PRINCIPALS are willing to assert themselves as school leaders but with their role fundamentally altered by the challenges of the 21st century, they recognised that the support of parents was crucial to the successful development of the school system.
This is the view of Kishore Lal, the president of the Fiji Principals Association.
“We have to accept the order of no expulsion of students because it comes from the ministry. It places a bigger responsibility on teachers though. So now we have to engage in more counselling, counselling and counselling,” he said.
“The one thing we need to emphasise on and develop is the involvement of parents. The children need parental guidance, parents need to develop this mind-set because the teachers at home are the parents. They have to ensure that the teaching and learning continues when children return home from school and children should not forget that parents are the first teachers.”
Mr Lal, who is also the principal of Tilak High School, spoke to The Fiji Times after addressing principals from around the country who gathered in Lautoka yesterday for a two-day Fiji Principals 110th Conference. He suggested that parents complement the work of teachers and be held accountable for the development of their children as well.
“It must be mandatory for parents to hold greater accountability and that every school should have an active parents and teachers association. The current workings of the PTA is not effective. We need to look at a system that will make it compulsory for them to work together, that is if we want to see a transformation in the performance of our schools, students and communities,” Mr Lal said.