Do we have the right person for the job?

The other evening I visited a friend in Bandar Perdana, Sungai Petani. She is a teacher and she told me of the tension she has to face each day because of the principal of her school. As a retired teacher, I was all interest as I wanted to be aware of what is happening in our schools these days.

She told me of a self proclaimed religious man who make life for all those teachers who do not know how to polish his apples. I was in this teacher’s house and I saw the piles of exercise books she took home to have them marked. She obviously had her time full completing her job as a English Language teacher. Yet, the principal was never satisfied all because she was never a ‘yes’-man, or woman if you prefer. The principle wanted her school teachers to produce the best results in public examinations and he told this teacher she was doing enough. The question here is ‘What is enough?’. Frustrated at being not appreciated for the work she had put in, she told him, “I’m sorry, sir but I have done the very best I can.” For that, he was not happy with her and since then had looked for fault with her. Being a conscientious lady she felt the tension as she found that every effort she put in was not enough for that principal.

Yet, that principal was not exactly the model for the teachers to follow. Though he was supposed to enter particular classes for a certain subject, he did not do so. In fact he was brash enough to sat to his teachers, “What can anyone do to him for not going to teach? Anybody who wants to can go and report me. Who dares?” Such a poor model for his teachers. Yet, with the authority he holds, he demands so much from the teachers that whatever they do is never sufficient. So, the teachers only hope for a transfer out of the school to another place where the principal is more understanding and appreciative. This teacher is one of those who pray for a transfer as soon as possible as they are unable to stand the principal’s demands any longer. In fact she was at one point even considering suicide. She was so depressed that I had to explain to her that suicide is never the out of any problem. We must value the only life that God has given us and not allow anyone to forgo this gift from God. So, I told her that since the man is unreasonable, we need not have to bother about him. We do our work and as long as we have performed conscientiously, god will approve and that is more important than any approval from any human. Furthermore, if it is fear of any kind of action taken against us, as long as we can show from the loads of effort we have put in, nobody, no matter how powerful can take action of us. So, carry on working for the students, self and God and put aside the unworthy stress put on by others. With that I hoped that her mind will be clearer as to what counts and what is unimportant in our lives.

I understand her position well as my late wife was under such a headmistress once. I knew what happened and how the pressure was so great that it lead to depression and eventually sickness and her death. The unfortunate thing is that such principals and headmistresses are good at cultivating strong relationships with the top authority which of course chose these people to be the heads of the schools. Of course, not every head is chosen because of whom they know. But even the small number is sufficient to create problems for an average of at least twenty teachers per school. Imagine that if ten such heads are chosen in this manner, two hundred teachers would have to suffer unnecessarily.

Well, here again we see the craze for power is the problem. People who crave for power would do almost anything to move into a position of power and being the head of a department, school or organisation is one way of achieving that. With that as the motivating factor they would go the extra mile and befriend someone up the ladder of authority. When appointed not because of management ability but as a crony, they can wield their authority on others while enjoying the position they hold without need for performance for they knew whatever complains made against them would only find their way into the dustbin, chucked there by their crony. Because the one complained against is a crony, no action can be expected.

Now, if a crony is able to perform well, by being firm, just and appreciative in the management of the body he/she has been appointed to, well and good but if the crony is incapable of being a good professional manager, then the department he/she is charge of suffers. More so if it is a school as when teachers are unhappy and depressed, students will receive some of the side-effects. So many people will have to suffer because of the mistake of one person in authority. Therefore it is important to have really professional people hold the very top posts so that choices made on personnel and jobs are professional and for the benefit of everyone.