The efficiency of educational management in private institutions

Teacu (Spac) Catalina

PhD Student in Management
Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania

Abstract:
Education, as a priority area of social life, cannot have failures. As Victor Hugo said “it doesn’t
allow mediocrity and requires exceptional training. It also exhausts and revives, being both
ingrained and full of charm".
That`s why educational management has become crucial, especially for the efficiency of
private institutions. Therefore the manager has the biggest responsibility in a private educational
institution, because he must always find solutions, in order to perform.
The article above pointed out the most relevant aspects of educational management, its
theoretical foundations regarding the functions and levels of leadership, describing the most
important components. The main objective was to underline the importance of knowing to manage
a situation, in order to be efficient, because, besides the qualities of a good leader, a manager needs
a managerial training .

Keywords: education, educational management, private institution, manager,

efficiency

Introduction :

Platon defined education as "the art of forming good skills or developing native skills for virtue
of those who have them."
Johann Amos Comenius, in his "Didactica magna", considered that at birth, nature only
nourishes the child with the "seeds of science, morality and religiosity," becoming a good of every
man through education alone. Thus, in its conception, education is an activity to stimulate these
"seeds" and implicitly, leading the process of humanization. He asserts that people can not become
“people” unless they are educated.
That’s why, not only Romania but the whole civilized world assign such a huge importance to
educational institutions and to the efficiency of educational management too.
The article above pointed out the most relevant aspects of educational management, its theoretical
foundations regarding the functions and levels of leadership, describing the most important
components. The main objective was to underline the importance of knowing to manage a situation,
in order to be efficient, because, besides the qualities of a good leader, a manager needs a
managerial training .
We have attempted in this paper to combine, in a complex manner, information and findings,
based on specialized studies, on educational management, in the idea of finding ways that can
optimize efficient management in order to achieve performance in private educational institutions .
 The efficiency of private educational institutions is closely linked to a qualitative, innovative
managerial approach based on study, knowledge, mission, vision and reason.These are imperative
qualities that a manager needs to have.
Other objectives of the present paper were to improve the management activity of school
organizations in terms of communication management, human resources, evaluation and public
relations.We have also focused on increasing the effectiveness of the managerial decision in the
functionality and performance of school organizations, on highlighting the role and importance of
the manager's personality components in education, while also highlighting, on the basis of research
in the field, the most effective leadership styles of managers in school organizations.
Before highlighting the essential aspects of the educational management and the manager ones,
in the article above were mentioned some aspects of the organization of private institutions in
Romania, necessary to conclude in the end.

The organization of private institutions in Romania

On a background of the need for alternative to public education, traditional schools have
emerged and developed in recent years. Originally appeared as an expression of an almost naive
desire to build structures with more autonomy in the development of the educational act, private
learning was marked by the courage to try methods other than those that were consecrated. Some
have chosen to connect to international educational programs or to implement new teaching
principles, others have simply approached the Romanian curriculum in a more realistic way and
closer to the student's needs. Obviously, the path followed by private schools has never come to an
end and there are few challenges. For the moment , it is difficult to make an accurate analysis of
them, but some significant aspects need to be highlighted. At most, there is a tendency to mature
and report more honestly to organizational and curricular challenges. On the other hand, the idea of
entrepreneurship in education is still hampered by prejudices and characterizations that do not
necessarily express a reality.
During the Communist regime, education was the exclusive attribution of the state, and private
education was not allowed. Against the backdrop of the changes that have occurred in the Romanian
education system since the revolution in 1989, the legislation allows, besides the public system of
educational services and the functioning of some institutions offering private educational services.
Education Law no. 84 of July 24, 2005 is the first law regulating the organization and
functioning of the current public and private education system in our country.
Then, according to the stipulations of the National Education Law (Law 1/2011), economic
agents, natural or legal persons may set up educational units, with the approval of the school
inspectorates and the Ministry of National Education, according to the authorization procedure or
the accreditation one. Accredited private education institutions are part of the national education
system and can benefit from state support.
Private education functions ,according to the law , if it is organized and operates on a nonprofit
basis,if it is organized on non-discriminatory principles and rejects antidemocratic, xenophobic,
chauvinistic and racist ideas, trends and attitudes and if it complies with national standards.
Lately, there have been two major trends: an increase in the number of applications for the
establishment of private education organizations and a diversification of profiles and specializations
offered to candidates by existing private institutions.
The funding of private education units is carried out according to the financial rules in force and is
ensured by the initiators and by the fees paid by the parents or major students.
The tuition fees are set autonomously by the educational units within the general framework
established by the law.
Educational management:

