School Leadership
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
2.2. Selection and working conditions
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
1. Terminology
The 2022 National Education Policy uses terminology such as “educational leadership”.”. The head of a school is referred to as the “principal” and is defined in the 2022 National Education Policy as “the educator who has executive authority for a school.” Principals and vice principals are also included as part of the definitions of ‘educational professionals’ and ‘educational personnel’ in the policy. The 2021 Guide to School Management refers to the school principal as an instructional leader stating that the “instructional leader makes instructional quality the top priority of the school and considers teaching and learning as the core business of schooling. In short, instructional leadership are those actions that a principal takes, or delegates to others, to promote growth in student learning.” The 2019 Competency Framework for Principals, further describes the role of the principal.
The Vice Principals according to the 2021 Guide to School Management, support the main principal at the school.
2. School principals
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
Competency standards and leadership frameworks and guidelines
Bhutan has developed the national 2019 Competency Framework for Principals which was designed to “promote excellence in the profession of teaching and school leadership. The framework was developed by the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC). It defines the role of a principal, makes explicit the role of quality school leadership and sets out what principals are expected to know, understand and do to achieve excellence in school leadership.” The framework includes 3 role profiles, 10 competency areas, 27 key competencies, and 43 behavioral indicators. The role for Principal III, II, and I is also described by the Bhutan Royal Civil Service Commission and the 2021 Guide to School Management.
Roles
Setting expectations/objectives: The first key role of a principal in the national 2019 Competency Framework for Principals is “Leading the Management of the School.” Principals are expected to “provide strategic direction in the school system to achieve vision, mission, values, and goals of the school." This means that principals should be able to develop, implement, and review their schools' policies, ensuring that they follow the National Education Policies, Standards and guidelines. According to the Bhutan Royal Civil Service Commission, and the 2021 Guide to School Management, a principal designs policy guidelines for the school, creates a system of shared management practices, and determines the specific educational aims of the school, ensuring that is clearly understood by the staff, students, parents, and the community at large.
Developing teaching and learning: As part of the “Leading the Management of the School” role in the national 2019 Competency Framework for Principals, principals are expected to utilise and manage human, material, and financial resources effectively and efficiently to secure an effective and safe learning environment for their schools. They encourage high-quality teaching practices and assess the teaching methods used by their staff members to facilitate conducive learning for the students. Competency areas include demonstrating knowledge and understanding of education policies, standards, and guidelines; encouraging pedagogy and research-based practices; assessing, accessing, and mobilizing available resources for the school; and ensuring sustainability. Finally, a principal should be a change agent who can lead change processes towards the development and implementation of new approaches, systems, and structures. According to the Bhutan Royal Civil Service Commission, the principal is responsible for creating a caring and conducive environment for students and teachers.
Promoting collaboration: The third role of a principal in the national 2019 Competency Framework for Principals is “stakeholder engagement.” This means that principals understand that teaching and learning at school are effectively done under a trustful and collaborative relationship with parents and the community. More specifically, principals involve all relevant stakeholders to resolve the differences and build consensus when decision-making. For families and the community, the school should act as a resource hub and a support center for co-curricular activities. The principal also ensures that parents and the community are kept up to date on student progress and school development plans. The principal and the community can create and maintain a safe and clean school environment conducive to learning. As such, communication skills are highly valued. The principal is also responsible for the development of sustainable and effective partnerships and collaboration with the stakeholders. According to the 2021 Guide to School Management, principals should “establish cordial and healthy relationships with the community; encourage parents to take responsibility in educating their children; and involve parents/community in the development of school plans and programmes”.
Supporting staff development: Principals are expected to be a good role model for all their students and staff members. They should support and encourage their staff to reflect on their own practices and continue their own professional development. Competency indicators include supporting staff and learners in managing their learning experience effectively, ensuring continued professional development, and instituting a system of teamwork and collaboration. Principals should establish a coaching and mentoring support system, providing regular feedback to teachers to encourage desired behaviors. The principal collaborate with teachers to fulfil the predefined core competencies that forms the basis for teacher performance assessment. They then plan, organize, and facilitate professional development for staff to ensure quality input into teaching and school development.
