Good school management has positive impact of results - PMDP

According to Barbara Njapha, project manager for the Principals Management Development Programme (PMDP), they have been measuring the impact of the PMDP rapid skills training programme for school principals and the resultant matric success rates at various KwaZulu-Natal schools for three years.

Following the success of the PMDP KZN pilot in 2009, KZN extended this management skills programme to over 1 200 schools over three years from mid 2010. "We are very pleased that over the three years of delivering the PMDP from 2009 to 2011 we can demonstrate an annual average improvement of 7.4% which is well above the provincial average," says Njapha. "The biggest impact and pass rate increase is seen within the first year that a school has been through the programme, and while it tends to stabilise for year two and three after PMDP, these schools maintain an improvement in excess of provincial and national performance levels."

Key management practices correlate with results

The original pilot schools which undertook the PMDP in 2009 have improved by an average of 17.9% to date compared with improvement of 10.5% in KZN and 7.7% nationally over the same period. For participating schools in 2010, the average improvement is 12.4% over the two year period, against the KZN average of 4.4%. For 2011 schools, there was a 5.9% improvement over the previous year in comparison to KZN levels which dropped by 2.6% and the national average which only improved by 2.4%.

Whilst the schooling system is quite complex, statistical research undertaken for the PMDP has confirmed that there are key management practices which correlate directly with improved results and these are currently being implemented through the PMDP with its participants. These key practices include management and tracking of the curriculum, getting an effective school plan in place, timekeeping and attendance as well as regular consultations at senior management team level.

Based on corporate sector development training of basic management competencies, the PMDP rapid skills development course was custom-designed to the requirements of the SA education system to upskill those in positions of governance and decision-making influence in the SA school environment. It is aimed at the main role players in both primary and secondary schools, focusing on principals as well as district officials, school management teams and school governing bodies.