Management in general and educational management in particular has evolved into disciplines of their own over the past few decades. Schools have become huge with increased complexity in terms of managing them. School Leaders most often find themselves drawn into crisis with core areas losing progress.
The organization structures of schools have essentially remained what they were. Principals, vice-principals, coordinators and teachers are often not trained in general management and specific domains such as finance, HR, Legal, logistics etc. As a result, strategic issues are shelved due to time pressures.
While some excellent teachers have become excellent principals by self–learning, many have struggled. When an excellent teacher takes on the mantle of the principal, the school often loses the excellent teacher but gets a floundering principal.
It is time to professionalize school management. Professionalism is defined as practicing that which one is trained for. None would deny that domain knowledge is essential for managing any task effectively and as a corollary; it is only an excellent teacher who can lead a group of teachers meaningfully. However, an understanding of management processes is necessary for this task. It is in this background that this program has been designed to prepare 21st century school leaders.