Acting in accordance with the ethical principles of the profession: Principals are expected to understand and honor the perspectives of others. They should model exemplary practices in upholding honesty and integrity. Following this, principals should also institute practices to promote ethical and professional behavior among faculty and staff. Within their schools they should institute transparent systems for planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting; upholding sincerity, fairness, equity, transparency and accountability
Principals are expected to practice and exhibit good understanding of the Gross National Happiness index (GNH) values as well as promote it in the wider community. These values include “Democratic Values, Family Values, Good Human Being, Harmonious Society, Social Values, Spiritual Values, Universal Values, Work Values, etc.”
Others: Other practices include taking pride in their own profession, maintaining physical and mental health, and promoting Bhutanese culture and traditional values. Technology and ICT skills are also mandatory. Furthermore, principals must put in place a responsive system for disaster mitigation and resilience at their schools.
According to the 2014 Bhutan Teacher Human Resource Policy, principals are required to teach at least one subject. The 2021 Guide to School Management specifies the principal must “teach at least one specialized subject in any one section of a class to keep abreast with his/her subject content and teaching pedagogy”. Role descriptions published by the Bhutan Royal Civil Service Commission state that principals are expected to carry out 15-20% teaching responsibilities and demonstrate good practice in teaching.
The Vice and Assistant Principals according to the 2021 Guide to School Management, can take up instructional responsibilities, leadership and managerial responsibilities, organization and management of student learning, human resource management, financial management, and educational programmes.
2.2. Selection and working conditions
Degree requirements and prior teaching experience
The 2018 National Education Policy mandates that all schools must have a Bhutanese principal who is qualified. According to the 2014 Bhutan Teacher Human Resource Policy, eligibility requirements are as follows: i. Candidates must be selected through open competition; ii. They should have served a minimum of 2 years as Teacher II or an equivalent position; iii. They must have achieved a minimum of 2.5 performance ratings in the last 2 years of the performance evaluation cycle; iv. They need to have attended or facilitated at least 80 hours of professional development within the promotion cycle; v. They should provide 2 recommendations: one from the current supervisor and another from a competent referee with professional knowledge of the candidate (see Annexure 2.2 for the Referee Form); and vi. They must not have any adverse records. All teachers are required to have at least a B.Ed. or Bachelor’s degree with a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, while applicants for principal positions should hold a Master’s degree. The Ministry of Education has introduced an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Management at the Paro College of Education, with funding provided by the Ministry.
Further requirements are detailed in position descriptions for Principal I, II, and III published by the Bhutan Roya Civil Service Commission. According to the position description for Principal III, the lowest ranked principal, applicants must have a bachelors degree with teacher training, courses in educational leadership and management, a minimum of four years successful tenure as Teacher II, and proficiency in English and Dzongkha languages. Those ranked as Principal II must have experience as Principal III. Likewise, those ranked as Principal I have experience as Principal II.
Appointment decision
The selection and recruitment of principals is based on the Bhutan Civil Service Rule (BCSR). Principals are selected based on an open competition. The Ministry of Education announces vacancies and interested applicants may apply.
Employment equity measures
To improve women’s participation in the civil service and promote women in leadership positions, the Royal Civil Service Commission Plan incorporated two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the 12th Five-Year Plan, “number of interventions to promote women in leadership positions in the civil service” and “number of gender interventions in the civil service”.
The 2020 National Gender Equality Policy supports the following policy provisions to improve women’s participation in decision-making across sectors and at all levels: 1. Creating an enabling environment to increase the participation of women, with an inclusive lens, in decision-making (including in the private/corporate sector) and in the workforce. 2. Building a network of women leaders and aspiring leaders across the spectrum of society to promote women’s participation in political and public offices, and encourage male champions as allies and advocates. 3. Exploring and adopting affirmative and targeted actions to improve women’s representation in the political and public sphere at the national and local levels, including for those with disabilities. 4. Continuing advocacy and awareness to encourage women’s participation in decision-making and showcase role models who highlight women’s contributions to society. 5. Carrying out research and assessments on thematic areas of existing and emerging gender equality issues in the political and public spheres.
