Schools -The Role of The Principal !!

Schools play a very important part in the future of a country .It is a place where children learn the basics of all skills that are required to propel the country towards a goal in which everyone gets a equal opportunity to excel .However schools –many of them –fail to deliver .We have some excellent schools ,some average schools and some rank bad schools .We also have rank bad schools become good schools and good schools become excellent schools .The reverse is also true –some excellent schools become good and then become bad .In all this up and down movement ,the question arises –who and what is responsible for schools becoming excellent or bad.? (I am not going into what constitutes a good school ).

I have witnessed superb schools becoming bad  .And I have seen from close up why they got into the pits.

It is common to blame the managements ,the teachers or the students for schools being good or bad. “Oh,the staff is not good”,is what a Principal promptly says when a school does badly in any area.Or “The Mangement is totally shortsighted .They are too commercial”,is another reason commonly given .Or the buck is passed on to the students (they come from business families –they are not motivated enough to work hard .After all they will step into their parental business !!).And of course the parents “They are least interested ,they don’t come to PTMs or don’t follow up with the school”!!

After having worked in schools for more than 30 years (20 of them as a Principal and now as a Director),I have no hesitation in saying that the destiny of a school is very closely intertwined with the quality of the leader of the school –the Principal .It is the Principal who makes or breaks a school.Why don’t some Principals deliver ?

1.Some of them tend to get too selfish .They usually  will be the first to try to get whatever benefits they can squeeze out of the system .I know Principals who have innumerable  airconditioners in their homes provided by the management and living alone .!!And having more than one car and those too  which normally are used by the industrialists ! .And frequenting 5 Star Hotels and wrangling foreign trips from school accounts .In other words –many Principals behave as if they are from a different planet .Whereas in real life they might still be living in one bedroomed flat(of course nothing wrong with that ) when they retire .There is a huge disconnect between what they are and what they project to be  ..The focus should be in making sure that the gap between them,the teachers,the supporting staff, and the kids does not degenerate into one that smacks of what happens in most of India –the haves and the have-nots .For many Principals, the line between need and greed gets blurred .Anf it finally merges into a single pursuit –greed.A greedy Principal –a bad school .A magnanimous Principal –a good school .I think all selection procedures should centre around not how intelligent or qualified a Principal is –but how good a human being she/he is .It is not uncommon to a see the decline set in when a selfish Principal succeeds a magnanimous on .I have seen it over and over again .

2 Selfish Principals' ,will gather around him/ her selfish followers.(Birds of a feather flock together ).The true professional in the teaching profession will always be out of sync with a non professional Principal because the latter will reward people who indulge in pschophancy and blind obedience-to the extent in becoming a collaborator in wrong doings  .A professionally run system will be based on policies which are made after intense deliberation and debate .And after everyone has been convinced.The Principal like a General or the Chief Secretary or the Prime Minister needs advice .And if this advice comes from a psychophant ,then the Principal is doomed.Thats why Principals must be allowed to choose their Vice Principals and Headmasters/Headmistresses.I worked in a school in which the Vice Principal landed up one day with a appointment letter without the Principal knowing anything about it .Can you believe it ?Yes it did happen .!!Whereas its should be the prerogative of the Principal to decide  what sort of person is he/she? Is he /she a person the staff  will listen to? Is he/she  someone that staff will respect? Is he someone who has some desire,- I don't mean an overweening ambition, but some desire to stand his /her authority on a group of people? He must have some ideas about how a team should be run, who tactically thinks about the school, who has interesting suggestions to make, who can stick up for things when things go badly. A whole range of qualities are called for in a group leader like a Vice Principal.Thats why good schools will have good Vice Principals.!
The Principal because he/she should be having more knowledge and wisdom should be able to convince .But he/she should never force .We live in a highly democratic world and everyone expects answers .Either convince or get convinced –that is the mantra .A school in which things are done in a hush hush manner is never going to get the full and energetic participation of its staff .They will get rebellious .And demotivated .The systems should be such that the Principals discretionary powers become nil.I know of schools in which Principals send teachers abroad without revealing their names till the last day !!Why should this happen? .Or worse still on the day when the trip is to leave ,you find the Principals on board  the flight –because “some teacher”,pulled out in the last moment .And the  poor Principal  did not have a choice but to take such a long and ardous flight .!!The same lack of transparency is evident when teachers apply for leave .The near and dear ones are given leaves and the “non compliant”ones are marked on leave without pay .Very Medieval ways of running schools .Transparency is a must .There is no other way .Everyone has a cell phone ,a laptop ,a IPAD,-and all have access to email .There is no getting away from facts .Gone are the days of suppressed information .All progressive Principals must get out of the 80s ,90s and early 20^th century syndrome and mindset that relevant people are not accessible to the staff .The social media and the growing number of bloggers have given unheard voices a huge platform .

