Page 5 - IDEA Studie 12 2019 Kvalita reditelu skol

Study 12/2019
International comparison of school principals: Czech administrative hell2
November 2019 Miroslava Federičová
Summary
• School leadership is a serious problem in the Czech Republic. In this study, we document how a number of extremes converge at the level of elementary school leadership in the Czech Republic: (i) schools have substantial autonomy, (ii) school principals labour under very large administrative burdens, (iii) the average new principal is insufficiently prepared for the role, (iv) principals’ salaries are relatively low and insufficient to attract strong candidates, and (v) there are a very large number of small schools, necessitating a large number of principals. This unhealthy combination of factors generates a significant problem for Czech schooling, of which only a narrow circle of experts has thus far been aware. For this reason, little progress has been made towards considering how problems might be solved or at least minimised.
• International comparisons demonstrate that elementary schools have greater independence in organizational, staffing, curricular and financial decisions in the Czech Republic than in most other countries. Local and regional authorities are involved only minimally in these areas, although schools are extensively regulated by law.
• The decentralisation of Czech schooling, i.e. the transfer of administration, decision-making and responsibility to lower levels in the system, i.e. to local authorities and individual schools, began in the early 2000s in connection with reforms of public services including the introduction of the legal identity of schools and establishment of self-governing regional authorities. Since 2003, all schools have been separate legal entities, which has given school principals greater autonomy in all areas, including financial resource allocation, school property maintenance, and staffing, and thus much greater responsibility.
• Despite their high level of autonomy, the extent of their administrative role, and the level of responsibility entrusted to them, a large percentage of school principals are insufficiently prepared or qualified when they take up the post. The Czech Republic lags behind the
2 This study was carried out with the support of the Strategy AV21 program of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The author would like to thank Miroslav Hřebecký, Daniel Prokop and Daniel Münich for their useful comments on the draft version of the text. Any inaccuracies or errors and opinions are however down to the author.
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