Nadine Molloy, Andrew Holness

REPRESENTATIVES of the island's principal associations have renewed their call for minimum standards to be applied in the education system before the ministry goes ahead with plans to address leadership issues in schools.

Education Minister Andrew Holness said in Parliament last week that the ministry was moving toward creating a cadre of competent principals. He also said that "there is no resistance from the ministry to put them on contract".

But Nadine Molloy, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals for Secondary Schools, said the matter of minimum standards is of great importance to how schools operate.

"You have to look at the total context in which a school operates," Molloy said while arguing that "what a principal will have to do in a particular school to ensure that school functions, is certainly not what another principal will have to do because the support system around that principal is much better."

During last week's sitting of the standing finance committee of Parliament, Holness said one way the ministry will be attaining 100 per cent literacy in schools is by addressing the issue of leadership.

Leadership problems

"Aside from the resource problems, there are leadership problems and to solve those leadership problems we will have to create a cohort of principals that are competent," Holness said.

But Molloy maintains that the issue of leadership, although critical, is just one factor affecting performance in schools.

"It is far more complex than that. Leadership is a major factor but it takes a lot more," Molloy said.

Holness told the committee that "there is a serious problem with the inconsistency of standards in the leadership in education," adding: "We are going to address that. The ministry has no resistance to putting principals on contract. That is where we are heading."

Albert Corcho, president of the Association of Principals and Vice-Principals of Upgraded High Schools, said the issue of contracting principals must be accompanied by a set standard for evaluating performance.

"There are a number of issues that must be taken into consideration. What are the criteria?" Corcho said.

He added: "School X is different from school Y. What are the resources that are available at school X as against the resources that are available at school Y ... it is not as easy as putting people on contract like that. Unless all the resources are in place then you are going to have a great disparity when the assessment is being done," Corcho said.

Opposition Member of Parlia-ment Robert Pickersgill had suggested to Holness that the schools with better principals tend to have better performing students.

The North West St. Catherine MP lamented that it was difficult, if not impossible, to fire principals and because of that the country suffers.

"We have had in my constituency, where we had two jokers as principals, it was when the community took it over and locked down the schools ... you can't fire them," Pickersgill said.

Meanwhile, Holness has said that the issue of contracting principals and holding them to standards must be something on which there is national consensus.