Ministry of Education initiates School Management Change programme
The Ministry of Education has initiated a School Management Change programme, aimed at focusing on the critical role of school management to ensure improved learning outcomes.
As part of the initiative, prospective school heads would be required to go through compulsory School Management Certificate Training Programme, provided by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration or any recognised institution before they are appointed.
This he said is to serve as a radical departure from the erroneous assumption that, all teachers can easily assume school management roles, without the required training in management.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on the 2011 results of Basic Education Certificate Examination, Mr Mahama Ayariga, Deputy Minister of Education said the point of delivery of education as a service is the school and therefore management is critical to performance.
He said to ensure progress there is the need for the review of the quality of the management of schools.
“If one compares the pupil performance in our private schools which are relatively less endowed with physical infrastructure and have less professional teachers with low pay, it becomes obvious that the a major factor determining better performance of the private schools is the management of those schools”. He stated.
The Deputy Minister said the present system which ensures that, most senior teachers are promoted as head teachers and head masters would be reviewed.
He said teachers with five years classroom experience with relevant training in School Management can apply as head teachers and head masters, adding that “henceforth, school headship would be based on appropriate management competences and not necessarily a function of how long you have been a teacher”.
Mr Ayariga said security of head teachers or masters would also be tied to performance and the ministry had directed Ghana Education Service to review the conditions of services of head teachers and head masters to limit their tenure of office to five years.
He said the renewal of the contract of the heads would be based on demonstrated improvement on performance to facilitate greater accountability in school management.
The minister said, his outfit would also cause the publication of an annual league table displaying the performance of all basic and secondary schools in the newspapers and on the website of the ministry.
Mr Ayariga expressed the hope that, steps at improving school management in the country would have a significant impact on academic performance.
Source: GNA