Principal needs to lead by example: experts

DUBAI - The 15th Annual Conference of the Heads of Central Board of Secondary Education affiliated schools in the Gulf concluded in Dubai on Sunday, unanimously electing Ainsley Edgar, Principal of Ideal Indian School in Doha, as the Council's Chairman and Madhav Rao, Principal of Our Own English High School in Dubai, as the Council's Secretary.

By Meraj Rizvi

Published: Tue 25 Feb 2003, 3:00 AM

Last updated: Thu 16 Nov 2023, 2:48 PM

Dr George Joseph, Indian Consul-General in Dubai who was the Guest of honour on Sunday, in his concluding remarks urged academicians to focus on the need of the expatriate Indians in the UAE and inculcate human values in the students particularly to help labourers develop communicative skills in English-language.

The four-day conference, which saw several intensive workshops held by educators from the UAE and India, stressed on the need for the head of the schools to lead by example, as the leader is instrumental in the rise and fall of a school.

Dr Hugh Macpherson, Director of Education, GEMS, who spoke on 'Leading School' focussed on the importance of leadership with a vision, for creating excellent schools.

"As a leader, the principal needs to bring out the best in his staff and in the present global scenario children need to be transformed to become world citizens."

John Collins, Director Training and Quality Assurance, GEMS, spoke about in-service training on classroom observations and building standards.

He shared his expertise through two highly interactive sessions spelling out the objective of observing lessons as an integral part of monitoring the quality of education provided in schools.

Mr Collins, who has observed thousands of lessons in schools, said that while observing lessons, it was important to remember that assessing the impact of the teaching on pupils learning was more important than the style of teaching used.

He expressed concern about the fact that some teachers were more concerned about their own performance, rather than how well the pupils are learning.

The series of workshops at the four-day conference concluded with Professor Sunny Tharappan's workshop session on honing leadership skills through 'Experimental Learning' and 'Conceptual Learning' that would enable principals of the schools to become more effective leaders and decision makers.