For any educational institution to run well, stakeholders are very important. They participate in many activities which contribute in the overall smooth running of educational institutions. The role of stakeholders and how to be accountable to them, among many others, are some of the factors which should be considered when managing any educational institution. The following is a detailed explanation about stakeholders and the functioning of educational institutions especially in secondary schools.
To start with, there are many stakeholders who are involved in the running of educational institutions. Parents are the most common stakeholders in secondary institutions (Pucciarelli and Kaplan 2016). They mainly take part in paying school fees where possible, keeping their children in school and even contribute to the planning of some school projects. Parents are very supportive. Suppliers also contribute to the well being of secondary schools. Suppliers are the stakeholders who are majorly responsible for providing the school with teaching and learning resources.
Suppliers contribute in many parts around the school. For instance, there are those who specifically supply the school with building and construction materials like cement, timber and construction instruments. Some even provide educational institutions with IT support materials like computers, modems and Wi-Fi. Others provide the school with teaching and learning materials such as pens, chalks, mark pens, text books among many others.
External customers also take part in marketing secondary institutions (Solbrekke and Sugrue 2014). For instance, some of these external customers who have their children in a certain school verbally tell other parents about the school and the advantages of taking their children there. By so doing, such customers market the school. At long last, more parents join the marketed school hence improving it.
The senior management also takes part in supporting the school financially. Donors and well wishers give their donations and contributions through the senior management board. The management in turn helps in purchasing the required resources (Hazelkorn 2015). Such funds are also used in some development programs organized by the school. The government is also a stakeholder in educational institutions. To some extent, it helps the school to be financially stable, by providing some learning and teaching resources.
Some awarding organizations also contribute to education and training. They are responsible to organizing prize giving days in educational institutions. This helps to boost the progress of learners. Those students who fail to get awards try to work hard to improve so as to be given an award in the coming event.
There are many impacts which result as a result of being accountable to stakeholders.
First of all being accountable to stakeholders helps in meeting targets. If any educational institution has to meet its set aims, objectives and goals, it has to work hand in hand with the stakeholders (Rutherford and Rabovsky 2014). This ensures that all the things which were planned for are met. The cooperation between the school administration and the stakeholders makes it easier to set aside resources for each planned event or activity.
Moreover, accountability to stakeholders ensures that the staff among other personnel recruited and employed in the institution is experienced and qualified. For instance, by being accountable to stakeholders such as the board of management, helps the school to carry out interviews for all staff who would wish to join secondary institutions. This in turn ensures that there is quality output in the teaching-learning process. This accountability also enables the recruitment of other non staff workers such as cooks, who are experienced.
Additionally, stake holders can also create links with industries (Caspersen, Frølich and Muller, J. 2017). This makes it easy to carry out building and construction activities in the school. Cemented tanks, classrooms repairs, electronic wiring and desk repairs, are some of the duties which can be done by various industries such as the construction, electricity and timber industries. All these can be achieved if the school administration is accountability to the stakeholders of the institutions.
Accountability to stakeholders can also help in staff development, by supporting teachers and other trainers to further their studies in more relevant educational fields which might be quite helpful to the students. For example, when the institution is accountable to its stakeholders, such stakeholders can fund teachers who are willing to take part in various fields of study such as guidance and counseling, which is helpful to learners.
Clarity of reporting is also enhanced when accountability is observed. When resources are utilized in the right way and wisely, reporting and auditing on how such resources were used is easy. This is because every material or immaterial resource is used in its place. Embezzlement of funds in this case is therefore rare. Corruption in such a case will not exist (Zepke 2017). This accountability thus makes reporting clear and easy.
Lastly, being accountable to external bodies and stakeholders makes it easy to follow policies and procedures set. All legal document requirements can only be met if the institution is accountable to the stakeholders. For instance, a tertiary institution can get a title deed for the school land if it is accountable to its stakeholders.
It is really very important to partner with stakeholders, including employers. This is because of the following reasons.
First, partnership with employers ensures that the institution’s teachers are assessed on the quality of education they offer. Assessors from the employers can come and check what the educators teach the learners. This helps to improve the standard and quality of education offered (Quaresma and Valenzuela 2017). Some teachers can even be promoted out of their quality records which are noticed during such employer assessments. The employer can also assess the quality of the institution itself and therefore recommend where to change, quit or even improve. This helps to make sure that the school is clean and of the required quality as per the employer requirements.
It is also possible to share resources when the school partners with the employer. Some resources such as laboratory equipments are very expensive to buy. When partnership exists, a school which has a shortage of such instruments can borrow them from a nearby school of the same employer. By doing this, both schools share the equipments and hence boost learning.
Moreover, the school can be awarded or even promoted to a higher level when its partnership with the employer is in good condition (Terra and Mattos 2017). This in turn imposes competition on other institutions to perform better for them to be awarded likewise. Also, individual educators can minimize the risks associated with transfers and placements, if they are in good terms with the employer. Such risks include; being transfers to an institution whose environment is insecure, death, among others. The risk of losing a job can also be evaded if the employee and the employer partner well.
