The perceived training needs of female head teachers compared with the training needs of male head teachers in the government public schools in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Global developments have brought many changes to Saudi Arabia. One of these is that women are now being encouraged to become educated and participate in the workforce in order to contribute to the social and economic development of the country. In order to achieve this, it is necessary for girls to receive a good education. However, there is currently no adequate training programme in place for female head teachers, which means that girls’ education does not always reach a desirable standard.

The main objective of this thesis is to determine the most important training needs of head teachers in Aljouf province and Alqurayat governorate in Saudi Arabia and to make recommendations based on the findings regarding ways of enhancing head teachers’ training and hence providing a better education for schoolchildren. The research was conducted only in the aforementioned areas, which could be seen as a limitation of the study, but as Saudi education is highly centralised, it is likely that the findings can be generalised to the country as a whole.


The research instruments used were a questionnaire survey completed by 470 head teachers, both male and female, and face-to-face interviews with 18 male head teachers and 18 female head teachers. Analysis of the data thus acquired indicated that, according to the perceptions of the participants, the greatest need for training was in the following areas: information technology and communication; administrative requirements; staff development; and student affairs, in descending order of importance.

The main recommendations made based on the findings are that adequate training courses be established for both males and females, particularly in the area of information technology; the number of training courses should be increased and such courses should be held in the towns of residence of female head teachers; unqualified head teachers should be replaced by those holding an educational qualification; those wishing to work as head teachers should have at least five years’ teaching experience; and there should be greater incentives for female head teachers to attend training courses.

It is suggested that future research be conducted with the aim of discovering training needs of head teachers as perceived by teachers and educational supervisors and by directors of Education Departments. It is also suggested that studies be conducted to determine the training needs of female head teachers in other provinces in Saudi Arabia.