Impact of School Councils on Head Teachers' Efficiency

AbstractThis paper endeavored to discover the perceptions of head teachers of government schools towards the impact of councils on academic, administrative and financial matters of schools. The descriptive analytical design was used to accomplish the study. The study was conducted in late 2010. The population comprised of public schools (primary, middle and high) of Lahore district. The researcher adopted the convenient sampling technique with a sample of 237 respondents. Data was collected through a questionnaire in which head teachers' opinions were measuredupon 30 variables. Eighty percent of the total head teachers felt that School Councils could have an influence of some to a large extent on administrative and academic matters of the school. Similarly, 70 % of heads thought that School Council could have an impact of some to large extent on financial matters of the school. School councils may facilitate head teachers in different academic, administrative and financial issues of the school.Keywords: School council, Head teachers' perceptions, Administrative role, Financialrole, Academicrole.IntroductionSchool councils had appeared as an efficient beneficiary for educational development around the globe. It provides as an opportunity for parents and other member communities for the promotion in students' performance and achievement. As indicated in Handbook for School Council: council is a legally constituted body consisting of the principal, parents, teachers, community representatives and students (where applicable) from the local community who, while representing the interests of all students, work together for the purpose of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and improving the levels of student achievement in their school (Alberta Edcation, 1999, p.7).There is no single definition of council. A council broadly refers to a school-based committee composed of the members like principal, parents, teachers and community participants. Effective council structures, involving the whole school, can offer colossal benefits to both the community and the individual (School Council UK, 2009). They focus on students learning and enhance their achievements. They seek active and meaningful parent-community linkages. They provide clear understanding of roles, responsibilities and decision making to their members with mutual trust and respect for one another (School Council Guide, 2002).Head Teachers' Role in Schools in the PunjabAccording to Punjab Education Code for the teachers and head teachers, head teachers include three main roles within the school; academic, administrative and financial. They are expected in role to help their teachers in improving their pedagogical skills and classrooms environment favorable to teaching learning. The administrative roles of head teachers are their central responsibility. They determine staffing needs; prepare time tables, maintain records required by district or provincial governments. While in financial role they are to prepare budgets for the that have to be sent to local or provincial government and to act as drawing and disbursing officer of the salaries of the staff (Khan, 2012).Roles and Responsibilities of Head Teachers in School CouncilsHead teacher (HT) is the co-chairperson and co-signatory and a teacher member of a council. He/she is usually responsible to collect applications chairperson in order to change membership in council (SC). Head teacher (teacher member) is the only permanent member in S.C while other members can be discarded with the 2/3 majority of members. HT sends notice of meeting to all S.C members. Presence of HT is compulsory in all meetings of S.C. (PRSP, 2010).School Councils in PakistanPakistan has been ranked having the worst education other than any African country by UNDP. The reason is apparently obvious as numerous barriers in educational success like teacher absenteeism, low literacy rate including enormous dropouts and feeble retentions as well as unequal access. …

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