Shrestha wants the school heads of Nepal to convert their vision into direction and direction into progress. The study has clearly been conducted under three key dimensions – personal, functional, and contextual requisites (3 Rs) for effective school leadership in Nepal. For a better understanding of the study and research literature, Shrestha has provided sufficient references from both international and national researchers. Dr Shrestha is not completely in favour of any specific approach of leadership; he wants a headteacher as a dynamic personality who can act as an autocratic, a democratic, or a laissez-faire leader for the all-around development of the school. He has clearly stated that if the headteacher is deeply committed to the school’s development, he/she can get support from the community, and the school can make progress. Professional dedication, along with the team work and commitment, are the most essential factors of successful headship in schools. Moreover, a head teacher should not be rigid in decision-making procedures, he/she can be a democratic, semi-democratic, or even an autocratic leader depending on the context. Dr Shrestha further analysed his findings that school heads should have personal dedication, ownership and proactive organisational structural behaviour, which lead the institution in the path of progress. Likewise, short-term and long-term plans, concrete SIP and regular communication with the stakeholders are some of the other essentials of model schools’ assets. The voice of the students is equally important for success.
The research is limited to Kathmandu District; therefore, the findings may not be equally applicable to schools outside of Kathmandu District in Nepal. However, Dr Shrestha has tried his best to make research a wider range by including the sample population from cities and the village areas. Moreover, the research is limited to properly managed model schools, but this is not a bad idea, as the objective of the research is to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategies employed by headteachers in these schools. At the same time application of all the findings might not be possible to resource constrained schools, especially in those schools which are located in the remote districts of Nepal.
The PhD thesis article itself is an asset; therefore, it is a worthwhile reading article for headteachers of Nepal, both community and institutional schools. The future of a nation depends on the education being imparted. Therefore, better education is the foundation of a nation, and better schools are the essentials for better education.