Working conditions
The Ministry of Education encourages teachers and school leaders to serve in rural, remote, and difficult schools. They must serve a minimum of three years at a rural, remote, and difficult school and a maximum of five years at an urban and semi-urban school. Principals have the opportunity to advance levels from Principal III up to Specialist Principal. With each promotion, principals receive higher salaries and are also expected to perform at a higher level with extra roles. For example, those with Principal I ranking may be asked to lead larger schools. In 2019, the government gave pay raises to all teachers, making them the highest-paid civil servants in the country. The percentage of the pay raise depends on the staff members years of experience. According to the 2022 Pay Structure Reform Act of Bhutan, the Monthly Basic Pay for a Principal III (P3) starts at 28,315BTN. For Principal I, the Monthly Basic Pay starts at 36,570BTN. Additionally, principals are entitled to allowances similar to those of teachers, such as house rent, and professional allowances based on years of service.
School leaders are under Bhutan’s Royal Civil Service Commission, and as such, are considered civil servants in accordance with the 2023 Civil Service Rules and Regulations.
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
Pre-service training
According to the 2014 Teacher Human Resources Policy, teachers in Bhutan can take three different career tracks which allow for both vertical and horizontal movements during their career. These are: the Teaching Track, the Administration Track, and the Specialist Track. All teachers start at Teacher III. At the next level, Teacher II, the teacher may enter the administrative track. After serving a minimum of 9 years and fulfilling the necessary criteria, a teacher may compete for the positions of Principal III or Vice Principal II. Upon meeting further criteria, those in the roles of Principal III or Vice Principal II may compete for Deputy Chief Dzongkhag Education Officer or Thromde Deputy Education Officer. Similarly, those in the positions of Principal II, Vice Principal I, Deputy DEO, and Deputy TEO are eligible to compete for the roles of Chief Dzongkhag Education Officer (CDEO) or Chief Thromde Education Officer (CTEO). Training is conducted through a part-time Master of Education course or through the introduction of a part-time diploma course for school management and leadership.
Induction and in-service training
To respond to the different needs of the teachers, the Ministry of Education will provide different types of Professional Development programmes. According to the 2014-2024 Bhutan Education Blueprint, the Ministry of Education aims to “Institutionalize intensive induction programmes for newly recruited school principals to assist them taking up their new role” and provide “continuous and sustained PD programmes in a progressive manner to principals to ensure professional standards of dynamism, calculated risk taking, strategic planning, content knowledge on curriculum and instructional leadership skills.” Similarly, the 2022 National Education Policy states that all education personnel working in educational institutes, both public and private, (including principals) must undergo a pre-structured entry orientation program. According to the policy, opportunities, programmes and support systems shall be put in place to continually develop and enhance educational leadership capacity.
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
According to the Bhutan Sector Strategy: Realising the Vision 2020, the role of School Management Boards was to be expanded to include planning and management functions for schools. Every school is required to have a School Management Board (SMB) in accordance with the 9th Quarterly Policy Guidelines and Instructions of 1992. The principal is a member who also acts as the secretary of the SMB; while the role of chairperson is given to a parent who may also be the governor or village head. There are five to eight other members, namely: two parent representatives, one representative from the local government, two student leaders representing the students, deputy-principals, and a senior teacher representing school staff. The term of office for members is three years. The frequency of SMB meetings is up to the discretion of the schools.
The School Management Board (SMB) primarily connects the community with schools, focusing on financial contributions and distribution. Its goals include providing vision and direction to the school, safeguarding school-level policies, enhancing management efficiency, approving programs and activities, reviewing and assessing school performance, facilitating development planning, mobilizing community resources, organizing major school events, and supporting the school management team. According to the 2014-2024 Bhutan Education Blueprint, key initiatives involve strengthening the SMB to enhance school governance, including developing and endorsing strategic plans, monitoring and reviewing school performance, and approving budgets. The Ministry of Education also aims to train SMB members, school committee chairpersons, and principals to improve school management skills and support schools in building partnerships with parents, caregivers, and communities.
