Principals as Managers: Examining Their Role in Maintaining School Discipline in District Chitral

Abstract

Discipline is a fundamental aspect of life that influences personal development, educational success, professional achievement, and social harmony. It requires you to prepare yourself or those around you to adhere to standards by providing benefits or consequences, depending on their actions. Having discipline, regardless of who implements it, helps you achieve your goals, maintain structure, and create a better work environment with others. The study aimed to investigate what the principal does to help maintain discipline in schools. It primarily relied on descriptive methods as it examined the role of principals in ensuring discipline in schools. Data was collected by distributing questionnaires to 30 principals and 60 teachers from selected secondary schools. Participant responses were analyzed using percentages, graphs, and tables. Most respondents indicated agreement that when parents are not involved in their children’s schooling, it can lead to discipline issues. According to the study, most schools did not address students' personal challenges. It became evident that principals could ensure proper discipline by collaborating with teachers, consulting with them before establishing any rules, avoiding favoritism, addressing students’ hands-on issues, organizing consistent meetings with staff and parents, and remaining involved with teachers’ efforts. Based on the findings, engaging the community in upholding school rules largely depends on the principal. Principals should focus on rewarding teachers and students for their commendable behaviour. The study suggested that stakeholders and authority staff could assist teachers in motivating themselves, both inside and outside the classroom, by offering various tokens, souvenirs, and certificates as rewards. The school head, along with an independent monitoring group and departmental staff, may undertake this initiative. It is recommended that the government allocate funding to schools, and principals must ensure that these funds are spent wisely to maintain order on campus. Further research should be conducted on how school leaders influence discipline in schools.