Improving Zambezi secondary schools’ performance
Education is the great equaliser in societies across the globe. For that reason, countries around the world, including Namibia, have prioritised the importance of education. However, the performance of senior secondary schools in the Zambezi region remains a concern.
National statistics for senior secondary school performance indicate that this region has been performing poorly. This trend has been going on since 2010. Educationists such as Maemeko et al (2017) and Simasiku (2021), researched the factors contributing to poor performance among grade 12 learners in the Zambezi region.
The studies found bullying, lack of family support, low teacher morale, unconducive learning environments and unqualified teachers as factors contributing to poor results. Several recommendations have been made over the past years to improve the performance of senior secondary schools in the region, but no improvement has been noticed so far. From a leadership and change management perspective, I believe that the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture should look at the leadership skills of school principals leading senior secondary schools in the region.
In 2018, John Maxwell, in his book Developing the Leader Within You, defined leadership as the process whereby an individual person influences a group of people to achieve a common goal. School principals are leaders who lead and manage teachers, learners, the school board and others.
A school operates like an organisation since it has an established structure. It requires effective leadership to influence and guide a school to better performance, just like a firm. Enhancing the leadership skills of school principals, including inspectors and others, will enable them to know how to manage themselves and those they lead.
Leadership is important because it empowers school principals to have foresight and see the future. It also allows them to develop skills such as problem- solving, communication and relationship building to deal with issues such as unqualified teachers, bullying and low morale. Leadership will likewise empower school principals in areas of emotional intelligence to have total self-awareness so that they can objectively confront challenges of poor performance or results. Emotionally intelligent leaders can cope with difficult situations, and navigate thoroughly during trying times without hurting the feelings of their followers. Silume (2013) also indicated that effective leadership skills or behaviours were associated with school principals in high-performing schools in Windhoek. Therefore, the performance of senior secondary schools in the Zambezi region can improve if the leadership skills of school principals are enhanced.