Eight out of ten school principals say they are professionally burnt out. And almost half of them do not feel appreciated for the work they do. In addition, this school year has brought new challenges, such as the obligation to teach, and this is affecting their ability to focus on strategic management, believe the principals of educational institutions, who are calling for more institutional support.
“We are made to teach, but we are also directors”
A month after the start of the new school year, the Community Association for Excellence in School Management (CEMS) asked 144 principals of kindergartens, schools and high schools how they feel. The first month of school was perceived by most as more difficult compared to previous years.
“The most demanding part is the conflict of roles: we are supposed to teach, but we are directors. The teaching obligation affects our ability to focus on strategic management and planning. Some of us can’t be the teachers we want to be as principals, and it’s difficult to be a role model in both of our roles.” says Viforel Dorobanțu, director of Curcani Secondary School and one of the members of CEMS.
More than half of the principals who responded to the questionnaire have a minimum teaching norm of 10 hours (50.7%), and for the rest this increases to 18 hours. In addition to teaching, the beginning of the school year came with other challenges,
,,68.1% of us say this is the most difficult start to the school year in recent years. We found out over the summer, the vacation time for our colleagues, that we have to reorganize the student classes and all the teaching norms of the teachers. Some of us lost the legal personality of the schools we were coordinating, others overnight took over schools with a different organizational culture, other profiles or other levels of education.
And to the difficulty from the beginning are added recent decisions: The refusal to pay installments of money agreed as a result of some court decisions, amounts that were not significant and that were calculated in September, whole days of work, an expectation created, appeared overnight. And earlier this week came the new austerity wages, with losses for all teachers, who teach more and take less money. I do not question whether it is correct or not, but the absence of any prior communication or warning.”, emphasizes Viforel Dorobanțu.
The principals ask to be totally relieved of the teaching hours or at least to reduce their norm.
,,What we should really do would be a real diagnosis of the quality of education in the school, the realization of extremely concrete plans to remedy the highlighted deficiencies and an honest monitoring of the learning activities in the classroom”, says Viforel Dorobanțu.
Directors feel they are in burnout
In the questionnaire, they were also asked how exhausted they felt, on a scale from 1 to 5. 85% reported values located in the upper zone (4 or 5). And this is due to stress and fatigue, in the context of the increased volume of responsibilities, say the directors.
At the same time, 46.5% of the respondents answered that they do not feel appreciated for the effort made in the role of director.
In terms of motivation, 32.6% of executives feel engaged and motivated to perform their complex tasks, and 34.7% of them gave a neutral answer.
“School principals are affected by bureaucracy and are generally considered ‘someone’s man’, the mayor, the politician, the inspector general. The report indicates that most of us (85%) are tired. Yes, it is possible that the remaining 15% are someone’s piles, but those of us who have reached this role through a professionally organized competition have objectives only in relation to the students, teachers and parents of the school community we coordinate. To be “nobody’s” also means to be asked a lot and given little: few resources, little support”Viforel Dorobanțu draws attention.
“Not only do we no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately, we no longer see the tunnel”
Octavian Popa, director of the “Central School” National College in Bucharest, did not participate in the study, but says that it is completely reflected in the answers. In addition, he comes with another series of complaints, but also with criticisms of the Minister of Education.
,,I would also add: the total disregard of the pre-university education staff by the Minister of Education; excessive bureaucracy that seems to grow year by year; underfunding the system, chaotic measures taken only from the pen without getting down to the grassroots to see the needs of the students and implicitly the staff. Personally, I think that not only can we no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately, we can no longer see the tunnel”says Octavian Popa.
“That research is as real as it gets. We were all affected by that change in legislation, which also led to a physical overload. The very high teaching obligation per week no longer allows us to deal with the other activities of the school, which are the same as last year.” says Daniela Voinea, head of the “Sfinții Voievozi” Secondary School in Bucharest.
Compulsory teaching for directors, introduced from this year
As part of the austerity measures, the Government introduced the obligation of the directors of educational units to teach and excluded the possibility of payment by the hour.
According to the methodological rules approved in August by the Government:
– directors of state pre-university education units (kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, high schools) have teaching obligations that vary between 10 and 20 hours/week, depending on the number of study groups and the structure of the unit.
– deputy directors of state pre-university education units have an obligation to teach 12 hours/week
– teaching staff with leadership, guidance and control functions cannot carry out remunerated teaching activities by hourly payment.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan recently said, as justification, that many of the principals exempted from teaching in the past still went to the department and were paid by the hour.
“So if they had the availability of time to pay by the hour, it means that they also have the real availability to do their teaching schedule, the half-time teaching schedule that is today. (..) In the context in which we find ourselves, practically, these measures come to take care of every resource that our country collects from those who work in Romania””declared Ilie Bolojan.
