**2. Contextual background**

When the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister announced the reopening of the education sector she emphasised that the decision resulted from scientific deliberations where a phased approach had been recommended to manage the risks of COVID-19 infection. Office-based staff had to return to work on 4 May 2020 followed by the School Management Teams (SMTs) on 11 May. Next was the teaching staff on May 18. Grades 7 and 12 learners later followed on 8 June 2020 [2]. The DBE wanted to start with these grades because of their maturity as senior learners at the exit points of the junior and the senior grades, respectively. With their maturity, they would assist to orientate the younger learners who would follow later thus limiting the risks of infection [3]. The reopening of schools in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa presented school principals with a predicament of ensuring that teaching and learning occurred despite the difficult circumstances posed by restrictions in response to the raging pandemic.

This chapter presents the findings of a small-scale study that involved the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods to generate data from sampled principals of schools under UMgungundlovu District, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The chapter sought to elicit insights from the experiences of principals in implementing the COVID-19 policy guidelines for managing a turbulent and crisisdriven school environment. The chapter further seeks to understand, from the principals' experiences, how they handled challenges and achievements in implementing COVID-19 policy guidelines in a disruptive and unstable school environment. To achieve this objective, the researchers set the following two guiding questions:


With 487 public schools under its jurisdiction UMgungundlovu Education District, operated under these challenging circumstances. The schools are spread throughout this big district serving rural, urban, township and farming communities from different ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds. The schools are grouped into 17 circuits (circuits being a demarcated group of schools under the management of a circuit manager). Circuits contain a varying number of schools ranging between 23 and 34 schools. The unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 in schools required leadership that understood the situation at hand and was capable of flexible decision-making to ensure teaching and learning in a turbulent environment. This study would enable the management of UMgungundlovu Education District to gain insight into the principals' leadership experiences within this environment.

*Principalship Educational Policy Challenges in the Management of a Turbulent School… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108504*
