Damian Hinds will call on 30,000 business leaders to encourage their workforce to become school governors or trustees today.

The education secretary will also announce that the funding for training and support for governors will be doubled with an extra £3 million up to 2021.

Hinds will set out plans to boost the retention and recruitment of governors at the National Governance Association conference, in Manchester today. 

There are currently around 250,000 governors and trustees across the country.

The growth of the academy movement has made the role of governors at the strategic academy trust level much more important, with greater legal responsibilities.

However, it has also led to the role of governors at individual schools within academy trusts being downgraded or even abolished altogether.

Hinds is now issuing a rallying call to big business to play a more active role in getting employees to join what he called an “army of volunteers.”

He will say: “I want to do everything I can to help boost governor recruitment and retention. Because, quite simply, we need more great people. 

“So today I’m issuing a call to arms appealing to people up and down the country to take on this vital role - to play their part in helping the next generation to thrive.

“I want to urge people from different backgrounds, different professions, to come forward - offer up your time, your energy, your skills, your expertise. I’m also making an appeal to the nation’s employers today. 

“Because of course to become a governor, people with full-time jobs will need their employer’s support. I believe businesses can make a contribution to society here.”

The Department for Education said that major businesses such as Rolls Royce and Lloyds Banking Group already recognise the leadership development benefits that school governance brings.

Mr Hinds has now written a joint letter with the Institute of Directors urging business chiefs to get employees involved in school governance.

‘Crucial’ for schools

IoD director general Stephen Martin, said: “Good governance doesn’t just apply to business, it is also crucial to the way we run our schools.

“Indeed many of the skills acquired in corporate directorship roles are directly transferable to the education sector. IoD members know this first-hand and many are already actively involved with the schools system, but there are so many more company directors who could be using their expertise and experience for the benefit of their local communities.”

The role of a governor or trustee can involve developing a school strategy, making sure budgets are properly managed and holding headteachers to account for a school’s performance.

NGA chief executive Emma Knights welcomed Hinds’ call to businesses. 

She said: “Governing boards need skilled volunteers and a good mixture of perspectives and experience around the table in order to effectively support and challenge school leaders, making decisions in the interest of all pupils.

“Being a school governor or trustee is very rewarding; while the pupils in our school will benefit from the time and expertise that committed volunteers can offer, employees will also learn and develop.”

Earlier this year, writing in Tes, national schools commissioner Sir David Carter said good governance was central to school improvement.

He told an academies conference in Newcastle recently that where MATs have got into difficulty it has often been linked to issues around governance.

In this week’s Tes, Mike Parker, the director of the regional network, Schools North East, said MATs need business and governance expertise to be able to grow. He warned that finding people with the right skills is more difficult in areas of the country which are sparsely populated or economically deprived.