School improvement and development is proportional to good leadership and management skills. Schools become resourceful and rich in potential when we get better school managers. The good insight and ingenuity of the school head tells upon the prosperity of the school. School leaders ignite the teams of school to get the things done properly. If the school leaders are ill equipped the system gets a setback and results are not coming satisfactory.

National Education policy 2020 set the goal to visualize the roles and competency framework for academic leaders. This implies to improve the leadership and management skills, leaders would be expected to participate in maximum time for their professional development under CPD (continuing professional development.)  As per NEP 2020 the focus is on capacity building of teachers and system leaders from school to Educational administration for effective change in management because the leaders play pivotal roles in initiating and sustaining any change in the system. The best school leaders improve the teaching learning process directly and indirectly through their influence on staff by motivation, inspirations, responsiveness, and commitment.

Warren Borres said "leadership is like beauty it's hard to define but you know when you see it "It is imperative to develop the leader for school management because at school level school leaders face multifaceted challenges and chances which need good strategies well meaning roles and responsibilities. Schools will function harmoniously when school heads ignite passion and inspire the various human potential within and without the school. Vision and powerful ideas help them timely single out preferences and make immediate appraisal. They should Able to resort to mentoring and portfolio development. Leaders need good emotional intelligence to manage the emotional climate of various school players in the system and develop good interpersonal relationships by infusing a sense of trust among the various teams. The NEP 2020 envisioned the structural and academic changes for this process. We need a new design in school Management.

The school leaders are main catalysts with new roles and responsibilities emerging thereof. The effective school leaders play a vital role in initiating and sustaining any changes by mobilizing the energy and resourceful capacities of teachers. School leaders can be among Educational administration, Head of institution and even those teachers who are proactive and pragmatic hence they should be continuously learning new ideas and concepts for school improvement and innovations. The application of new ideas with changing school scenarios is important in creating and managing change. School leaders with good skills of practices and pedagogy will be able to make informed decisions about Professional preferences. School managers and leaders need careful hand holding of the system and stakeholders to help them comprehend the suggestions and be able to apply them effectively. They should develop consensus, mediation regarding various plans and practices for smooth implementation to achieve the best results. The school leaders should adapt the skills of crisis management and conflict resolution in crucial situations which arise due to various factors in the school system or due to differences of opinions. Leaders need to generate resources and should know the code for timely utilization of funds with proper budget and plan.

The quick disposal and swift redressal mechanism of grievances should be the hallmark of good school leaders. They should take the various leadership development programmes, refresher courses and capacity building to foster the good qualities. School leaders must have good rapport with society and Alumni to get feedback and check the undesirable developments. The schedule for timely periodical Appraisal of system, Meetings and Review of all the components of schools make the school leaders active and the sustainable efficient system thrives. The good school leaders can facilitate the NEP implementation in the field of school education. The NEP envisages that school leaders should be given autonomy, a sense of responsibility and accountability should be instilled to appreciate their role in the complex system. 

NCERT through NISHTHA has developed modules for teachers with prime objective of developing   them as school leaders to enable them to lead the schools towards change and transformation in sync NEP. Central institute of educational technology has started the training for school leaders to learn the skills of governance. The NPST national professional standard for Teachers will be developed by the NCERT. The school leaders are mandated to improve teaching, learning and augmentation of infrastructure to schools, meeting the challenges and goals of the future.

(Author is educationist and columnist)