BALANCING ACT

Goolbai Gunasekara considers a principal’s balance of influence

As the head of a school, the principal is presumably in total control of what goes on within its walls. He or she is always held responsible for whatever happens in it. I am speaking only of private and international schools since I’m never too sure how much praise or blame can be attached to principals of state schools that are run by the Department of Education.

A principal of a private school can’t shift blame when things go wrong and has to handle the fallout or face the consequences.

Of course, things do go wrong! As Murphy’s Law states: ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.’

This is why most principals check and double-check everything – and I mean every single thing. The process of checking ranges from organising pleasant areas of school life such as plays, a sports meets and the prize giving to the principal’s main business of overall academic supervision (since doing so personally is vital).

A principal naturally looks for talent and suitability when it’s time to confer school offices on the many worthwhile children that seem to be in the running. There are peripheral problems that involve parental feelings and ambitions, which don’t always coincide with the principal’s views of a child. And he or she can be sure that whatever choice is made, it’s going to be intensely contested.

There’s always fear in the minds of parents that teachers and even principals have hidden agendas when it comes to school appointments; but none are so hotly discussed, dissected and analysed than the choice of prefects.

There’s also much heartache among disappointed parents and students when these coveted positions are filled. The principal had better make very sure he or she is on firm ground and is able to defend the decision against all attacks. For the attacks will surely come.

The polite behaviour of bygone eras has been replaced by a free-for-all today. No longer is well-bred silence considered ‘the done thing.’ Parents voice their anger, frustration and feelings that their children are being ill-used by those in charge of selections. The sad thing is that they’re often justified in having such a reaction because authority isn’t always impartial.

If I had told my mother that I wasn’t being considered as a prefect, she would have asked why I expected to be chosen in the first place. Our parents didn’t dream of asking principals why their offspring weren’t on such lists. They weren’t given to putting us on pedestals, and anything we achieved was always a happy surprise.

There was a distance between principal and parent, and it was a distance that pleased us all.


But school populations have increased and competition is much greater so I need to get to my list of precautions a principal should take when making those highly prized school appointments. A choice has to be made as competitors are many and places are few.

Firstly, a principal must ensure that all appointments have his or her approval before they’re announced – especially minor appointments such as those in school clubs where they don’t play a direct role.

The principal should be given the proposed list of important offices and nominees for that particular appointment. For example, the school’s games captain usually has more than one contender. I recall one year when I’d personally pored over that list and found it hard to make a choice. But having made the decision, the teachers and I were fully primed to defend our selection. And it was to our credit that it wasn’t needed.

One must be particularly careful about the appointment of teachers’ offspring. Unfortunately, discrimination in reverse occurs here. Never should a principal appoint his or her own child as head boy or girl. Teachers’ children likewise need careful vetting or else favouritism will be alleged.

The affluence or importance of parents should not influence a principal. At international schools, importance and affluence can be present among many parents, and to steer away from that kind of pressure can be hard.

A principal needs to be quite sure that his or her staff (particularly those on the voting committees) have no hidden favourites. This is hard to ascertain but it’s essential to know.

Finally, as far as these appointments go, a principal must be able to face any parent and explain his or her choice. After all, the principal is the final arbiter. Principals aren’t infallible but for some reason they’re expected to be when it comes to such situations. Therefore, they have to be sure that they’ve made the best choice possible.

Being a school principal can be a wonderful choice of career that brings satisfaction, fulfilment, and pleasure. A responsible principal must handle those inevitable parental clashes with wisdom, tact, kindness and integrity.