JOURNEY OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

The School Leadership Academy (SLA), Jammu and Kashmir, was established in 2020 at the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). The SLA has a mandate in tune with the National Centre for School Leadership (NCSL), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), to develop region-specific curricula and materials, such as training modules, and to undertake capacity-building initiatives (including induction training, refresher courses, orientation programmes, workshops, seminars/webinars, etc.) for Heads of Schools, Key Resource Persons (KRPs), master facilitators, State Resource Groups, and system-level functionaries in the education department. It also focuses on networking and institution-building among all stakeholders of educational institutions, research on region-specific school leadership issues, and identifying challenges and solutions.
The SLA-SCERT has a vision to transform schools in the Union Territory as envisioned in NEP 2020. The motto of SLA is “Lead by influence.” SLA has documented initiatives taken by the School Education Department (SED) during COVID-19 as best-case studies and submitted them to NCSL. SLA has developed 14 region-specific modules and created video content featuring school leaders who have outperformed in their respective schools and institutions.
SLA has set the momentum for creating Professional Learning Communities at the SCERT and district levels. It has collaborated with national- and international-level institutions in accordance with the School Leadership Development Programme (SLDP) framework for capacity building of school leaders. SLA has documented more than 50 best practices and conducted webinars on diverse themes. It has also conducted more than 30 live shows.
SLA translated the Programme on School Leadership and Management (PSLM) into Urdu after detailed workshops and review processes. SLA has oriented school leaders on the importance of PSLM courses and succeeded in registering more than 10,000 school leaders. Under the continuous development programme on SLDP and pedagogical leadership, SLA conducted a series of programmes and also implemented SLDP at district levels in collaboration with DIETs in the respective districts.
SLA was directed to collect data on all 28,000 Heads of Institutions and system-level functionaries. It succeeded in creating a comprehensive databank of Heads of Institutions across Jammu and Kashmir. SLA has created its own website and is looking forward to further capacity building of school heads, as well as SCERT, DIETs, and KRPs, in its journey ahead.