MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK SET TO REFLECT EDUCATION TODAY

This handbook was first developed in 2014 by the Asset Monitoring Unit. In 2016, the ministry engaged in wide stakeholder consultations including school controlling authorities, managers, teachers and the Ministry of Education: Mahendra Reddy

The following is the address by Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts on the launch of the new School Management Handbook

The Permanent Secretary for Education, Heritage and Arts: Iowane Tiko;

The Deputy Secretary for Primary and Secondary: Timoci Bure; The President of Fiji National Council of School Management : The Directors and other senior staff of Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts;

The school managers ; Ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning/afternoon, ni sa

bula vinaka and warm greetings to you all!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am immensely delighted at being part of this historic moment; a moment which marks another milestone achievement for the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts and which is the launching of a more comprehensive and detailed School Management Handbook; a handbook which is suited to reflect the demands of education in the 21st century.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I take this opportunity to congratulate you all on being appointed as managers of various schools around the country.

I also thank and acknowledge all those managers who were part of the Fiji National Council of School Management since its inception in 2015 and who are not here.

You people have been there constantly partnering with us in our education drive in Fiji and I applaud you all and your team for your most valuable time, efforts and approach to improve education, its accessibility and quality in your communities and the nation as a whole.

Work of school managers

Ladies and gentlemen, being school managers is an incredibly prestigious and well respected position. Being elected as a school manager means that your communities have put their 100 per cent faith, trust and belief in you; that you are the right man or woman to run the managerial affairs of the school and that you are the person who will work with the school heads to take the school to new heights.

It is certainly not an easy task, but the community has seen the ability in you and that is why you are given that role.

As I had deliberated before in the past managers meetings, the role of school managers in the 21st century has changed and unlike in the past the managers and their school management team are considered as vital components of the whole education process.

Before managements used to work in isolation and as such we regularly had disputes and disagreements at various levels of school management and which immensely affected the smooth running of the school.

Eliminating constraints

Ladies and gentlemen, as such now, we are putting in systematics in place to ensure that we eliminate such constraints and involve our school management into the vision that we have carved out for education in Fiji.

Ladies and gentlemen, therefore, after careful evaluations and deliberations we have come up with a school management handbook.

This handbook was first developed in 2014 by the Asset Monitoring Unit. In 2016, the ministry engaged in wide stakeholder consultations including school controlling authorities, managers, teachers and the Ministry of Education.

The School Management Handbook has been funded by the Access to Quality Education Programme (AQEP) from Australian Aid.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Australian government for the assistance towards the consultation, development and training of the handbook and we look forward for continued partnership

Ladies and gentlemen, the overarching principle of this handbook has been connected to the vision of the Ministry of Education and which is: Quality Education for change, peace and progress. This handbook clearly spells out key areas of managerial roles in schools and at the same times announces information on procedures, processes and principles.

The school management handbook

The handbook focuses on: Education and the 2013 Constitution, The Education Act (1978), Ministry of Education regulations, Composition of the Management Committee, Responsibilities of the Management Committee and the School Head, Duties of the Office Bearers, School Planning, School Decision-Making, School Financial Planning and Management and also seeks to answer some frequently asked questions that arise in this arm of education.

Dear school managers, before you had to fundraise and use all time and energy into looking for funds and trying to recover school fees and exhaust other sources of revenues to upgrade facilities at school, build new classrooms, pay ancillary staff, buy resources and equipment and meet other day to day expenses of the school. The Bainimarama Government has lifted this burden off your shoulders. On one hand we are giving you the financial backing through the free education scheme, while on the other you have all the time and energy to vest into development of the school and nothing that chews your valuable time.

Before the main agenda in your management meetings would have been fundraising. We have removed this agenda and I am sure the top agenda now must be “planning and action on funds”.

Being ‘student-centred’

Ladies and gentlemen, we are student-centred in our approach to education.

Recently, while giving out awards for schools attaining excellence in their external exams, I was elated to see that some schools right in the interior and rural areas are doing really well and in fact edging out other schools in terms of academic achievement. So the question is what is happening in those schools that are missing in your school? Of course this will take some time, but the planning and organisation needs to start now. Be competitive and leave a mark in the best interests of the children.

Partnerships with community and faith-based groups

I am proud that Fiji has a unique education model where most of the schools are developed and established by community members and faithbased groups.

This partnership is testimony of the obligation of the people in this nation to advance education and build a knowledge based society.

This model is unique in the sense that the community and the faithbased groups work share a common vision of providing learning and development opportunities for all aspiring young Fijians.

The faith-based leaders and their founders and the various community leaders have sacrificed and dedicated their lives to empower education. Now you are heading their campaign in your own schools and I am sure you realise the task you have in hand especially when it comes to enabling the vision of our forefathers.

Your role is perhaps as important as any other role in education and as such, I urge you to give the same commitment, passion and guarantee of your involvement in the direction we are steering education in Fiji now. Dear school managers and other members of the management board; we want you to be fully and enthusiastically committed to partnering with your school leaders to transform their classrooms, school facilities and resources.

We all need to have the same vision and every relationship we build, and every network we support has the ultimate goal of increasing student engagement and increasing profound learning for students.

Relationship with school heads

Dear managers, your relationship with school heads has to be firm, fair and school-oriented.

Do not let this relationship become too impartial either for the good or the bad. Personalised agendas must be eliminated through constant dialogue and common ground must be met after deliberations.

Do not be a ‘Yes’ manager. Be constantly aware of your roles, the school happenings and all the data and statistics of the school.

Regularly meet the school head to discuss and foster good planning and support to teaching and learning in schools.

The handbook gives out the roles and responsibilities clearly and as such use that for your guidance.

Dear school managers, you are the Ministry of Education’s ambassadors to your communities.

Pass the right message to them at all times. Do not add or subtract from important details to suite anyone’s personal agendas. Always remember, children are our priority and your priority in all educational developments and our focus shall never be deviated. I urge you all to go through the handbook and disseminate the knowledge to your members.

This is a tool to aid you in your work and I wish you all the best in your educational endeavours in your schools. Thank You. Vinaka vaka levu and

Danyavaad!