Management staff

Head teachers who manage kindergartens and schools assume two roles: that of an education and executive manager, and responsibilities for

• operations
• staffing tables
• staff recruitment, education and training, promotions (titles or wages)
• disciplinary matters
• monitoring of teaching processes, counselling the staff
• organisation and supervision of mentoring to trainees
• catering to the rights and duties of children, pupils, and other stakeholders
• managing the work of the faculties of educators, teachers and lecturers
• representation of kindergarten or school, cooperation with parents and school health service, and
• provision of quality through self-evaluation and annual report on self-evaluation of kindergarten or school.

Head teachers in their role of management staff may assume the position of a teacher, upon which they decide voluntarily, but not for over 5 school hours per week; in upper-secondary schools, head teachers may assume up to 10 hours of counselling work.

Smaller kindergartens or schools, head teachers assume the teaching position

In schools with less than 17 classes the head teachers must fulfill a teaching obligation. Depending on the number of classes in school the teaching obligation ranges from 2 to 6 lessons per week, but it can also be fulfilled by assuming the role of school councilor (or other professional roles in basic schools such as librarian, ICT coordinator, school meals organizer) for 4 to 12 hours per week.

Legislation prescribes that in a kindergarten with less than 15 classes, head teachers complete part of their working hours with children in classrooms (for every 2 classes 1.5 hours per week) or as counsellors (for every 2 classes 2 hours per week). But since there are no kindergartens with less than 15 classes there are no head teachers of kindergartens with a teaching obligation.

In public institutions, a kindergarten or school council appoints a head teacher for a period of 5 years. The same authority may at the same time dismiss the head teacher.

The position of a head teacher is awarded after the kindergarten or school issues a call for applications. For the appointment of the head teacher, the council has to consult the teaching assembly, the founder of the institution, the parent association and, in upper secondary schools, also student representatives. In kindergartens and schools in areas with official ethnic minorities the council also consults the representatives of the minority. Before appointing the head teacher, the council consults the respective minister of education, whose opinion, however, is not decisive for the final decision.

Other management staff

In internally branched out public kindergartens and schools, the managerial function may be the responsibility of a director, while the function of the educational manager in an organizational unit is the responsibility of a head teacher. In case of smaller units, the head teacher may appoint the managers of such units. Their tasks are usually defined with internal rules or assigned to them by the head teacher.

If a public kindergarten or school has an associated kindergarten or branch school, the head teacher appoints the head of the associated unit or branch. The tasks of such establishments are usually defined with internal rules or by the head teacher.

Assistant head teachers do managerial work as assigned to them by head teachers, and act as deputies in the absence of head teachers. At large, assistants have the same qualifications as head teachers. The mandate to appointment an assistant head teacher has the head teacher of a kindergarten with 17 or more classes or the head teacher of a school with 18 or more classes. Their teaching obligation depends on the size of the school and can be from 4 to 13 lessons per week or from 8 to 26 hours of counselling work.

Requirments of appointment

In a public institution, namely institution with state-approved programme, the candidate for a head teacher position shall have the same qualifications as they apply for educators/counsellors in the kindergarten or teachers/counsellors in the school for the position in which they candidate. The candidates shall have at least 5 years of work experience in education and the title Counsellor or Councillor. The title Mentor shall be adequate if the candidate shall hold it for at least 5 years prior to application. The overall requirement is the headschip licence. It may be acquired within one year of the appointment.

Headship licence and lifelong learning

The headship licence and the training programme are set up by the respective ministry, namely following the proposal of the Council of experts for general education of the Republic of Slovenia. It is the responsibility of the National School of Leadership in Education to organise the exam leading to licence, including the instruction and training. The aim of the programme is to qualify the participants for the head teacher position. The National School of Leadership in Education issues once a year a call for applications for the programme.

All who wish to assume the head teacher's position and have proper education qualifications may enrol in the programme. The eligible candidates are as a rule pre-school and school teachers, and counsellors who are on staff in a public kindergarten or school. Teaching staff of private institutions, tertiary schools and adult education organisations do apply also.

The training programme for prospective head teachers of 144 hours of attendance encompasses 6 modules, optional subject matters, and a programme completion.

Programme modules:

1. Introductory module: Head teacher as a manager and as a leader, team building, learning styles, and management of changes
2. Organizational theory and leadership: Organisational theory, models of school organisation, school leadership
3. Planning and decision making: Vision, planning, approaches to decision-making
4. Head teachers’ skills: Managing conflicts, running meetings, observing lessons
5. Human resources: Climate and culture, motivation, staff professional development
6. Legislation

The School provides support to head teachers in their first year of appointment. New head teachers may also enrol in the programme 'Mentorship for head teachers-beginners'. 

The School implements other continuous professional education and training programmes for head teachers, among other:

• Headship Development: it's objective is to train experienced head teachers to adopt innovative and effective management approaches, to learn, and develop quality and organisation efficiency
• Headship Certificate: it's objective is to improve the management practices of head teachers after five years of active school managing
• Action research: it's objective is to promote and develop actual and real solutions, and
• Support to head teachers: it's objective is to provide head teachers with support in the scope of legal and financial operations. The programme caters to the support information system set-up for head teachers (sample forms and other material, answers to questions, reminder of duties etc.). Head teacher may also make an appointment for a consultative visit of the institution.
• Network of head teachers for the developmet of school leadership.

The respective Ministry and the National School of Leadership in Education annually convene a national professional conference by separate levels (head teachers of kindergartens, basic schools and upper-secondary schools). On those events, head teachers discuss new details of the upcomming school year.

The head teachers have own respective associations.

Conditions of service

It is the council of a kindergarten or school that appoints a head teacher for a 5 year term. After this period, they may be reappointed or remain employed in the kindergarten or school as members of the teaching staff. It is the council that assigns the head teacher's salary in the scope of legal provisions.

The head teacher's basic salary (wage bracket) within individual kindergarten or school is decreed in the respective rules and it is tributary to criteria, such as: number of classes, number of children and pupils, to current programmes in action, operations on various locations, etc.

Working week of a head teacher amouts to 40 hours per week. The Public Sector Salary System Act enacts the basic salaries equally throughout the country. The flexible part of the salary depends on the head teacher’s performance. The council of the kindergarten or school annually evaluates and rewards the performance of the head teachers. Head teachers are, much like other members of the teaching staff, eligible for promotion.

Allowances for previous work, overqualification, overtime teaching, and for managing a bilingual kindergarten or school are additions to the basic salary.

Just over 22% of the gross salary of kindergarten or school teachers allocated to social security and income tax (16 to 41%). Management staff is eligible for the same kind of bonuses to those of the education staff in pre-school education, basic schools and upper secondary schools.