Study the Perceptions of School Headmasters Regarding their Leadership Performance Assessment Policies in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Leadership is meant for a group of people working in executive positions and making decisions who have the vision to lead the followers and the institutions in the direction of achieving preset goals. The leadership in educational institutions/ schools is understood as the headmasters and their teams, where the headmaster is ever in the driving seat. They come and hold this position in different ways such as direct appointment, promotion on a seniority basis, and as in charge with an executive order. Their role is yet to be documented by the policymakers upon which their performance needs to be assessed. The obvious role that they play in their schools is mostly based on the indicators mentioned in the form or the template of the Annual Confidential Report (ACR), also known as the Personal Evaluation Report (PER), and they are supposed to be assessed upon those indicators. Another development was made in 2017 by the secretary of school education as notifying the job description of the headteachers, wherein similar to the ACR indicators, they were made bound to abide by the orders, but those indicators were not for their performance assessment purposes, and the ACR or the Per content remained the same. This study is intended to study the school headmasters’ leadership performance assessment policies in Sindh, Pakistan. This research study was carried out by developing two research objectives: a) to review the school headmasters' leadership performance assessment policies and procedures in Sindh, Pakistan, and b) to explore the perceptions of the school headmasters regarding their leadership performance assessment policies and procedures in Sindh, Pakistan. The population of the current research study was the headmasters of 193 secondary schools in the Shaheed Benazirabad Division. The sample of the study was 82 secondary school headmasters. For sampling, a simple random sampling technique was used. The data was collected on a self-designed five-point Likert scale questionnaire containing 32 statements. The questionnaire was found to be 99.5 percent reliable. The results showed that the headmasters seldom follow ACR attributes and lack school vision, mission, and core values to best run the school in a determined direction. They look instructionally moderate and follow the practices they are habitual with. This research study recommends that the training manuals for the headmasters of the schools should be aligned with the attributes and indicators of the ACRs and PERs. The training manuals should include material to ensure that the head teachers are well aware of the administrative and managerial practices in the schools. In the training manuals, the behavioral and trait leadership theories should be included, and the leadership styles be discussed to the head teachers, making them able to adopt working leadership style in different conditions and situations. The authorities make sure that the schools have their vision, mission statements, and core values meeting the needs of the hour and the community they are supposed to impart knowledge with better utilization of school resources. The schools should have school-specific academic calendars and should add some school-specific events to organize and sharpen the innovative ideas from the school students’ teachers and the community.