THE LOBBY by some principals for specialist plant/operations managers to oversee the administrative management of schools deserves support.
Indeed, we note that the Minister of Education, Maxine Henry-Wilson, has given broad backing to the idea. She has also indicated that consideration is being given to the clustering of schools presumably to allow for greater cost-savings.
These proposals have greater resonance in the wake of the recent Minott Report showing great under-performance in the 2003 CXC examinations, and which placed the stewardship of school principals under the glare of public scrutiny. Many who have been criticised for providing inadequate leadership, point to the many hats they have to wear as administrators, leaving them little time to see to the instructional supervisory aspect of their responsibilities.
The proposals, of course, are not without challenges. Teachers who have been 'head-cooks and bottle-washers' may baulk at the idea of divesting themselves of the hands-on management approach with which they have become comfortable. The idea of ceding control can make for difficult adjustments. It therefore means that should the Government opt to implement such a plan, there should be clear job descriptions to reduce potential conflicts over functions.
Others will no doubt question the ability of the Government to find money to pay these new operations managers, while at the same time insisting that budgetary constraints prevent them from increasing subventions to schools. Yet the experience from elsewhere, notably school districts in the United States, suggests that in the majority of cases where such managers are appointed, the schools benefit.
Classroom teachers need to be properly supervised to ensure that they are doing what they were hired to do. Many are crying out, as we have reported, for principals to better articulate the schools' academic agenda and to identify curriculum or learning goals. A principal who is not pre-occupied with budgeting and other administrative work, such as signing cheques and seeing to the purchase of stationery and toiletries, would thus be free to focus on instructional leadership.
Of course, schools have had bursars for years. They, for the most part however, function mainly as chief accountants rather than plant managers.
We note, too, that last week, just over 200 principals from schools across the island, received diplomas in School Management after completing programmes of studies under the auspices of the Government of Jamaica and Canada's Mount St. Vincent University. This is a step in the right direction.
The appointment of specialist plant managers, subject to the availability of funds, can only redound to the benefit of the education system and ultimately, the students.
