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A study by the Ontario
Principals’ Council (OPC) shows that close to 60 per cent of principals and 30
per cent of vice-principals in elementary and secondary schools in public school
boards will retire by 2005. By the end of the decade, more than 80 per cent of
principals will retire and about 50 per cent of vice-principals. Professor Tom Williams of the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University conducted the study and surveyed close to 1,000 vice-principals and principals in public boards only. The OPC study confirms the College’s forecast of an impending leadership crunch in Ontario schools published in the June 1999 issue of Professionally Speaking. "Despite these large numbers, we have learned that many boards do not have the necessary leadership succession plans in place to ensure that those positions will be filled on time," said OPC President Martha Foster as she released the study. The study forecasts that 1,900 Ontario schools — out of about 3,200 in the English public system school boards — will have a new principal within the next three years, creating an urgent need for programs like mentoring, job shadowing and succession planning to make sure that new principals will not be ready to take on the challenge. College forecasts reveal that close to 8,000 teachers with principals and vice-principals qualifications are likely to retire by 2005, while only 715 teachers have acquired the principal qualifications each year on average between 1997 and 2000. The number of Temporary Letters of Approval granted by the College has also increased significantly, jumping from three in 1997-1998 to 181 in 2000-2001 for vice-principals and from two in 1997-1998 to 24 in 2000-2001 for principals. Key findings of the study identify common factors making leadership roles difficult or unattractive. The number and the pace of changes required by the provincial government top the list, coupled with the lack of adequate resources to implement the changes. B l u e P a g e s A r t i c l e s |
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