THE National Education Inspectorate (NEI) has disclosed that more school principals and board chairmen are expressing a willingness to be accountable for the performance of their institutions.

Chief Inspector Maureen Dwyer made the observation following the inspection of 50 primary and secondary schools during the latter part of last year. NEI inspectors are currently visiting the remaining 85 institutions in order to complete the assessment of all 954 public schools by June of this year, when it will present its findings to the Minister of Education.

According to the chief inspector, one of the most encouraging signs from the latest round of inspections was that many principals and boards wrote to the NEI questioning pertinent details in the school reports as well as stating their commitment to ensure follow-through on the recommendations for improvement. She noted that this level of participation in the inspection process is “unprecedented and adds real value to the area of school improvement”.

Dwyer described this level of interest as a profound sign of accountability.

The NEI, which is one of several agencies resulting from the Education System Transformation Programme, recently received endorsement from the World Bank.

In a recent evaluation of the programme on behalf of the bank, Canada-based consultant, Dr Jennifer Obidah noted that the NEI is not only inspecting but, through its reports, has been generating help for schools. Among other things, the NEI’s reports assist the Ministry of Education in determining the type of support that is to be provided to schools in order to improve education outcomes.

Despite the embrace of the NEI reports by school leaders, the chief inspector is still not pleased with the quality of leadership at some schools. She is worried that more than 40 per cent of schools inspected to date have been rated as unsatisfactory in leadership and management. She asserts that despite the circumstances in their schools boards, principals and the senior teachers have the critical responsibility to plan for students’ learning.

Meanwhile, in response to the leadership deficits identified in the NEI’s reports, the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL) has been intensifying efforts to boost capacity among the country’s school leaders.

To date, 600 principals have participated in an ongoing leadership development and training support programme administered by NCEL, an agency of the Ministry of Education.

According to Dr Maurice Smith, principal director at NCEL, many principals and administrators are qualified with their varying degrees in education but are not schooled in the ‘art of principalship’. He said that all principals at the primary and secondary levels will go through this training exercise.

Smith said that there have been visible improvements in the schools’ overall administration and the competency of the students, including improvements in school attendance, stakeholder’s involvement, funding of school projects, lower teacher turnover, reduction in indiscipline and improved compliance with statutory regulations and financial management. However, he pointed out that a correlation between the training of the principals and these improvements has not yet been established.