levels at District offices are adequate to ensure efficient and effective support to institutions.

-          Provide inputs on development of departmental policies and strategies and their implementation and monitoring.

-          The managing and monitoring of District Performance.

-          Promote the mainstreaming of Inclusive Education.