- Blog By
Ms. Sumita Sen Mazumdar
Erode – KG Academic Coordinator
The Indian Public School
May 21, 2021 | In Blog 
The word corporate brings to mind the typical image of a giant organisation with numerous people in various departments and department heads reporting to a CEO, who in turn reports to a board of directors. This is a fairly common structure in the business world.
Bigger than before
Given the sheer size of some schools today, it would be a fairly logical progression of thought to say that schools need to be run like corporates. Now, many people may find this to be an unnecessary notion, objectionable even. After all, it’s a school. Teachers teach. Students learn.
What more is there to it? Possibly, they could equate imbibing corporate culture with commercialisation and a deliberate distancing from that personal touch we expect from school staff when handling matters related to the education and overall development of a child at school. Designations such as facilitators, team leads, coordinators & managers seem out of place and more apt for a company, not a school.
More than meets the eye
If you read that sentence somewhere above again, carefully this time, it said “…run like corporates,” and not “have become corporates.” This is because despite taking on the positive practices and attributes of a well-run corporation in order to manage daily functioning efficiently, schools remain schools.
What’s changed?
To be fair, population did explode. Where 3 sections, A, B and C were more than enough, now J could be in the running too, depending on how popular a school is. Furthermore, earlier education was a ‘one-size-fits-all’ kind of proposition that never appreciated or encouraged individual interests or talents. There was no room for a kinaesthetic learner, for instance; no pathway that showcased your strengths or interests – if you were brilliant in English and Maths but detested chemistry you still had to take it and this meant bad chemistry grades, which in turn brought down your average. Let’s not forget how there used to be one hapless teacher for a class of 35 to 40 students.
There’s so much more now
Enlightened schools are ones that understand education must be adapted to the different aptitudes as well as rates of learning of a slow learner or a fast learner so as to benefit both in the long run; that a sensible teacher-student ratio must be maintained to ensure excellence in lesson delivery and learning experience; that physical comfort in terms of a well-lighted, temperature-controlled, spacious classroom can significantly enhance concentration on the lesson instead of discomforting elements; that PT class can include so much more than just freehand exercises done standing in a line. Horse riding, swimming and soccer are physical activities too!
Taking the best from corporate philosophy
So, in addition to managing academic disciplines, to run so many different things simultaneously and efficiently, top-performing schools see the wisdom in adopting some useful practices from a typical corporate structure. There are teams in place for the different functional areas of a school with a hierarchical system similar to corporate structures to maintain accountability. The chain continues upwards with increasing levels of complexity. This continues side by side with traditional school practices.
So, who gains?
At the end of the day, this benefits the students the most; it paves the way for a school to ensure delivery of extraordinary education, exposure and experience to facilitate the transformation of students into lifelong learners and achievers.