3.Managements will always have a view point .And they will always try to hammer it down the throat of  Principal .It is not their fault .Because they are not teachers .Many of the private schools are owned by businessmen .I don’t think many Principal own schools !It is the bounden duty of  a Principal to stand up and be counted when the management tries to implement something wrong .A very small example .When children have to be admitted to a school ,it is the Principal who admits them .And the Principal has every right to make a choice based on the criterion prevalent (for example the Ganguly Committee criterion).The managements /politicians may not know all that .They will tend to push in their candidates .The pressure will come from everywhere –the police ,the press,the income tax department .But the Principal must have a spine to stand up for what is right .If he/she does the wrong thing ,then not only is he/she likely to be prosecuted ,but will also fall in the eyes of the students and the staff .Which is the cancer in the schooling system-if you lose respect and continue to lose it ,it is like cancer spreading .It will consume not only the Principal –but also the school.Respect and dignity cannot be calculated on laptops and ipads .They are immeasurables and keep gnawing away at system –till one day one realizes that it is hollow .Principals must have guts vis a vis the Mangements .Managements tend to like Principals who differ(at least the good ones do ).Its no point being a lamb in front of them and a paper tiger in front of your staff .Being a lamb and a paper tiger is a deadly mix –like a mix of rum and whiskey !!Its going to knock you down instead of giving you a “high” because of which you mixed it !!

4.A good school will have a Principal with a vision .Visionary Principals will take decisions which will impact positively in the long run, though they may appear unattractive in the short run .I remember a boy in the hostel running away at night  in a school in which I was the Principal .It was a nightmare because the press overplayed its role (its sensational news !!),and the pressure started to mount .We were able to track the child (who was from Bharatpur )and I was insistent that he must be asked to leave .The decision was taken because I was looking at the future –if we let him off ,then we would be having kids who would do the same thing and more importantly we would not be in a position to do anything to them ,because of the precedent of having let of a boy previously .Politicians got into the act  ,human right activists got into the act ,but I was adamant .When the management asked me my views ,I said “Its either him or me”.!!I am not saying I am a visionary –all I am saying is that I was looking into all aspects before taking a decision .I was taking the side of the hard right ,instead of the easy wrong .

Visionary Principals will also run schools by not looking at the mistakes (real or imagined )of the previous Principal.I worked in a school in Haryana under a fabulous Principal .He had vision ,he had personality ,he had knowledge and he was kind .He got caught up in petty politics and finally left for another school .The school was at its pinnacle when he left it .Unfortunately the new Principal was shortsighted .All he tried to do was to find faults of the previous Principal .I am told that his  first brief to some staff members was “I want to know the names of all teachers who cried when ………. was given a farewell”.What a shame .How can you have a Principal (who is the custodian of the future of the children),be like that .?If the regime (yes I will call it a regime !!)of a Principal is based on “anti”,the previous Principal,then the school will hurtle towards disaster.Its a lesson I never forget –one cant run institutions by being anti someone .You must run institutions by being pro SOMETHING –A IDEA ,A MISSION .Because you cant run institutions by being so small as to reduce it to being anti a individual .It has to be wedded to a LARGE IDEA .When I shifted to DPS Ahmedabad ,I made sure that the previous Principal sat in my office for weeks .And we worked in tandem for nearly 2 years (he is leaving to take over as the Principal of a prominent DPS in North India ).I told him that I am not going to do different things .I am going to do them differently .I was not going to change the name of the Houses ,nor the leave rules ,nor the period distribution ,nor the coordinators etc .I was  just going to try to nudge here a little and there a little .And for that I needed his inputs .Because both of us are not trying to create a future for ourselves –but for the children and teachers who need to be trained and given opportunities  to take over as future Principals .

And that ultimately is the catch –we are in the game as referees and not participants .We are in the game as coaches and not players .We are in these positions because we are wiser and more experienced .We cant be competing with teachers and feel jealous of them when they get the limelight .And no Principal can be good if he/she competes with a teacher .After all the Principal is a notch higher .And that is where he/she should belong  .High in esteem in the eyes of the staff .Only such leadership will ensure a good school .I have always tried to follow the wise Lao –Tsu who said this about leadership

  “The best  leaders, are those who are not noticed –they walk beside you,

 The next best are leaders we  honor, and praise.

 The next, are leaders  the people fear;

 And the worst , are leaders who people hate

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!”

It is difficult to put into  practice the above –BUT WE MUST TRY .!!