Induction for newly appointed principals and deputy principals

In fulfilling the above roles and responsibilities, you will, at the same time, be expected to perform the following management functions:

Planning: Develop management plans that outline the kinds of tasks to be performed in the school and explain to staff how their activities are related to the overall goals of the school.

Organising: Develop the structure of the organisation. Acquire and develop human resources. Establish common patterns and networks as well as develop policies and procedures for authority relationships, reporting patterns, the chain of command and various administrative and subordinate responsibilities. Build formal communication.

Leading: Lead staff members to achieve the school's goals through communicating, facilitating and motivating.

Monitoring: Perform the monitoring function by comparing expected results with actual results, and take the necessary corrective action if there are any deviations, in all aspects of the school operations.

The work need not necessarily be done by the person himself/ herself. He or she may delegate some of his/her responsibility, but in the final analysis, the principal is responsible and accountable for the execution of the work.

In the execution of the principal’s roles and responsibilities a distinction must be drawn between the following:

• Responsibility: This refers to the duties of a person in terms of his/ her post and the work allocated to him/her. The work need not necessarily be done by the person himself/ herself. He or she may delegate some of it, with its attendant responsibility, but he or she remains responsible for the execution of the work.
  
• Accountability: This refers to a person’s duty to give an account (explain what they were doing and what happened) of having executed his/ her work in terms of set criteria and pre-determined standards, to whoever initially delegated a task to him/ her. It is the state of being accountable, liable, and responsible for certain actions or decisions [Mestry, R (2004,p127)]. Put in context, accountability is being "answerable to one's clients (moral accountability), liable to oneself, one's colleagues (professional accountability), and responsible to one's employers (contractual accountability)
• Liability: This refers to the lawful responsibility to make good the damages caused by neglect or intention. If an action for damages is brought against an employee, the employer (Department of Education) is liable for the claim, because it is in the highest position of authority. But if a claim is successful and the employee is shown to be negligent, the employer has the right to claim back from the guilty party the sum paid to the plaintiff. This is known as right of recourse.