This post with keywords: LeadinGuides-Sustainable-School-Growth-Meaning&Importance in one paragraph

This post with keywords: LeadinGuides-Sustainable-School-Growth-Meaning&Importance introduces you to the concept of school growth from an empirical perspective. The post discusses the meaning of school growth; then emphasizes on sustainable school growth, importance of school growth and outlines the steps to attain sustainable school growth.

What is school growth?

To successfully pursue school growth, you have to know what school growth means. This will help you to know when you attain success. Knowing the meaning of school growth will also enable you to measure the size of the growth – instead of speculating.

That being said, what is the meaning of school growth?

No one person can claim to be able to give authoritative definition of school growth. This is because what constitutes growth for one man may not be for another. Hence, to define it, we must first consider what different people may mean when they talk about school growth.

Generally, when an individual talks about school growth, he or she has one, more or all of the following

Elements of school growth in mind:

1. Greater students’ performance
2. Higher overall school’s population
3. More school’s infrastructure such as bigger buildings than an earlier time
4. Larger staff size
5. Increase in the school’s popularity/fame and prestige
6. Expansion in school finance – both income and expenditure

And what is more, we really cannot separate any of these things from another when we talk about wholesome school growth. This is because one leads to the other. However, while one – greater students’ performance – is by proper reasoning, a means; another – school’s prestige – is rather ambiguous for a plain definition of school growth.

Consequently, we can define school growth thus:

School growth is the overall increase in the number (population) of a school’s students and infrastructures which in turn leads to increase in the school’s finance (both income and expenditure) and employees.

From this definition, it is obvious that despite the other elements that comes to mind, only one is synonymous with school growth – that is increase in the number of a school’s students. Other than the government, it is in pursuit or after attaining this that we think or talk of the other elements. Therefore, when we talk about school growth and how to attain it, we mostly literarily mean enhancing the school population. Nonetheless, it is important to note that not all increase in school population equates to school growth – some are actually death sentence in disguise. This is where sustainable school growth comes in.

Sustainable School Growth

Now that we have discussed the meaning of school growth, let us see what sustainable school growth mean.

To begin with the word ‘sustainable’ means able to be maintained. Therefore, sustainable school growth refers to the school growth that you can sustain. There are growths that you cannot really sustain. Take for example, if you increase your school population by admitting candidates to classes they are qualified for, such students will naturally turn out not be able to meet up with the work demands of the class. And sooner or later, the parents of such students and other people will notice their backwardness. The result is that the parents and everyone else that notice this will blame and accuse your school of poor standard. With this dissatisfaction, parents will start pulling their children – with chattered foundation – to other (unfortunate) schools. Hence, the growth you once achieved will become reduction. Then we say it was an unsustainable growth you had.

Generally, unsustainable growth occurs when you do a few things wrong to make your school grow. This post details the steps to attain sustainable school growth. But before that, let us see why you need to pursue sustainable growth.

Importance of Sustainable Growth

Just as with anything else, there are alternatives to school growth – though not all options lead to sustainable growth. The steps I provide here in this post are people-oriented. In sustainable growth, when you grow, others grow. It is based on the same societal philosophy that brought about the boom in Web Technology industry. The people-oriented growth philosophy accounts for the successes of some of the world’s largest technology companies. It is not a new ideology. Companies, in and out of tech, have based their growth on the same philosophy. The education industry is one of people. Not until school owners and administrators are able to turn the people around their business – their staff, students, parents and the immediate community – into marketers and stir in them a sincere love for their business succeed, they will always take the longer route to success – a route whose end they may not get to.

Now why do I advise you to adopt the people-oriented growth approach that I discuss here? Why should you adopt it? Here are some of the reasons:

1.      Business Insurance

There is no better way of insuring your school than by registering it in the minds and hearts of you staff, students, parents and the community. Once you prove to them that you care for them as much as your business and the job and that you value every contribution of theirs; they will work to make your school a success. They will fight any opposition to your business like it was their personal property. The usual sabotage and negligence to duty will end. The majority of the staff will chastise the member that deliberately errs in this willing duty. Hence, the strategy fortifies your business.

2.      Fulfil Social Responsibility Expectation

This is another important reason for you to adopt the people-oriented growth strategy. No matter how small or big your business is, professional ethics expects you to do a few things for the benefit of the society at large – apart from the value your patrons derive from your business products. Adopting the people-oriented growth strategy does not only enable you to make your school grow. But it also conveys the impression that you are living up to your social responsibilities.

3.      Build Legacies

The pages of history are littered with many great men and women who are remembered for their roles in the attainment of a goal. All independent nations of the world, great and small are results of legacies – legacies of men and women that sacrificed immeasurable resources not for business gain but to gain the memories of posterity. Many HR premiers, philosophers and psychologists believe that the desire for the present and future generation to remember us after when we are long gone is inborn of all men. In fact, there are reasons to suggest that some of the renowned notorious criminals indulged in their evil act just only to attain this fit. If men will go as far as this to acquire legacy, why would you not adopt the strategy that will help you to both make your business grow and attain legacy? By adopting the people-oriented growth strategy, you will be helping the people to meet up with daily life needs and also to increase, to grow. And these people will not only be grateful to you for the moment, but for life time – you become path of their life stories.

4.      Change the society

Too often than not, we forget how our little daily efforts contribute to either make or mar the society we live in. Natural of all men, we are better at finding the faults of others – the leader, the governor and the president. By simply adopting the people-oriented growth strategy, you affect the disposition of the people around your business. There are schools that the people around only think of extortion when they come around it – irrespective of whether the school is growing or not. With this feeling, these people mingle with the society and sell their disposition to it. Before long, everyone in that society knows but only one way of growing – by extorting others. How would you like to contribute your quota to make the society believe in the power of social interdependence, collaboration and interactivity? When you adopt people-oriented growth strategy, you help in re-engineering the society in combating moral decadence.

5.      Win the right to the law of compensation

We may safely argue all else but the fact that the world is built on the foundation of universal laws. One of such fundamental laws is the law of compensation. Emerson postulated this law to explain that nature will reward you for every act you perform. It explains that nature is a fair judge and a third-party to every agreement and transaction that occur in the universe. Thence, we can safely say that no man can completely cheat another. This is because the man that cheats his neighbour today will be paid in disaster sooner or later. To win the right to the law of compensation is to be able to lay claim it working in your favour. When you adopt the people-oriented growth strategy and do well to others, nature works in your favour. Even if a few people – who shall benefit in the process – fail to do the right thing, nature has its way of insuring you against loss in the long run, though you may feel the immediate impact of their betrayal. For this law to be regarded as universal, it means it has been proven to be true in all matters. The law also works in reverse explanation. Those who succeed through deceit always have one or more pain to take pills for, exhaustive bills to take care of and general lack of peace of mind.

Conclusion

Are you convinced yet? Have you already decided to adopt the people-oriented school growth strategy? I outline the steps to sustainable school growth in my article.  This post is only a prelude to the Independent Education Seminar. The seminar will hold this Independence Day – 1^st October 2019 – at Federal College of Agricultural Produce Technology (FCAPT), Kano. At the business, guest speakers both from Dangote School of Business and the School of General and Entrepreneurship Studies of Bayero University Kano will be providing insight into the principle of school growth and give practical guidelines to help participating school owners succeed in the business while creating value at the same time.

While we prepare for the seminar, watch visit later for the strategic steps to sustainable school growth in Nigeria.