Education - and management skills !

Barry O'Farrell's  government has taken a bold step in reforming the creaking old education system running public schools.   School principals are to be given control over seventy percent of their school's budget and will no longer be forced to use the centralised " procurement system " when making purchases - and will be the decision makers on teachers pay.  Seniority will no longer be the main pay criteria.  Performance and the results  achieved will be rewarded on merit.

This has long been anathema to the teacher's union.   This union is totally opposed to any system that grades kids by results and uses that to evaluate the teaching skills of it's members.  Seniority in time served takes precedence over skill and results as far as the union is concerned, and job tenure is high on their demand list.   In union eyes, teaching is a " closed shop ", and no matter how dismal each teachers performance - any reward for excellence is treated with disdain.

It will certainly blow a gale of fresh air through the public school education system, but it comes with many dangers.   The first of these is the assumption that every school principal has the skills to move from being a teacher to a management role of a big ticket business.

Running a school with seventy percent of the budget in the principal's hands would be akin to managing a fair sized commercial enterprise.   To be a teacher, a person requires to undergo training and achieve a certain level of competency  - and that does not include accountancy, human resources evaluation - or the business acumen that goes with leadership.    Some of those heading our schools will be found wanting in this regard.

Twelve months down the track and this scheme will most probably deliver mixed results.  Awarding pay to reward the higher achievers will involve decisions that may not be popular - nor universally accepted.     The school budget will not be increased, so a pay rise for some will mean a pay decrease for others.  It is inevitable that any change in a uniform level of renumeration will invite jealousy and recrimination.  If there is a review mechanism - expect it to be clogged with complaints.

The very nature of this reform means that principals also need the same level of skill evaluation.   It could well be that an existing principal lacks the ability to carry out these new duties effectively, and should be replaced by a more junior teacher who has a better mix of skills that include teaching, management and that essential to all who deliver results - leadership ability.

Expect massive teething problems when this new plan gets under way - and expect all forms of sabotage from the union and the legion of " seat warmers " who will be adversely affected by the changes.  Hopefully, the government will persist with this useful reform, and assist in providing principals with the training they will need to do a new and expanded job of management.

It will initially be a rocky road, but out of it may come the type of school system that rewards teachers for excellence - and delivers the teaching results that today's students desperately need to cope in an ever changing world.