Author

The challenges that the rural- urban divide presents are enormous. Let us begin with the adequacy or otherwise of teacher training. Teacher training and preparation make no geographical distinctions. This might be an omission. The training of...

Where professional development is limited, schools largely rely on ‘ born leaders’. A lot depends on the agility and prowess of a rare gem of a leader. Gifted leaders tend to do things differently. They are so confident and assured. Rather than...

Those who are merely content with the delivery of a narrow, subject-based curriculum are falling short of expectations. Schools require holistic teachers who master a wide spectrum of skills. Students deserve a little more. To be honest, a school was...

It is not an option, but an imperative dictated by the circumstances of the prevailing drought of good student learning outcomes. In an education system where academic excellence is an exception rather than the norm, retention and differentiated...

It is about the interactions among all the people who live and work in it. It is about the harmonious relationships that prevail within a community occupying the same building to achieve a common purpose. A school is a learning community. Learning...

This is the ideal environment that every school needs. But the school environment is far from ideal. Schools are not insulated from trouble. Now and then, schools have to contend with mistakes and limitations that plague and undermine operational...

More often than not, top-achieving schools are subjected to benign neglect, as they are considered almost invincible and capable of thriving on their own, riding out prevailing and potential storms with confidence. Why does success attract...

A limping and half-baked education system can only go as far as preparing graduates to fit into environments where opportunities are guaranteed and function in a familiar, predictable environment. The teaching of the conventional curriculum sadly...

Teaching without provoking learning is a problem in instructional practice in which a determined, serious, and caring teacher totally dominates and owns the process, with little or no input from students.The teacher carries not only the cognitive...

The heavy weight of leadership is felt most in circumstances where academic excellence is an elusive, mobile target. They often say that when times are hard, friends are few.The worst treatment and indignity a person in a position of leadership can...

Habitually, they present themselves as unfortunate and hapless victims of powerful and overwhelming external circumstances. In other words, persistently underachieving schools tend to find reasonable grounds for their predicament and state of...

The system can do better with more faith in the innovative power of the teaching profession. One factor contributing to a school’s academic prosperity is autonomy.Autonomy makes a school to be inward looking when confronted with challenges. When...

Tapping into the strengths, passions and unique experiences of individual members of the team is a mark of good governance and visionary leadership. A school seeking to outcompete its peers and achieve its instructional objectives should have, and...

Schools should have faith in the efficacy of sound, inclusive, and engaging instructional practices.There can never be a state in a school’s life in which problems are completely eradicated. Granted, all schools are swimming in a pool of problems,...

From my long years of classroom experience, one can confirm that schools determine, prior to the beginning of a semester, how many department and general staff meetings shall be held. This is an integral part of an annual plan. Organised and properly...