Are principals given 'the basket'?

The education-centred articles published in The Sunday Gleaner of August 28 really make for interesting reading. I agree wholeheartedly that solid school leadership from principals can provide some improvement to the educational process, but much more input from all stakeholders is absolutely necessary if we are to achieve even a fraction of that improvement.

I rather like the statement ascribed to Elaine Foster-Allen: "If persons in the education system took more responsibility, rather than assigning blame, there would be improvement." This leads me to ask a critical question: Who are the "persons" referred to by Mrs Foster-Allen? The role of many of these persons is as critical as the role of the principal in striving for improvement in the education sector. What do we make of the roles played by the Ministry of Education, the school boards, the parents, the teachers and, to a lesser extent, the students? In the 21st century, we will all be forced to acknowledge that all of these stakeholders will serve to make the wonderful team of success.

Many principals have worked tirelessly with the limited resources at their disposal and have put fabulous systems in place to ensure improvement in the final product. They are sometimes let down by the level of output of other stakeholders, for whatever the selfish reasons.

No sovereign powers

Regardless of what level of performance is given by teachers, a principal does not have the authority to hire a new teacher or fire the non-performing ones. A principal may only be able to make recommendations to have a failed teacher removed, for example. But what if the recommendations are not acted upon by the board of governors? The school will have to continue with the non-performing teacher.

Dr Tamika Benjamin was quoted in The Sunday Gleaner as saying, "I am not surprised that you can see a correlation between the schools that are performing well and those where appraisals are taking place." She also said she taught for four years at a traditional high school and was evaluated only once.

I really think that frequent appraisals need to be done, and they should be done at all levels of the education sector. I, too, taught at a notable preparatory school for close to four years and was only evaluated once in my first eight months there. What is of utmost importance to the sector and the children we serve is what we do with the appraisal report to address the most critical issues in our schools. You may find that principals try to take appropriate corrective actions in the interest of the children, but they are not supported by critical players in the education chain.

BEYOND CONTROL

There are simply too many factors that principals cannot control. Let us look, for example, at the number of students who find themselves in the mainstream of the education system, attending primary schools that are not equipped to provide for special-needs students. This happens throughout the length and breadth of Jamaica, especially because there is woeful inadequacy of special-needs schools.

Anyone who understands how numbers work will inform you that students of this calibre will definitely pull down the average of the schools they attend and present a dismal performance level to the general public. Who do you hold responsible in these circumstances?

I also wonder which principal you could hold responsible when there is a large percentage of their student population which comes to school daily with less than adequate food in their stomach.

These are just a few of the overriding debilitating factors that work against achieving improvement in educational levels.

I am aware that just like in other fields, there may be principals in the system that deliver lacklustre performances which impact negatively on the performance and achievements of the schools they lead. I am a firm believer in holding people responsible. But to what extent are we absolving all other crucial stakeholders of responsibility when such one-sided arguments are put forward by supposedly seasoned educators?

More time and effort should be put into addressing the glaring levels of inequities that exist in the system. We should seek to spread the accountability matrix to include more participants in the education chain.

Owen Speid is principal of Port Royal Primary School. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and speidowen@yahoo.com.