The School Management Team (SMT) consists of the principal, vice-principal/s and teachers holding key responsibilities. The size and composition of the team depends on the size of the school. Often, the SMT is responsible for executing decisions made by the SMB. Their functions include: setting goals to implement policies and plans; executing school programs and activities; estimating the budget and submitting it to the SMB for approval; forming committees with well-defined job descriptions and assigning tasks; planning and conducting school-level monitoring and support services through School Self-Assessment (SSA); organizing professional development programs; nominating staff for CBIP/DBIP/NBIP (professional development programs) and other ad hoc invitations; assessing staff performance and providing feedback for improvement; managing situational crises or emergencies; monitoring and evaluating programs while providing support services; and appraising the SMB and staff on government policy directives.
3.2. Middle leaders
Vice principals are mentioned in the 2022 National Education Policy are teachers who fulfill the minimum number of years required. Lead Teachers are asked to plan, identify, coordinate, liaise with other lead teachers, hire expertise, and facilitate programmes to teachers. Besides, he/she will maintain the skill profile of teachers and ensure that teachers receive adequate PD hours and professional support. He/she will be responsible professionally to the MLT and administratively to the Principal. Given these additional responsibilities, Lead Teachers teach a lesser number of hours per week compared to other classroom teachers.
3.3. Parents
While information on Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) was not found, the 2022 National Education Policy seeks the involvement of parents and communities in governing and providing inputs into the operations of schools. Schools consider parents as “clients” that have a stake in overall performance and conduct parent satisfaction surveys and use the results to make improvement. Parents also are a part of the School Management Board. It also aims to optimize the local community in times of need and requirement.
3.4. Students
Student representatives make up part of the School Management Boards. The 2016 Operational Guidelines for Central Schools also recommend providing equal opportunities for students to participate in the learning process. According to these guidelines, central schools form Student Council/Student Governing Board/Board of Captains/Office Bearers following democratic procedures which will assist in effective school management. This council/board/body will carry out supporting functions to manage the school by taking up roles such as event management and certain decision-making in addition to its role as a bridge between the general student body and the school management.
4. Governance
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
According to the 2014-2024 Bhutan Education Blueprint, principals in Bhutan have “autonomy with accountability for their decisions and actions to practice decentralized management system, including control over the management of allocated finances and supervisory control and management of staff and approval of selective leave, while more significant personnel decisions are handled at higher administrative levels consistent with School Autonomy Guidelines.” Principals prepare the school’s budget to cover both government grants and internal resources. They report to the School Management Board on matters pertaining to operations and management of funds. While the Ministry of Education manages staffing in central schools, autonomous schools can determine their staffing profile (administrative, teaching and school support staff) within the allocated budget and select their team of staff who best fit the needs of the school.
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
The national 2019 Competency Framework for Principals contains a Training Need Analysis for Entry Level Principals. If a principal measures as “not adequate” in their performance of a key competency skill, a “likely reason for a performance gap” is provided. Methods of intervention include “orientation” and workshops, trainings, and seminars. According to the 2021 Guide to School Management, principals are asked to submit updated statistical reports and jointly conduct the School Improvement Plan (SIP) with their district office. They also apprise the SIP implementation progress and submit the plans and budget. To the Ministry of Education, principals submit reports and plans on time, submit the latest statistical reports, and apprise the Ministry of Education of events in the school.
According to the 36th Education Policy Guidelines and Instructions, principals undergo annual appraisal based on 2023 the Civil Service Rules and Regulations.
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
Principals observe classroom teaching at least twice a year, once every term. According to the 2021 Guide to School Management, principals are expected to carry out performance evaluation appraisals of staff; plan, organize and facilitate professional development programmes. As per the notification on the Enforcement of Instructional Leadership issued through Order No. MOE/DSE-01/2021-2022/912 dated 31/05/2022, principals are required to observe a minimum of 1 to 4 teachers' classes per week, depending on their teaching load (number of periods) to support the teachers and provide mentoring and coaching support to the teachers.
This profile was reviewed by national experts Psaang Wangdi, school principal, and Arisara Leksansren, associate professor, Mahidol University.
