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ne of the targets in improving education is the so-called School-Based Management (SBM). Schools from various districts in the division are currently working out for the accreditation on the levels of SBM. This will merit the performance of the school and assess how significant decisionmaking is carried out from highest authority in the echelon down to individual schools. It is one way also to encourage the participation of the stakeholders in the education process by giving them responsibility for decisions in terms of budgeting, personnel, curriculum, and instruction.

SBM is an additional burden for teachers because it requires a lot of preparation for documentation especially during the period of its implementation. However, despite of paper works to prepare, SBM is of great advantage if there is a clear and unified vision and policies to work on with the different members of the team through shared authority. Opportunities are equally distributed to more adept individuals in carrying out decisions that will improve teaching and learning process. The working committee have the right to voice out their valuable opinions that is beneficial for the success in the implementation of the program. It also intensifies accountability for school performance and transparency.

There is greater creativity in designing different programs, since training has been undertaken in decision-making, problem-solving, management, supervision, and leadership skills. For successful SBM school implementers, a wide avenue awaits for them in restructuring curriculum and instruction in achieving high performance.

Schools should embrace the importance of SBM, how it affects and improves school performance, how it works, and why it is necessary to implement. However, there must be a strong support and assistance coming from higher authorities for successful implementation of the program especially in allocating budget in different areas and continue giving rewards for successful implementers.

--oOo—

The author is Teacher III at Sto. Tomas Elementary School, Sto. Tomas District

--oOo-The author is Teacher III at Cristo Rey High School, Capas, Tarlac

WARLITO M. FLORES

E ducation is described by educational culture bearersand educa tional leaders as the reflection or mirror of the society, showing its lights/strengths, shadows/weaknesses, brightness/hopes, shades/ biases and key values/hues of its culture. Thus, education has a definite role to play in the development of people and countries.

Education plays a significant role in the development of people because people are the wealth of any nation; therefore, people are viewed as a focus for development. It plays a vital role in the development of the country because education is the source of growth of any country. This may be one of the reasons why United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declare education a vehicle for and indicator of development.

Education and training play a vital role in assisting individuals and societies of the global academic community to adjust to social, economic and cultural changes and promote the development of the human capital essential for economic growth.

Modern education, schooling in particular, aims at imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes required by the young ones to become functional in their respective societies. Schools are therefore intended to serve as agents for developing individual citizens within an educative community. In essence, schools are institutions where learners are groomed to appreciate what the society in which they live stands for and are equipped in order for them to contribute to the advancement of their society and their respective communities.

In the Philippines, formal education has been the central focus in the government’s development policy. Formal education reflects the skills needed in the economy, and it often determines income level, social status and quality of life of a people. Education in the Philippines is perceived as a socializing process through which values, norms and skills are perpetuated. Thus, schools seem to be at the centre of peoples’ aspirations and hope. Besides, some years ago, the Philippine government conceived a new Philippine education whose high school graduates by 2016 would be more employable and compete at international level in all areas. Quality education was considered as one of the key areas of concentration for Philippines to reach their projected destination.

Academicians observe that schools are similar with a moderate difference in the organizational and institutional structures. According to scholars, schools have a category group of students with a teacher, scheduled times for teaching and all other activities, specific times for starting and closing the school day, and management structures which are mainly hierarchical. The highest official position in the school is that of the principal.

Thus, the responsibility of running the school is that of the principal.

In spite of the similarities in the organizational and administrative structures of schools, studies have shown that schools are different, one from the other in the way they function as well as the effects they have on the lives of learners. For example, research findings indicate that some schools are more superior than others. They observe that schools which perform above average with regard to pupils’ behaviour have the tendency to perform above average in academic achievement. In other words, it appears that there is a correlation between students’ conduct and their academic attainment. One academic scholar is of the opinion that, in terms of academic achievement or of behaviour, some schools are better than others, even when they all have similar intakes. It could therefore be inferred that some schools are better than others in academic achievement as well as behaviour regardless of having comparable intakes.

According to Dunklee, an educational activist, the differences in students’ behaviour and academic outcomes are influenced inter alia by the principal. The principal leads from his/her values. The activities of the school are determined by what the principal does. S/He influences everyone else’s behaviour: his/her values are contagious, his/her good sense of ethics instils respect and trust in the system; s/he communicates a powerful message about what is important, how people are to be treated and how the school should operate daily. Buttressing the above claim, Ramsey, another educational activist contends that, in an organization like the school, students and staff tend to live up to the image of the principal; because no school is high performing without an effective and efficient principal; he is the gospel that his/her staff and pupils read, a model or paradigm of behaviour and work attitude to be copied and learned from, by all. It implies that the principal is therefore expected to accept responsibility for whatever pupils and staff do, and lead, both by word and action, creating a school culture that facilitates effective teaching and learning. --oOo—

The author is Teacher II at San Jose Elementary School, Macabebe West District