Kohima, August 9 (MExN): A one day seminar on ‘Leadership Skills for School Management’ was organized by Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) in collaboration with Headword Publishing Company for the principals of Higher Secondary Schools/Colleges on August 9 at Capital Convention Centre with Commissioner & Secretary, School Education & SCERT, FP Solo as the chief guest.
FP Solo in his speech cited history and said that changes, transformation and reformation can be brought about by leaders. In Nagaland, he stated, the scenario is different where everyone wants to be a leader rather than a follower, which explains why there are many factions and groups, both in the underground and over ground organizations. Preachers do not seem to practice what they preach and therefore in Nagaland context, perhaps leader should lead by doing and not by preaching and thus leaders of the institution should lead rather than preach, he stated.
The chief guest also pointed out that a leader is somebody who inspires, motivates others and gets things done and to do that a leader must win trust and confidence of others. “We can win the trust only when we do things fair, just and in a transparent manner,” he said. Stating that “we” need to win over the trust of the teachers, students and parents to bring out changes and improvements in the schools and institutions, Solo further called upon all to build stronger education. We need to put the system in place so that the functioning of the institution does not depend on the wings of the head of the institution, he added.
Meanwhile, resource person Barry O’ Brien maintained there should always be room for improvement. Accepting that there is need for improvement is half the battle won, he stated. Barry further said that attitude is a problem not only with teachers in India, but around the world. “Educationists need to put their egos aside in order to develop their institutions and bad attitude by Principals as leaders is a major disability,” he said. He stressed on reinventing oneself as teachers and principals, stating that fear as a human trait affects an individual in the most negative sense and keeps them from trying and doing things and therefore suppressing growth and progress. The fear of failure is passed on to the students which leads to a negative reaction, he added.
Barry noted that the stakeholders in the field of education are government and its policies, Board of Education, Management/Principals, which are the most important, and authors and publishers. He further stated that the four pillars of a school are Management, Administrative team, Teachers and Parents. He advised that principals must communicate and connect with the other administrative staffs, teachers and also parents, while teachers should open their channels to parents even on ordinary days and not only on Parents-Teachers meetings.
NBSE chairperson Asano Sekhose said the objective of the seminar was to empower the principals for effective management of the educational institutions. She said head of the school is the key person to develop the ability of the children.
