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School Leader and Transformation

Most of the times, the school was deprived of a full time Headmaster. Adverse terrain, lack of public
transport, shortage of staff in the school, remote background of the school and the unpleasant incidences
that had happened in the school in the past (there was a major sexual harassment case in the school in
2003), might have been the reasons for this.

I was promoted as the Headmistress of Govt. High School Malkarnem on 25/02/2016. I was the youngest
Headmistress of a Government School in Goa, that time. When I joined the school I had a vision to
transform the school into a school of my dreams. There were many obstacles that came in my way.

The major hurdles were:
1. Financial constraints
2. Rigid mindset of the staff members and the other stakeholders of the school
3. Dearth of resources
4. Students lacking basic knowledge and skills
5. Uneducated parents

Following the words of Jhon C. Maxwell - "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows
the way", I started devising strategies with the help of my staff members. In the beginning there was
reluctance to the change, every small task was a battle. The following practices were adopted to
accomplish my mission:

I) To overcome financial constraint, I started spending for the school from my own pocket.

II) To motivate the staff members, as a leader, I always started acting upon first, as a result of which

the fear of failure vanished.
III) Working beyond the regular hours to achieve the goals became the routine scenario. Other

stakeholders of the school gradually started following me.
IV) With a vision to create leaders than followers, I started training the teachers, introduced them to

the modern advances in education and encouraged technology based learning.

As a leader my confidence level has been enhanced. I have become more sensitive and observant towards
the problems faced by the people in rural area. I have improved upon the skills of time management. Most
important I have become emotionally very strong.

―Together we can and we will make a difference‖

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