The key element in successful implementation of school improvement programmes worldwide has been the role of head teachers. Taking examples of a small primary rural school to a large secondary/higher school in a big city where the head teachers through their untiring efforts and professional commitment have developed these institutions as model learning centres, evidence suggest that the main contributing factor in school improvement has been their leadership.

The five-factor school effectiveness model in early school effectiveness research also endorses this generally accepted view. The five factors included heads' strong educational leadership; emphasis on the acquiring of basic skills; an orderly and secure school environment; high expectations of pupil attainment; and frequent assessment of pupil progress. A further analysis reveals that enabling people to make right decisions through providing appropriate resources with matching authority is at the heart of empowerment.

Whereas responsibilities should match with resources and authority, many of the externally-funded public sector school improvement initiatives in Pakistan could not achieve the desired results simply for the reason that the principals and school heads and teachers were not empowered with adequate resources and decision making authority at their level to continue the activities. So, for any serious effort to improve the schooling especially in the public sector we need to re-look at the lessons learned in school improvement initiatives and take some major steps to empower the school principals/head teachers that will lead to educational improvements at the school level. Drawing on our experiences listed below are some of the steps recommended to be taken as a priority in empowering the principals and head teachers.

Resource provision

The first step would be to provide financial resources through budgetary allocations linked with school needs which are normally prepared by school heads. Taking schools as core centres of the education system there should be no budget cuts on their approved resources and once the budget is approved they should have the authority to fully utilise the budget.

In view of financial constraints in meeting the school needs the school heads be empowered to generate additional resources in collaboration with local communities/parents. Experiences in working with local communities/parents suggest that once the parents, philanthropists and locals are convinced that the heads are making efforts for school improvement their support including donations and materials will be forthcoming. A check and balance mechanism can be developed with the involvement of key stake holders to ensure that the resources are properly being used.

Decision making

As pointed earlier the success of improvement initiatives will largely depend on whether the school principals/heads can make independent decisions within the given policy framework. The broad areas in routine decision making include teachers' selection, promotions and transfers, their performance appraisal, maintaining school discipline and the grant of annual increments and other incentives, in-house teacher development and nominations for external professional development opportunities, and school development plans, resource mobilisation and matters related to student learning and assessment, etc.

One of the characteristics of effective schools is collaborative decision making. While principals and heads should be empowered to make appropriate decisions, they are equally expected to provide a conducive environment in schools where students and teachers have freedom and flexibility in making choices related to classroom practices. Ultimately this will make the teachers and learners more responsible.

Political/administrative interference

One of the hindering factors in improving the quality of education in our country has been administrative and political influences at the institutional level especially in discipline, recruitment, transfers and promotions resulting in grave violation of rules and regulations.

In order to improve our schooling system, principals and heads should be empowered to make independent decisions without fear and favour on the basis of merit. As schools are the key institutions responsible for nurturing and educating our new generation the department of education and those in power have a key responsibility to ensure that the schools in their jurisdiction are adequately resourced and smoothly functioning without administrative or political interference. Formation of school committees represented by parents, local communities as a support system to schools can play an effective role in countering such influences.

Accountability

While providing facilities and making the schools as centres of learning should be our priority, a check and balance system is equally important to monitor the progress towards achieving the desired goals. Annual development plans should be developed for each school and targets set including academic and outcomes should be closely monitored through reviews by school heads and periodically by school management committees.

Similarly, principals and heads can set goals for each teacher/section heads and progress reviewed on a regular basis. A revised annual performance appraisal system that focuses on teachers' professional growth and their outputs should replace the existing obsolete Annual Confidential Report (ACR) system in education.

Improving education is a big challenge which demands political will, resources and consistent collective efforts with increased sense of responsibility from all stake holders to make a difference in lives of hundreds of thousands of our children.

The writer is assessment consultant in Aga Khan University Examination Board for the EDLINKS project.

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