The Challenges Faced by Novice School Principals and their Assistants and Suggestion to Solve them in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

Abstract: The study aimed to recognize the challenges facing
novice school principals and their assistants to provide
suggestion to solve such challenges in the Sultanate of Oman.
The study used the mixed method approach based on a
sequential design, with quantitative tools used first followed
by qualitative tools. A questionnaire was applied to a sample
of 248 novice school principals and their assistants, followed
by the application of a semi-structured interview with a
sample of 12 new school principals. The results showed that
the novice school principals and their assistants in the
Sultanate of Oman faced administrative challenges,
particularly the delay in filling job vacancies needed by the
school and the large amount of paperwork. The second set of
challenges included financial challenges such as the lack of
financial support for the purchase of school supplies, and the
lack of maintenance for schools tools and equipment. The
third challenges were related to teachers, specifically the large
number of substitution classes and teachers’ reluctance to
attend or provide professional development programs within
the school. The fourth set of challenges was related to students
and their parents, with the most major challenge being the
difficulty in organizing parents' councils and parents’ poor
communication with the school. In addition, the results
revealed that there were no statistically significant differences
in the challenges facing new school principals in general,
according to the variables of gender and the number of
students in the school. School principals presented suggestions
to solve the challenges they faced. The most crucial challenges
were providing school principals the authority to invest in
school facilities to generate sustainable financial income and
to enrol new principals in training programs to learn the
fundamentals of their responsibilities before starting.
(Keywords: Challenges, Novice School Principals, Novice
Aassistant Principals, Sultanate of Oman)