Educational management is a system of concepts,methods, guidance and leadership tools used

to achieve the objectives of education at the expected level of performance. In its current approach,
management has a specific definition in the field of education management, being seen as a
complex action training, design and evaluation of training, specific to the development of
everybody’s personality, according to some formulated goals (Joita, 2000).
In his work "Education Leadership" (1993), I. Jinga believes that educational management can
be defined as "the science and art of preparing human resources, of forming personalities, according
to finesse accepted by the individual and society ... an ensemble of principles and functions , norms
and methods of leadership that ensure the achievement of the objectives of the educational system
to the highest standards and efficiency”.
What is very important to mention about educational management is the fact that, unlike the
industrial branch, in education, leadership is done on people, it centers on the human dimension and
uses communicative strategies.According to J.J. Servan Schreiber, the substance of educational
management is the mobilization of human resources "as a talent and skill management".
The purpose of education management is to achieve a proper functioning of the system, both as
a whole and of each element, by adapting it and continuously connecting it to the requirements of
the economic, scientific and cultural development of society, revealing and removing the
shortcomings, the obstacles that appear in the process of achieving the proposed objectives.
In order to achieve performance, the functions of the educational management must be based on
a general and objective character. Therefore, it is necessary to take into consideration: the
organizational function of the existing pedagogical resources, the function planning of the activity
taking into account the resources, conditions, situations; the function of regulation-self-regulation of
the activity through training and pedagogical research actions.
Peter Drucker, a contemporary personality in the field of management, argues that the
performance achieved through management is actually characterized and accomplished in virtually
two dimensions: effectiveness and efficiency.
Educational effectiveness is the extent to which the activity in the educational field has achieved
all the proposed issues, the extent to which it has met the training standards or the institutional
standards correlated with the specific objectives formulated by action levels.
Educational efficiency is the achievement of expected results, in correlation with fixed
educational goals, with low resource consumption.
To perform, the manager needs to be able to balance the need for efficiency with the need for
effectiveness.
The implementation of an effective educational management necessarily implies the following
considerations: solving the needs of knowledge, which is based on principles, methods and
modern techniques of investigation, planning and organization.
The actions which might improve the educational management system, according to the
specialty studies, mainly aim at: designing the managerial system of the educational unit and its
redesigning on scientific bases; remodeling the school development strategies according to the
requirements of the current stage of development of the Romanian society, characterized by the
transition to the market economy and the restructuring of the national economy, the completion and
modernization of the managerial tools, the decisive role of the strategic and tactical decisions, the
risk and the uncertainty and the economic ones in rationalizing the decision making process and in
accelerating the profitability; the need to shorten the duration of the circuit within the educational
managerial system so that the strategies and policies materialized in the educational products, their
organization and their "marketing" on the educational services market are rapidly operationalized;
training the educational managers according to the requirements of a European education; the
predictive approach to all the issues faced by the educational organization.
 Order and discipline also characterize an educational management system in addressing and
solving the problems of the educational organization. Therefore, it is necessary for the school
manager to provide a discipline reflecting the essence of the educational processes involved,
differentiated according to their nature.
Another important indicator of the efficiency of the educational organization's management is
the dynamism of the conception and realization of the actions, the entrepreneurial spirit manifested
both by the leaders of the institution, as well as by the teaching staff and other employees. The
accelerated pace of change in all areas of activity, market-specific requirements, require an increase
in the speed of response from all the actors working in a learning unit. Initiative and dynamism have
an increasing influence on the effectiveness of educational decisions and actions, being decisive in
achieving education that meets the quality standards.
Performance management, where it is correctly introduced, can be a significant factor
contributing to the success of the organization. If it is used incorrectly, it can lead to resentment and
frustration, the starting point for the failure of many organizations.
Particularly in private educational institutions, the quality of management is critical to achieving
the expected goals, to achieve the performance or, more recently, excellence in any type of
collective action, regardless of the organization. Ignoring the implementation of a high-performance
management generates much of the organization's failures.
Thus , the efficiency of educational management consists of social awareness and responsibility
in theories, techniques, styles and methods.

