S.C. McPherson School teachers were reminded that a culture of excellence is driven by effective leadership, by Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzherald. He encouraged the school's staff to be exemplary leaders in their respective capacities. (Photo: Ministry of Education)
With this year's national public school theme centered around educating students with the goal of creating lifelong learners, and schools across the country to emphasize the importance of students embracing the learning process and acquiring as much knowledge as they can for as long as they can, Minister of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) Jerome Fitzgerald reminded S.C. McPherson School administrators and teachers that good leadership is critical for a successful school.
Prior to the opening of the new academic year Fitzgerald told the school personnel that a culture of excellence is driven by effective leadership; he encouraged the school's staff to be exemplary leaders in their respective capacities.
The education minister told the staff that the ministry had invested in management and leadership training at the administrative level.
"When I became minister, I realized that there wasn't sufficient training and investment in our administrators as far as assisting them with leadership and the skill set necessary for planning, implementing and execution. In business, that is second nature. I believe that leadership drives everything else. There is no great school anywhere in the world that has had great improvement in its educational outcome without a great leader. You can have great teachers, you can have parents who are involved but if you don't have the leadership that is necessary and the proper training, the school doesn't really reach its full potential."
S.C. McPherson is one of the schools in the Southwestern District that is a part of the pilot program of the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) -- a leadership execution module created by Franklin Covey International that focuses on leadership training geared towards getting people and teams to do the right things at the right times -- the wildly important projects, tasks, and initiatives that ultimately matter most, which remains a challenge for organizations today.
Fitzgerald praised the teachers for their commitment to the teaching profession and for their top performance on the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) examinations. The school's students have continued to improve annually and maintained the highest numbers of A to C and A to D passes among public schools.
The education minister encouraged the teachers to remain focused and to not be discouraged by the assertions that the system was broken. He said while there were challenges in the system -- that poor student performance should not to be blamed on teachers.
"At the end of the day we have some great teachers and administrators and it's not so much that the educational system is broken, we just have some parents who are disengaged and the reflection of our students' performance is more a reflection of parental disengagement and lack of involvement and interest than it is teachers' commitment."
Fitzgerald told the S.C. McPherson staff that they were a positive example of what can be accomplished through a strong partnership of all stakeholders.
"S.C. is a shining example of how students who are prepared to learn, parents who are supportive, teachers who are committed and administrators who have the dedication and heart to lead continue to produce some outstanding results."
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