Key Characteristic 2: Leadership for Learning

STANDARD # 11
Leaders create and maintain institutional structures and processes that support learners and staff members in both stable and changing environments.

Elements

Leaders demonstrate awareness of potential influences on institution stability and engage stakeholders in planning and implementing strategies to maintain stability and respond to change. The institution’s structure and processes are documented and communicated so that learners and staff members know what to do and expect in everyday circumstances. The institution’s structure and processes include emergency and contingency plans that support responses to both incremental and sudden change.

Evidence

Evidence 1: School board (https://www.mntamilschool.org/school-board/) depicts a robust governance body with 2 broader towers; Academic Council and Administrative Council. Administrative council responsibilities revolve around daily operations like student enrollment, teacher assignments, classroom bookings, digital infrastructure etc. The Academic Council is further grouped under a 3 broader topics; Syllabus, Process, Teacher Training/assessment and Infrastructure. The school has never canceled a class due to lack of availability of teacher or the classroom during so many years of operation is a testament to the leadership. In the event of extreme weather or unavailability of the physical classrooms, leadership proactively manages through virtual classroom and effective communication.

Evidence 2: 2023-24-Annual Plan & Budget (https://www.mntamilschool.org/annual-plan-and-budget/) depicts budget distribution under various categories which is again inline to the learners need and overall organizational objectives. The annual plan and budget for an academic year is drafted and reviewed during last trimester of previous academic year with executive committee, school board followed by teachers and parents, before the plan being baselined. The tuition fee is decided based on projected expenses by categories, budget for continuous improvements initiatives and appropriate contingency. This comprehensive plan offers a fiscal stability towards daily operations, keeping continuous improvements on track, manage unplanned expenses like technology upgrades and equipment purchase and maintenance.

Evidence 3: The teacher assignments (https://www.mntamilschool.org/teachers/) by branch/level are documented. Maintaining the primary / secondary or additional teachers for most of the levels is a key mitigation strategy around the resource volatility risk. This pairing up always helps in the knowledge sharing too. New teachers are recruited all through the academic year and they shadow classroom teachers before they are inducted as teachers eligible for hourly stipend.