Enhancing School Management Committee (SMC) Leadership in Improving Quality Teaching and Leadership in Primary Schools: The EUPEK Project Experience in Kampala, Uganda
This paper shares experiences and lessons of how quality teaching and learning in government-aided primary schools in Kampala City Council was improved through enhancing the leadership skills and knowledge of School Management Committees (SMCs). For five years (1999-2004) EUPEK project, through its interventions, guided school managers in Kampala City Council to perform their roles and responsibilities effectively in order to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the schools. SMCs are statutory organs that govern schools on behalf of the government as provided for in the Education Act of 1969.
An SMC comprises of the following persons: four members appointed by the Education Committee of the area where the school is situated and one of whom shall be appointed a Chairman; two members elected by the parents of the school in accordance with the provisions of the schedule to these rules; three members appointed by the Chief Education Officer. The SMC is the educational policy-making body for the school and function together with head teachers as a leadership team to provide educational programmes and services that ensure quality teaching and learning. After a careful analysis of the roles and responsibilities of the SMCs, it was found that they were being under performed.
Therefore, the EUPEK project sought to enhance the leadership and management skills of SMCs to enable them to perform their roles and responsibilities effectively, thus, improving quality teaching and learning in the primary schools. The project intervened by conducting training workshops to 15 SMCs. The training aimed at sensitizing SMCs on their roles and responsibilities to empower them to participate in and influence the process of school improvement in Kampala, mobilize more resources for education, and develop innovative solutions that address specific problems in education. A wealth of experience and information was generated on an on-going basis through the interventions. Information was obtained from pupils, teachers, parents, education officers, head teachers and school management committee members of the 15 schools.
It was noted that after the interventions by the EUPEK project, most of the SMCs become aware of their roles and responsibilities. There was a remarkable improvement in the management of the school activities, which resulted in the improvement of quality and teaching in the schools.
The SMCs become more involved in the management of school affairs as mandated by the Education Act. For example, the SMC of Kigowa Primary School volunteered to teach pupils their mother tongue after realizing that it was their role to monitor the curriculum. In Mpererwe Primary School, the SMC began actively participating in the management of the Teacher Resource Centre.
However, the training also identified a gap that was hindering the proper performance of the SMCs. The SMCs performance is influenced by the proper functioning of other organs of the education system, eg, the Education Committee. The local government is charged with the responsibility of managing the primary education sector in Uganda and the Education Committees are given that responsibility. However, it was discovered that these committees were effectively performing their roles and, therefore, this affected the performance of the SMCs.
It is, therefore, hoped that this paper will stimulate interest among education administrators and planners as to how best the SMCs can perform their roles and responsibilities in order to improve teaching and learning.