Aristotle once said, “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
Yet how many of us welcome the day with a feeling of anticipation of the work that is ahead of us? How many of us wake up in the morning and feel in our hearts it’s going to be a good day? How many wake up on a Monday morning, wishing and looking forward to Friday evenings?
As rational beings, men should act in accordance to reason. Man was created with the specific calling to work and cooperate with GOD in his continuing work of creation. According to Dr. Jacobson G. Kliatcho “If you are justified in having to do the things you do, there is need for you to allocate time within which to accomplish them.”
The orientation and planning on gathering of personnel data for all teaching and non-teaching personnel through-out the Division of Malaybalay City last September 25-27, 2013 started the first phase of the Human Resource Information System (HRIS). This activity involved all District Supervisors, School Principals and School Heads with their Information Communications Technology (ICT) Coordinator, after the said planning, the gathering of data also started in all schools covered by this Division following the prescribed template designed for the purpose by the DepEd Central Office.
This standardized Human Resource system can simplify various process of data gathering from the field. It was introduced by the Department of Education through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) Project, a partnership of DepEd and the Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), which aims to improve the quality and access to basic education in Southern and Central Mindanao.
What is HRIS all about? Tannenbaum defined this as a “technology-based system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve and distribute pertinent information regarding an organization’s human resource”. Kovach defines it also as a “systematic procedure for collecting, storing, maintaining, retrieving and validating data needed by organization about its human resources, personnel activities and organization unit characteristics”. It is basically integration of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Information Technology.
Currently, the department relies on the manual updating of its personnel information which is most likely inaccurately and not reliable. Since every field office has its own Automated Human Resources System in various formats and platforms. Integrating/consolidating such generated data takes time and often becomes a tedious process on the part of the Division Offices as well as the Central Office. In case of processing of appointment, step increments and employees’ Service records, the personnel in-charge has to take time browsing, scanning and reviewing voluminous documents filed by the Division office or rely mainly on the Personal Data Sheet (PDS) for work experience, trainings attended, educational attainment and many more. With the implementation of DepEd HRIS, teachers need not leave their classes just to request for service record or verification of their service credits. They will simply download in their District HRIS offices.
This program has been piloted in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Region 3, Region 4-A, Region 4-B, the National Capital Region (NCR) as well as the DepEd Central Office who had the first-hand experience on its successful implementation. Last September 2013 the DepEd Central Office HRIS Technical Working Team (TWG) conducted a regional orientation on the gathering of data to the rest of the regional offices throughout the department for the same purpose.
By the end of October 2013 the Division of Malaybalay City has submitted to be Central Office a consolidated Division personnel data of all teaching and non-teaching staff gathered from the schools and district offices and still awaits its full implementation. As DepEd Undersecretary for Budget and Finance Teodosio Sangil, Jr said, “This HRIS is the answer to DepEd’s pressing problems. It will make information readily available to the decision-makers in our department.”
By: Novem Abao Sescon
Educational Institutions can carry out their goals specially if the management is systematic and has the capacity to decide on administrative matters. School Heads (SHs) will come-and-go but they leave good memories and examples to their teachers and students.
It was January 8, 2013 when the School Head of Silae National High School announced that he will be transferred to a school nearer to his home. He is a person of integrity and “maka-masa”. We learned lots of things from him– being on-time during activities and programs, attending flag ceremony, and giving reminders to everyone. During his administration, there was a big participation of the stakeholders because he strengthened the School Governing Council (SGC). Besides, he stressed during our first General Parents-Teachers Association (GPTA) meeting that “it takes the whole village to educate a child”. He further said “A school is not owned by the principal nor the teachers but it is a home for everybody which aims to produce graduates of high quality. This can be achieved through participation of the barangay council, legal organizations, parents, school head, people in the community, teachers, as well as the students”. He bade goodbye to everyone with tears during the despedida party.
January 10, 2013, a new face came to our school with a strong personality. He has a unique way of dealing with the teachers. He is a man of good principle. During our first faculty meeting/conference, he emphasized that an organization will succeed if there is teamwork and simplicity. “Don’t make things complicated”. That’s what he wanted. “Right communication to a right direction”, he added. He possesses the traits of an administrator, firm in all his decisions but very friendly specially to his teachers. During his time, students’ self-discipline and courtesy were enhanced. He is always willing to help. There were times when we were financially incapacitated– during the Division Meet, MTAP Challenge, STEP Conference, and other school-related activities but he spent even his personal money to solve the problems of the school. In his administration, the name of the school gained prestige and was recognized not only in the Division Office but also in the region because some of our students won in the contests specially in Araling Panlipunan, TLE, and in Sports, specifically Athletics. Emotionally and physically fatigue teachers regain their energy specially during the faculty conference because he has the sense of humor that makes us laugh/smile.
Aside from being the school principal, he is the Big Bro of our school. Due to an urgent need of an administrator/principal in Managok National High School, he received a designation order from our Schools Division Superintendent to report in the said school effective January 29, 2014. The students and teachers had their despedida program last February, 2014 to express their heartfelt gratitude to him.
School principals are the key leaders in our educational system. They are responsible of carrying out the school vision and mission. School Principals play integral roles in making schools function smoothly. They are involved in all aspects of the school’s operation. They are the leaders responsible in providing leadership in the development and implementation of all educational programs and projects in the school. They play a vital role in achieving the government’s aim to provide quality basic education.
It is evident that the quest for quality education has resulted in a number of initiatives which have made significant demands on principals in public schools to transform leadership towards improved school performance, among which is the practice of School-Based Management (SBM).
The roles and responsibilities of the school principals in School – Based Management has changed significantly. It is believed that SBM captures the whole thing in the school as an institution of learning.
School principals have to face new challenges brought forth by advances in technology and higher expectations on education from the community, these include the use of information technology to support teaching and learning; adaptation of the school curriculum to suit the ability and disposition of the young children as to maximize their potential and not to give up on each individual pupil; increasing community expectations for improvements to the educational system and the quality of learning processes and outcomes; a growing awareness of teacher professionalism; globalization of the world economy and the emergence of a knowledge-based economy which demands workers with multiple intelligence and creativity; life-long learning and the notion of school as a learning organization.
Republic Act No. 9155, Chapter 1 Section No. 7, Letter E, Paragraph 3 states that consistent with the national educational policies, plans and standards, the school heads shall have the Authority, Responsibility and Accountability (AuRA) in managing all affairs of the school. Thus, the success and failure of the school depends of the kind of school principal it has.
It simply means that the lives of the school principals are packed with challenges. What matters most is the manner how these are dealt with. Hence, school leadership in the context of SBM is very challenging. It requires a paradigm shift, from the traditional way of management. It also requires change, collegiality, teamwork, and even efficiency and effectiveness.
These new challenges require school principals to take on new leadership skills in quality development and quality assurance. They also highlight the need for more focused and systematic school leadership training and development programs to enhance the quality of school leadership they already possess.
The government through the Department of Education should take into account the training needs of the school principals in the context of School-Based Management down to its minute details to fully capacitate them towards the full implementation of the program as it captures the whole educational system.