Manager - specific features

The manager is one of the most important success or failures factors , especially in a private
educational institution because he coordinates the entire educational activity and has the possibility
to intervene at any time in order to optimize the efficient flow of the institution he is leading.
The manager's contribution to setting and achieving goals is obvious, often decisive, without
substituting the work of other staff.
From the specialists point of view , the notion of manager has at least two visions.
Some specialists in the field consider that the category of managers includes also the specialized
personnel, not only the managers themselves, all those with higher education who work in the
functional compartments.
Other specialists consider that in the category of managers must be included only those who
lead other people, having only a management function, not an execution one .
The manager of an educational institution is a teacher who coordinates the entire activity,
according to the managerial and operational plans ,strategically thought , manages the teaching staff
and the students from the education system, as well as the administrative staff, in order to increase
the efficiency of the instructive-educational process.
Each leader is successful also thanks to his collaborators and the members of the team he is
coordinating. This requires the existence of optimal working relationships between the manager and
his collaborators, an adequate working climate, working together, not only by giving indications,
because, by the power of example, we tend to achieve our strategic objectives and goals, faster than
we expected to.
Dan Abaccioaiei and Adina Andrei in the "School Director's Guide" claim that the following
qualities of the manager in education are primordial:
• cheerful and optimistic;
• open and enthusiastic;
• good listener;
• has well-founded and reasoned views;
• Has the ability to praise others;
• has the ability to manage change
• Has a clear educational philosophy and gives a good example
 Other features that a manager needs to have are: his / her character, authority, decision-making
power, especially under stress.
Managers can be embedded in several typologies: those who are extroverted (open minded
people) or introverted (internalized, meditative, reserved people).
The most common types of managers are: the entrepreneur, the organizer, the demagogue, the
participative, the bureaucrat, the maximalist and the bossy one.
There are managers who act by themselves, there are others who do nothing, and others who do
just what they need.
Research has shown that there are managers who advise their collaborators and subordinates
before making decisions ,
Research shows that there are managers who consult their collaborators and subordinates before
making decisions, others who decide everything by themselves and then communicate to the
subordinates the decisions taken and others who decide everything alone without consulting with
the collaborators, neither before nor after the decision has been taken.
Regardless of the type of management they adopt, the manager may have a different style, from
one employee to another, depending on the situation.A good leader adopts a differentiated
leadership style, depending on the problems and the concrete situations they are facing, but also on
the group they are leading. Managers who understand to adopt a new style of leadership, whose
goal is no longer control, but the partnership, will succeed in higher performance within the school
organization.The best style approached by a manager is the one that suits the situation.
Depending on the authority exerted by managers, the managers' styles includes three
categories: authoritarian, democratic and permissive.
Authoritarian style is specific to those managers who refuse any suggestion from subordinates.
These managers are concerned about the accomplishment of the tasks, the control of the way the
assigned tasks are performed. Typically, such a style triggers the unexpressed endurance of the
subordinates, causing the apathy to appear and diminishing the professional interest of the
subordinates as a result of criticism exaggeration tendencies. Therefore, in the absence of the
manager, the group's performance decreases.
Democratic style is characterized by the ability to train subordinates in achieving the
institution's goals in assigning tasks, which implies that the performance of the group is the same
even in the absence of the manager.
Permissive style is specific to managers who avoid any intervention in the leadership and
organization of the group because they prefer spontaneous organization and leadership.
As Ciulei E.D. said, in his paper "Quality and Professionalism in Educational Management"
(2011), more and more managers today realize that investing in human resources can bring them
substantial long-term gains. Those who do not understand this idea quickly enough, risk running out
of the "market" slowly but surely because human resources management is the backbone of a
company, it has a direct link to productivity, performance and success.
According to Neagu I, in his work "Quality and Quality Management in Schools, Education
Manager." (2011), the manager is the most important person in the organization, regardless of the
hypostasis he or she is in. It carries out management processes with variable intensities, depending
on the hierarchical position it occupies in the structural configuration of the organization, that is, it
adopts decisions influencing the decisions and actions to other people.
In the assessment of hired personnel, the manager must be fair, offering equal chances to all
employees without disfavoring or benefiting one or the other.
Evaluation and control must be done systematically, conducted with authority and
competence in order to improve the activity , by increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Managerial
decisions must respect human dignity, be legal and non-discriminatory. The manager needs to know
the professional training of each member, his / her own needs and aspirations, the skills he / she has
and can use in organizing the activity, as well as his / her ability to react at changes, the ability to
mobilize in critical situations, communication and relationship ability, or teamwork.
Evaluating human resources is one of the manager's particularly important activities. This activity
concerns both the evaluator- director and the evaluated one, who is consciously participating in the
evaluation of his / her work through self-evaluation.
Researching and knowing your own managerial style, is also very important , in order to be
improved, because the manager must be a model for his subordinates. A manager who practices
what he preaches will be admired by the group, that’s why the manager must embody all the
qualities he desires from the employees.
In order to succeed, the manager not only that needs a permanent managerial training, but he
must love what he does, his job must be a part of his soul.

