To raise the level of learning in schools and bring about a holistic development among students, government today launched a programme to inculcate leadership qualities among school heads and teachers to achieve such goals.
"Academic findings indicate that the most critical part of any school system that impacts learning is school leadership. We thus need a national school leadership curriculum that transforms each school," HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju said while launching the initiative.
As part of the programme, a 'National Centre for School Leadership' (NCSL) will be set up, which will create a critical mass of well trained teams of trainers who would contribute to the leadership development for school principals and headmasters.
"As per the RTE mandates, there should be a headmaster in all school. This statutory mandate is to ensure that school leadership of good quality is made available so as to ensure better school performance and quality improvement of schools," the Minister said while underlining the importance of the programme.
He said such an initiative becomes crucial to transform each school in the country.
According to Secretary School Education and Literacy R Bhattacharya, NCSL has already finalised the national programme design and the curriculum framework and has also finalised the handbook for school leadership development along with the training modules for head teachers and principals.
The curriculum framework and the handbook provides detail guidance to the way that the framework and the standards at each of the levels can be operationalised and achieved.
The programme would cover about 12 lakh government and aided schools across the country.
Raju said that by the end of 12th Plan, the ministry envisions that all government secondary schools and about 38,000 head teachers of government and aided schools will benefit from the school leadership programme.
