School Administration: Objectives and Functions

2 أكتوبر 2026

In line with the growth of knowledge economies and the continuous scientific and practical developments in the world, work in the educational field began by focusing on reforming all issues of the educational system.

This especially includes issues related to school administration, as it represents the educational system in its administrative format, which implements modern administrative methods, laws, and techniques to keep pace with developments and improve education outcomes. The school administration is the primary educational tool capable of dealing with these developments.

The role of the school administration has changed over time. While its routine was limited to controlling order within the school, following up on students’ studies and their attendance and absence schedules, choosing the teaching methods that teachers should follow, and paying attention to the cleanliness of school buildings and other office work, this is no longer enough, especially after the great development that the administrative sciences witnessed.

The school administration became the focus of the educational process, which activates and revitalizes the rest of the other elements and creates and supervises all aspects of educational activity within the school.

Its work did not only take place within the school; rather, it has gone beyond it to enter into the depths of society in which the school is located, and thus school administration has become a science and an art with principles and rules. In order to be able to supervise and direct the instructional and administrative work in his school to reach the desired goals, the principle must be well aware of their duties and how exactly they should carry them out.

The School Administration

School administration is one of the modern administrative sciences that originated in the USA, in particular in 1946. Kellogg University provided a grant to American universities to study and develop this science, and after the United States of America came the United Kingdom. It carried out studies to develop school administration, and then this science moved to the rest of the world and became one of the main educational sciences.

The school administration is part of the teaching and educational administration; it is not independent by itself, as some people think. Rather, it is a unit responsible for implementing what the general educational administration decides. It is a purposeful, organized activity that includes all the efforts, activities, and operations that the principal undertakes with the teachers and administrators in the school to prepare the learner in all mental, psychological, moral, emotional, and physical aspects so that they become an active member of the society in which they live and adapt.

There are several educational studies related to school administration, and we will present in this article some of the definitions mentioned:

1. Ibrahim Esmat Mutawa

“The unit is in charge of carrying out the educational policy. It is governed by a principal, with key duties that include steering the school in the direction of its objective and putting Ministry-issued educational legislation and regulations into effect.”

2. Mohamed Mounir Morsi

“It is the accomplishment of the educational objectives desired from the school that is the driving force behind every intentional and purposeful structured action. The administration of the school serves as a tool to further educational and scientific objectives rather than being an end in itself.”

3. Muhammad al-Saghir

“It is how the school is run in a society according to its ideologies, economic, social, political, and other cultural forces in order to achieve its goals within the framework in which sound human relations, concepts, tools, and modern methods of education are available to obtain the best results with the least effort and cost.”

4. Salah Abdul Hamid Mustafa

“It is a set of functional operations that are practiced for the purpose of carrying out certain educational tasks by others through planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling, and evaluating their efforts. This function is performed by influencing the behavior of individuals and achieving the desired goals.”

5. Muhammad Hussein Al-Ajmi

“All efforts, activities, and operations, such as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling, that the principal undertakes with their teachers and administrators have the aim of building and preparing the student in all respects, mentally, morally, socially, and physically, so that they can successfully adapt to society, preserve their surrounding environment, and contribute to the progress of their society.”

Hence, the school administration is responsible for every activity that is achieved for educational purposes, and it coordinates and unifies efforts within the school to move forward in achieving the general educational goals of societies and countries on sound foundations.

School Administration Goals

The school administration is the glinting light that paves the way for students and teachers to present everything that is noteworthy and successful. The role of the school administration is growing day by day, and today's educational objectives vary from society to society and from time frame to time frame.

These objectives are influenced by a number of variables, including the school's size, educational level, age of students and staff, level of staff training, and individual preferences.

Work to provide the material and human resources necessary to carry out and disseminate the school's mission.
Creation of appropriate conditions for the conduct of the educational process and its improvement.
Working on linking the school with the external community: the more this link is strengthened, the better the school will be able to perform its mission.
Developing students' tendencies and skills by providing them with the necessary knowledge.
Introducing the student to their duties and rights towards themselves, their family, their community, and their country.
Encouraging students and helping them to establish good human relations with others and to cooperate with them constantly.
Instilling virtuous values and morals in the learners.
Introducing the learners to the sources of national wealth and how to preserve it.

School Administration Responsibilities

Monitoring important social and economic trends in the community.
Providing suggestions and contributing to the development of appropriate curricula for students.
Managing and organizing the school building, including classrooms, a library, laboratories, and its assets of teaching aids and sensitive equipment.
Providing the learner with various experiences, knowledge, and sciences that are in line with their age and contribute to their upbringing, education, and attaining their full potential.
Communicate effectively with the parents of students and create an appropriate atmosphere for the admission of new students to school.
Analyzing students' grades, interpreting their meaning, and monitoring the necessary needs for each of them to improve their achievement.
Adapting the educational program within the school to the changes that occur in the community, in addition to organizing environmental programs.
Investigating the needs of all school workers, including administrators and teachers, expressing them to the concerned authorities, and paying attention to their job satisfaction.
Identifying the needs of teachers' professional growth and continually assessing their competence.
Evaluation of educational plans through the design of actual programs.
Translating the general educational plan into a realistic plan.
Choosing the right workers for guarding and maintenance services for schools.
Identifying the positive and negative aspects of the school and taking appropriate decisions to increase the positive and mitigate the negative.
Delegate responsibilities to the appropriate people in the school.
Identifying the problems facing the school's organizational framework, identifying them accurately, and finding appropriate solutions quickly to maintain the educational role of the school and to continue working with it.
Managing students' affairs by organizing them into organized formations, regulating their admission in terms of registration and follow-up, managing their classroom and extra-curricular activities, and setting up an accurate system for school records so that these records are kept in an orderly, sound, and safe manner.
Taking into account the individual differences between the students and working to try to reduce them; and working to take into account the individual differences among the working members when distributing tasks in a manner consistent with the tendencies and preparations of each individual.
Providing effective communication between the different classes and the educational staff within the school through the possession of effective communication skills.
Create a comfortable atmosphere of human relations and work to raise the morale of all workers by creating psychological and work-motivating conditions.
Provide health care for students and school guidance and counseling services.
Organize, manage examinations, and issue results and documents accurately.
Audit the school's finances to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Characteristics of School Administration

Purposeful: it proceeds according to a predetermined and pre-planned plan that is not implemented arbitrarily.
Positive: it plays the role of a leader who works to overcome the negatives and adhere to the positives of the situation.
Democratic: it is an administration that realizes the public interest, works to achieve it, and always emphasizes the necessity of everyone's participation in decision-making.
Humane: it is an administration that listens to the problems of each of the students and school staff and helps and supports them continuously.

School Administration Obstacles

Lack of a clear definition of the educational goals.
The inability to clearly identify the responsibilities of the school administration.
Lack of qualified human cadres trained in the nature of school work.
Poor material capabilities of school buildings with the appropriate classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and educational aids necessary to achieve the school's educational goals.

In conclusion

The school administration is the basis upon which society relies to achieve its strategic goals. In order to achieve the educational goals and objectives as soon as possible, with the least effort, and with the best possible result.

It works to improve employees’ performance by introducing them to their duties and responsibilities, directing them to proper educational guidance, coordinating school work, supervising the programs of various school activities, and making decisions for students.