In the Februar newsletter of ESHA, they present the outcome of the top 5 under national associations, quite recognisable for the ECNAIS associations to:
1 Administrative work load
Many associations reported that their school leaders have to deal with too
many administrative tasks. School leaders feel overburdened with administrative
tasks and have less time to concentrate on essential matters, such as
the quality of learning, the curriculum, pedagogical issues and staff performance,
motivation and development.
2 School leadership skills
Effective school leadership is a major factor in shaping the overall teaching
and learning environment, raising aspirations and providing support for
pupils, parents and staff, and thus in fostering higher achievement levels. It
is therefore of key importance to ensure that school leaders have, or are able
to develop, the capacities and qualities needed to assume the increasing
number of tasks with which they are confronted.
3 Reduced or too low budgets
Many school leaders face reduced budgets due to the economic recession.
Although The European Commission and Mc Kinsey stress that investing in
education and training is of crucial importance for both the economy, many
colleagues will face lowered budgets making it almost impossible to improve
the standards of education
4 Autonomy of schools
The levels of autonomy of schools vary in Europe. Some associations
reported that individual school leaders can only spend very limited time on
school leadership tasks and some cannot even hire the teachers they prefer.
The obvious question is: how can school leaders be accountable for achieving
high academic results, if they cannot even hire their own staff?
5 Quality of education
Teacher education programs need to be of high quality, relevant to needs
and based on a well-balanced combination of solid academic research and
extensive practical experience for preparing teachers and school leaders
to carry out their responsibilities and ensuring school leaders’ continuing
professional development

you can download the februar newsletter here. or look at www.eshamagazine.org