A RECENT directive by the Ministry of Education to transfer heads of poorly managed schools should be taken with a pinch of salt. Poor administration of any institution should not be condoned, but sweeping the dust under the carpet does not make it go away. Transferring a poor school administrator only spreads their incompetence to another school. School administrators who fail to deliver or reform should be weeded out – period. There is no shortage of willing and ready-to-perform candidates waiting in the wings. But laxity is not an option. But why does an educational institution come to the brink of crumbling? Where were the district inspectors at the onset? They should have detected the shortcomings much earlier and raised the alarm. Children are in most cases modeled by their parents, environment and teachers. If any of the three shows any hint of fault lines, it can spell disaster in the upbringing of a child. If a school can attain the distinction of having the most unruly student population, the blame should not be laid solely on the laps of head teachers; local administrators and society at large should also take part of the blame. It was recently alarmingly revealed that only about 18% qualify to teach in institutions of higher learning. This should ring alarm bells that there is something amiss in the education sector. The quicker authorities rise up to meet the challenge, the better for the future generation.
