Education groups dispute how to appoint principals

The processes used by schools to appoint principals need review, the head of the primary teachers' union says.

Bruce Adin said yesterday that the New Zealand Educational Institute, of which he is president, looked forward to being part of a working party that would look at the processes.

But School Trustees Association president Chris France said the association feared a review would be a challenge to the authority boards of trustees had in appointing principals.

"Recent research that looked at about 290 appointment processes showed that something like 85 per cent or greater were considered to be very competent," Mr France said. "So it seems to us that it just doesn't need that level of reviewing."

Boards had always been responsible for appointing principals because they were legally a school's employers.

Increasingly, they had been using advisers, who were often other principals, when making appointments and the association had always recommended this practice, he said.

But it was concerned that the working party would result in the intervention of the Ministry of Education or some other authority.

"The board has to pick what advisers they use. It should not be the ministry or anyone else choosing for them because they are too removed from the process."

But Mr Adin said the institute had heard complaints from its members, who were not satisfied with the appointment process.

It had about 43,000 members, of whom more than 2000 were principals.

"All ways of doing it should be considered. [The trustees association] should not be going into it with a closed mind."

The working party was the result of the latest round of negotiations for the Principals' Collective Agreement, which began in June and was expected to complete its work by the end of the year.

- NZPA