Strategic planning at Anykščiai district secondary schools

Straipsnyje aptariamas strateginio planavimo bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose specifiškumas ir problemiškumas. Jame laikomasi požiūrio, kad Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų veiklos strateginis planavimas yra pernelyg reglamentuotas taikant bendrą visoms viešosioms institucijoms strateginio planavimo metodiką, kuri neįvertina mokyklų strateginių planų rengimo specifikos. Nustatyta, kad mokslinėje literatūroje galima išskirti tris skirtingus požiūrius į bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų strateginio planavimo procesą. Pirmasis požiūris akcentuoja išsamią strateginę analizę ir jos mechanizmus, antrasis – strateginio proceso dalyvius ir trečiasis – strateginio planavimo etapus. Nustatyta, kad Anykščių rajono mokyklų pagrindiniai veiksniai, lemiantys strateginio planavimo kliūtis, yra: ekonominės ir psichologinės motyvacijos stoka, pernelyg sudėtingos strateginio planavimo metodikos, mokymų ar kursų apie strateginį planavimą ir patirties trūkumas. Planuojant mokyklos veiklą daugiausiai naudojami tyrimų rezultatai bei mokyklos veiklos kokybės įsivertinimo (vidaus audito) ir išorės vertintojų išvados, darbo grupių siūlymai, posėdžių nutarimai, ataskaitų duomenys. Įgyvendinant strategiją Anykščių rajono bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose susiduriama su šiomis kliūtimis: finansinių išteklių trūkumu, nepakankamai išvystyta socialine infrastruktūra ir materialinių išteklių trūkumu. Nustatyta, kad Anykščių rajono bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose vyraujančios vidaus kontrolės procedūros tik iš dalies užtikrina strateginių tikslų pasiekimą ir programų įgyvendinimą.Article describes the specifics and problems of strategic planning at secondary schools. The article states that the strategic planning of activities at the Lithuanian secondary schools is excessively regulated by applying a general method designed for public bodies which does not reflect the specifics of strategic planning. It was found that three types of different attitudes exist in the scientific literature towards the process of strategic planning at secondary schools. The first approach highlights thorough strategic analysis and its mechanism, the second one notes the participants in the strategic process and the third one denotes the stages of strategic planning. It was noted that the Lithuanian secondary schools can be led by clear recommendations of how to organise and implement the programmes, as well as on the ways to evaluate the quality of secondary school activities. It was discovered that the main factors that cause strategic planning problems at Anykščiai district secondary schools are: the lack of economic and psychological motivation, excessively complicated strategic planning methods, the shortage of strategic planning courses and the lack of experience. Frequently the principals delegate strategic planning tasks to the other group members. Due to excessive austerity of planning, the creativity of teachers is restricted, the principal is too occupied with the current issues, hence, insufficient time is spent on long-term planning and leading, no appropriate conditions for planning are found, the common attitude persists that activity planning is unrelated to school running, the principal fails to timely review long-term plans and avoids strategic planning by making intuitive decisions. The main criteria used in school activity planning are research results and quality evaluation of school activities (internal audit), conclusions of external evaluators, suggestions of working groups, decisions of meetings and reporting data. Anykščiai district secondary schools came across the following issues while implementing the strategy: lack of financial resources, underdeveloped social infrastructure and lack of material resources. In part, teachers lack motivation to implement the programmes, conflicts of interest occur in the external environment, also there is a shortage of staff able to implement the programmes, which negatively affects strategy implementation. It was found that internal control procedures established at Anykščiai district secondary schools only partially ensured the achievement of strategic goals and programme implementation. The most effective and frequently used internal control procedures were provision of regular information about the new opportunities and noted issues to the leaders and programme’ monitoring