School council chairpersons reinforce management skills |31 October 2014

Four years after the school councils were introduced, their chairpersons are meeting in a three-day working sessions to review their roles and reinforce their management and governance skills.

The sessions taking place at the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (Site), are being conducted by Brian O’ Doherty, education  management specialist and principal of St Patrick’s Loreto private school in Ireland and  led by John Nolan, special advisor on education to President James Michel.

The Minister for Education Mcsuzy Mondon launched the working sessions on Wednesday morning in a short ceremony which was attended by education principal secretary Merida Delcy and other key education management officials.

“The workshop will provide the opportunity for school council chairpersons to interact, share views, experiences, concerns under the theme ‘Empowering the school - Implementing government policy on school governance’,” Mrs Delcy noted  when welcoming guests and those taking part in the sessions.

In remarks to kickstart the working session Minister Mondon reminded the chairpersons that when the school council initiative was introduced in September 2010 the aim was to change the manner in which our education institutions have been managed over the years.

“This innovation was a first for education in Seychelles but we embarked on this new venture with a lot of optimism and conviction,” she noted.
She pointed out that it was a key element in the education reform programme for 2009-2010 which was going to mark a major shift in the management landscape of schools providing a new model of management and reorientation of responsibilities.

Minister Mondon stressed then that in order for this shift to be successful it would require highly- motivated, well-trained and capable leaders together with committed and determined community members, teachers, students and their parents.

The newly appointed school council chairpersons were urged then to take part in this new development of visioning and inspiring others to perform better.

“I encouraged you to embrace change with optimism, to build collaborative partnerships and to commit your energies and expertise to help raise the quality of our education system,” Minister Mondon reminded the chairpersons.

“Now four years later it is time to reflect in an open and frank manner on our progress in the development of school governance and to take stock of how the intended shift in the management landscape of our schools has turned out,” Minister Mondon pointed out.

She noted that the workshop will provide an appropriate and timely opportunity to examine school governance from several perspectives and hold discussions on key issues.

She pointed out that Mr O’Doherty’s experience will no doubt bring an insightful perspective on school governance and share how many operational aspects of school governance can be addressed effectively.

Minister Mondon also acknowledged the continued support and contributions of Mr Nolan who since the introduction of education reforms have been a valued collaborator of the education ministry.

Mr O’Doherty said the training aims to enhance school governance in all its different aspects.

“The council leaders are expected to be better equipped and empowered after the training,” he said, adding that among the different aspects the sessions were going to look at include issues the councils are facing and what need to be changed, school governance:  ‘An external perspective, improving the governance of  schools: roles and functions of school councils’, best practice in relation to the operation of the school council: how to  make it as effective as it can be, functions and responsibilities of the school council, among others.

Mr O’Doherty noted that he planned to share some of the experiences he lived in Ireland where he said the school under his responsibility, with some 800 pupils, has to face and address the challenge pose as it receives pupils from different places with different ethnic backgrounds and languages.