It provided an opportunity for principals of more than 100 schools to listen to the renowned educationist and chairman of Academy for Creative Teaching Dr Gururaj Karajagi, and find solutions to the various problems in their profession.The expert spoke on challenges and the skills one needed to handle it to enrich the academic field

S V Srinivasan, Assistant General Manager-Circulation, The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited welcomed the gathering said “Apart from being school heads, principals need to be counsellors, public relations specialists, resources managers and advisors. The increased pressure on the heads gave way to the idea of this seminar to “ he added.

What Dr Karajagi highlighted can be summed as follows:

Different Roles:
At present, principals need to be leaders, managers and public relations’ officers. They have to concentrate on physical (infrastructure), staff, financial, pupil and personnel managements, supervision of curriculum and institutions and school committee relations.

What should you do:
The principals should realise philosophical foundations of leadership, develop leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, communicate changes, facilitate a positive climate, get academic audit done, nurture good teachers, develop a leadership profile, establish a sense of urgency, form a powerful guiding coalition, create a vision, communicate the vision, empower others to act on vision, plan and create short term goals, consolidate improvements and institutionalise new approaches.

Changes expected:
There will be a sea change in academics in the next five years. Audits by NAAC and getting accreditation will become mandatory.

Money V/S Education:
Corporate culture has entered academics. Schools have become consumer markets. Private schools have become money minded.

Hence, principals should fully understand their roles.

SUGGESTIONS DISCUSSED
*To motivate  the staff Identify their nature and instruct them.  Don’t generalise problems of a staff member.

*Have fixed philosophies to enhance the reputation of your institution. Change teaching methods but not policies
*To resolve conflicts identify the reason and ask for it at least five times and solution becomes visible. Adopt definitive moves.

*Cut down expenditure and increase sources of income. Create passion for profession to retain teachers

*To create a positive atmosphere, never highlight negative points of staff first while addressing their problems.

*To help students with possible suicidal tendencies because of poor performance, identify them and help them deal with stress.

*Become mentors for students. Visit their houses regularly. Give a patient hearing to their problems.