Conclusins and some remarks about public and private educational institutions

,Due to the last studies, in private schools, unlike the public ones, the quality of education,
tends to grow. This is because in private education there is a non-existent interest in public
education, namely profit (economic performance in general). Regarding this issue , it must be
pointed out that currently, the cost of enrolling a pupil in a private school (in most private schools),
relative to the average salary in Romania, is high. An essential condition for having more students
enrolled in a private educational institution is also to have a reasonable school fee. It should be
taken into consideration some other aspects too : If the student or the parent is not satisfied with the
quality of education received at a private school, then they will opt for another school (private or
public): which leads to a drop in the economic performance of the school from which the student
goes."Quality in education is the set of characteristics of a study program and its provider that meet
the expectations of the beneficiaries and the quality standards" (Seban Iosifescu, coord., 2008,
Quality in School in Romania by Standards and Reference Standards.General Guide).
Consequently, private schools have to constantly improve the quality of education offered to
students, otherwise their economic performance decreases, and this implies the failure of the
educational unit. Theoretically, the same mentality should also work in public schools too, but,
unfortunately, reality often leaves it to be desired.The competition on the market is fierce and for
private schools - to prove their managerial efficiency over time, a superior quality of the
educational act must be proved, through excellent school results, conditions and study
opportunities, at the highest standards, the manager and the teaching staff , being thus in continuous
improvement, not only for their own interest , but also for the student's main interest and the
prosperity of the institution.
Another crucial aspect in the conclusion of the subject addressed is the primary role the manager
has in managing efficiency, in a private educational institution.
A private institution, in order to meet high standards , and to be able to withstand the market in
time, must be led by an efficient director, its profile being characterized by special managerial
skills, proving that it can intelligently manage human and financial resources by offering equal
opportunities to both staff and students. Effective management of school organization must be
headed by a communicative, diplomatic, conscientious, generous, attention-aware, democrat,
capable of creating a pleasant work environment, proving receptivity to the solutions of the
subordinates and encouraging their initiatives and team work.
If public educational institutions have existed and will always exist, no matter the managerial or
institutional performance, the essential condition for private educational institutions to resist and
avoid failing is to prove the effectiveness of their management, at least through the aspects
mentioned in this article, at which might be a lot to add, perhaps in the next article, with God's will.
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