School governing bodies 'to be run like corporate boards' The conclusions were made after Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, warned that the existing system of school governance was more suited to Victorian "parochial church councils" than life in the 21st century. The Education Secretary insisted that the worst-performing governing bodies were staffed by "local worthies" who take on the job as a "badge of status." Currently, schools are run by a 300,000-strong workforce of volunteer governors who are supposed to reflect the local community, hold head teachers to account and oversee the management of the school. But Ofsted has found "considerable variations" in the quality of governance across England, with around half of boards in primary schools and a third of those in secondaries rated no better than satisfactory. The new guidance represents the first attempt to require local authority-run schools to set out the key skills that governors need before being appointed. It says governing bodies should "review their effectiveness regularly, including the extent to which their size and structure is fit for purpose and their members have the necessary skills." "For every vacancy, the governing body should conduct an audit to identify any gaps that need to be filled in the skills, knowledge and experience of existing governors," the document says. Guidance suggests that the exact skill-set required by boards will vary from school to school, but adds: "Experience has shown, however, that all governors need a strong commitment to the role, the inquisitiveness to question and analyse, and the willingness to learn. They need good inter-personal skills, a basic level of literacy in English, and sufficient numeracy skills to understand basic data. Experience also shows that effective governing bodies seek to secure or develop within their membership as a whole expertise and experience in analysing performance data, in budgeting and driving financial efficiency, and in performance management and employment issues, including grievances. The recommendations come on top of previous moves to slim down the size of governing bodies as part of a Government attempt to make them more focused. The guidance does not relate to elected parent governors or teacher governors. Lord Nash, the Schools Minister, said: "The best businesses have a skilful board of directors keeping them on the right path. I want to see the same approach in schools. Our proposals will ensure governing bodies in local authority-run schools have the people they need to drive up standards. Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governors Association,said: "Organisations with good governance do not fail, and we need to ensure that schools have the best governance possible. This starts with the recruitment of a good group of diverse people with the time, the necessary range of skills and experience and the commitment to improving the education of children and young people. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "It must be remembered that school governors are volunteers and give generously of their time. Although in many parts of the country, there is not a problem with finding enough suitably qualified and committed individuals, this is not true in all areas. The government must also address the issue of how to encourage more skilled individuals to volunteer to become governors.