It’s the month for School admissions and all the worries that this brings. However, there is one aspect that parents do not have worry about when applying for admission. They may worry whether the teachers have their B.Eds, or whether the schools counselors have diploma’s. They may fret about the formal qualifications of the librarian, and even the school accountant, but there is no need to worry if the Principal is trained and a qualified professional because in India there is no training and no qualification for being a School Principal.
The Government insists that the Principal is a qualified teacher but that’s it. No other skills required. No special training, no management standards to be met. Pass an exam unrelated to institutional management 35 years ago, stick in there, and any qualified teacher can be the head of an institution controlling and shaping the lives of thousands. Scary? – Of course it is. Damaging to long term development of the school, the children and our society? – Positively.
In China school principals are required to obtain a qualification certificate and principals must receive training every five years during their tenure, otherwise, they will not be permitted to continue in their position. In the UK all Principals, Deputies, and Heads of Department need to be trained and meet professional standards for their respective positions. As in China, once the principal is in position he or she needs to continue to receive in-service training to keep up with new and changing practices in Educational management. Since 1996 all school Principals in the UK need to have The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).
In Singapore the training of aspiring principals takes the form of a 10-month full-time Diploma in an Educational Administration programme. There, established principals are identified by the Ministry of Education and paired up with each trainee principal for a period of two months. The mentoring process takes place in the mentor principal's school setting and is facilitated by a university supervisor. This component gives the programme a strong practical orientation and the learning of management theory that is related directly to school administrative practice.
In other countries all education professionals recognize the need to counter the ‘Peter Principle’.
In the 1960’s Dr Leonard Peter studied education in the USA. He noted that good teachers kept getting promoted until they reach a level where they were incompetent. There they stop. They don’t get promoted and they don’t get demoted. He formulated the ‘Peter Principle’ which simply stated that, “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
According to Dr Peter the employee's incompetence was not necessarily exposed as a result of the higher-ranking position being "more difficult" — it may be that the position is different from the position in which the employee previously excelled, and thus requires different skills, which the employee may not possess.
Today, the ‘Peter Principle’ is an accepted part of management theory. In other countries schools attempt to avoid this effect by refraining from promoting a person until that person already shows the skills or habits necessary to succeed at the next higher/different position. In other countries training, assessment, and the obtaining and renewing professional qualifications are essential to promotion and continued employment. Not so here!
So when you’re checking out the school and the Principal is unimpressive - be kind. They are not to blame. They may be incompetent now, but they used to be dedicated and competent long serving teachers.