On the other hand, a good partnership with stakeholders can lead to staff development. A school which is understaffed can get more teachers, if it partners well with the stakeholders. Also, parents as stakeholders can also report in learners’ progress at home and therefore help teachers deal with the target learners responsibly.
Lastly, partnership with stakeholders can also help in resource development. Stakeholders can look for more resources which can positively help in the day to day running of educational institutions (Weideman 2017). For example, the stakeholders can organize for donations from well wishers and donors. Such funds can be used to purchase learning resources such as textbooks and pens among many other resources.
Being accountable to stakeholders is very important as far as curriculum design is concerned since it helps in meeting the needs of the stakeholders (Al Shobaki and Ammar 2017). Curriculum is the main program which directs how things run in the educational sector. If the needs of the stakeholders are included in the curriculum, then the institution is most likely to run well and without much challenges.
The curriculum is designed to reflect on occupational needs if the school is accountable to its stakeholders (Yang and Li 2017). For example, net monthly salaries for secondary school teachers can be increased at a certain percentage if they are accountable to their employer among other stakeholders. Other occupational needs such as the need for learning resources and even promotion of education status can be easily achieved, if the school’s accountability to stakeholders is done perfectly.
Moreover, there are also chances of opportunities for progress if accountability is maintained (Ntim et. Al 2017.). Teachers can continue with part time studies as they continue to teach. This will impact on not only the education level of the teacher, but also to the learning of the students. It is therefore very important to be accountable to stakeholders. Being accountable also improves a school to the expected national standards. At this level, the school is able to market itself without the help of other third parties.
Accountability also helps in flexibility of learning, as far as assessment and delivery is concerned. Learners in this case are able to interact with their teachers freely, ask questions where they have difficulties and therefore eventually make the school proud and successful. When accountability is not there, the vice versa occurs. Most students are likely to be absent from school due to factors such as school fees. In this case, such students will not have time to consult teachers. Inflexibility in learning will therefore arise.
Conclusion
Conclusively, Accountability is a very crucial tool in the education sector, which should be put into practice for the well being and smooth running of the target educational institution. Those schools which are ever accountable are ever likely to be successful. Students in such schools learn peacefully and relate well with their teachers. The school administration should try its best to make sure that it is accountable to stakeholders. By doing so, the school management is done well and all funds are directed to their relevant departments without embezzlement.
References
Al Shobaki, M.J., Naser, S.S.A. and Ammar, T.M., 2017. The Degree of Administrative Transparency in the Palestinian Higher Educational Institutions. International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS), 1(2), pp.15-32.
Caspersen, J., Frølich, N. and Muller, J., 2017. Higher education learning outcomes–Ambiguity and change in higher education. European Journal of Education, 52(1), pp.8-19.
Hazelkorn, E., 2015. Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence. Springer.
Ntim, C.G., Ntim, C.G., Soobaroyen, T., Soobaroyen, T., Broad, M.J. and Broad, M.J., 2017. Governance structures, voluntary disclosures and public accountability: The case of UK higher education institutions. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 30(1), pp.65-118.
Pucciarelli, F. and Kaplan, A., 2016. Competition and strategy in higher education: Managing complexity and uncertainty. Business Horizons, 59(3), pp.311-320.
Quaresma, M.L. and Valenzuela, J.P., 2017. Evaluation and Accountability in Large-Scale Educational System in Chile and Its Effects on Student’s Performance in Urban Schools. In Second International Handbook of Urban Education (pp. 523-539). Springer International Publishing.
Rutherford, A. and Rabovsky, T., 2014. Evaluating impacts of performance funding policies on student outcomes in higher education. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 655(1), pp.185-208.
Solbrekke, T.D. and Sugrue, C., 2014. Professional accreditation of initial teacher education programmes: Teacher educators’ strategies—Between ‘accountability’and ‘professional responsibility’?. Teaching and Teacher Education, 37, pp.11-20.
Terra, R. and Mattos, E., 2017. Accountability and yardstick competition in the public provision of education. Journal of Urban Economics, 99, pp.15-30.
Weideman, A., 2017. Beyond Method and Towards Accountability. In Responsible Design in Applied Linguistics: Theory and Practice (pp. 133-148). Springer International Publishing.
Yang, W., Wang, J. and Li, H., 2017. Achieving a Balance Between Affordability, Accessibility, Accountability, Sustainability and Social Justice: The Early Childhood Education Policies in Hong Kong. In Early Childhood Education Policies in Asia Pacific (pp. 51-71). Springer Singapore.
Zepke, N., 2017. Higher Education in Neoliberal Times. In Student Engagement in Neoliberal Times (pp. 57-75). Springer Singapore.
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