The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A head-wracking job to balance administrative work with teaching Teaching & Learning

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Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A head-wracking job to balance administrative work with teaching Teaching & Learning

Meera Srinivasan

Many school heads seem to be burdened with non-teaching work

CHENNAI: “Often, I feel just like pushing the zillion files on my table and running to a classroom to teach.” - Many school heads burdened with administrative work seem to miss their good old days of teaching dearly. However, they are convinced that good schooling could be achieved only with their active participation in academic matters, too.

This was stressed by speakers at a meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary Schools Headmaster’s Association here on Tuesday. D.Rajendran, Joint Director (secondary), urged school heads to frequent classrooms and take class for students in their subjects of specialisation. “You may have a lot of administrative responsibilities, but when you take class, you get to know more about the students and teachers,” he said. Giving a list of strategies they could adopt Mr. Rajendran said besides concentrating on results, school heads should also mould responsible citizens and this would be possible only when they go to the classroom regularly.

G. Arivoli, Joint Director (personnel), who released a handbook brought out by the association, said earlier, the role of school heads comprised 70 per cent of academics and 30 per cent of administration. “Now, 70 per cent of your work is administrative. It is only in our attempt to reduce this burden that the School Education Department recently launched a comprehensive online portal that facilitates e-governance.”

Urging school heads to be role models, he said direct and frequent interaction with students, teachers and parents was vital for school heads.

Heads of schools affiliated to other boards also emphasise the need for engaging in teaching. Malathy Srinivasan, principal, Devi Academy School, Valasaravakkam, and chairperson, Chennai Sahodaya Complex, CBSE, says even in administration, several matters like evaluation that pertain to academics come up. “Unless we are actively involved in teaching, we cannot do justice to the other roles,” she feels. School heads say the classroom has a lot to offer. A lot of that helps them become more sensitive as administrators.

A Biology teacher herself, Ms. Srinivasan makes it a point to take three to four periods of class for senior students. “Many of my counterparts do that. Yes, sometimes, we have to change our teaching schedule when there is a meeting. But if you try and make time somehow, students are very happy.”

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