School leadership in India: Understanding the realities

Pages: 589-594
Shadma Absar (National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi)

Quality of education is greatly linked with the way the schools are organized and managed. School heads are considered as administrative and academic chief of schools acting as a hinge between the society and school. The development and progress of school relies on the Leadership qualities and initiatives taken by the school heads. In present times, school leadership has undergone redefinition and school leaders have to reinvent themselves owing to government regulations and societal expectations, other than teaching and supervising they are expected to be more student friendly, ‘computer savvy’, well versed with latest technologies in teaching learning and should emphasise om the all-round development (Venkatesh, 2012). The present paper attempts to construct demographic profile of school heads in the country based on UDISE 2014-15 data. The paper further deliberates upon the roles and responsibilities of school heads in the schools of India. It also discusses the roles and responsibilities as envisaged by various policies and committee reports. It also looks into the recruitment and training of schools heads in India. The paper concludes by highlighting the need of extensive research in the area and development of leadership preparation programmes for the school heads in the country to achieve quality in education system.