Jamshedpur, July 29: After corporate honchos and armed personnel, it is now the turn for schoolteachers and principals to enter B-school portals.

In a recent move, the Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has approached the XLRI School of Business and Human Resources to conduct a management programme for schoolteachers and principals.

The first-of-its-kind course for XLRI aims at providing management orientation to the principals of CBSE schools to equip them to respond to rapid changes in their school environment.

“Last year, CBSE authorities had requested us to start a course for their principals to help improve on their style of functioning. So, we decided to go ahead and launch a management programme soon,” said Father N. Casimir Raj, the director of XLRI.

Ashok Ganguly, the CBSE chairperson, too had mentioned about the proposed tie-up with XLRI during his visit to the city early this year.

Scheduled to begin from October this year, the weeklong residential programme for CBSE school principals would see school heads from across the country visit XLRI.

“We are looking at a batch strength of 30, but the number might even go up, “ said E.S. Srinivas, senior faculty at the B-school and co-ordinating of the principals’ training programme.

“We expect to finish off with at least two batches of principals by the year end. While the first batch commences in October, the second would start in December, “ added Srinivas, who would visit Delhi next week to have final talks with CBSE officials in chalking out the final curriculum of the proposed course.

XLRI is however the second B-school after IIM-A to launch such a course and have a tie-up with CBSE for a course tailor made to suit the needs and requirements of schools in India.

But once launched the specialised course would specifically look at developing systematic strategies and processes for managing key functional areas in school.

It would identify and implement suitable systems of appraisal, evaluation, and feedback for teachers and staff.

The course would also focus on achieving personal growth (intellectual, emotional, and social) and organizational development, introduction and managing change within the school system in the context of rapid changes taking place in society, role of technology in management of schools.

Though there were talks of starting a similar course for ISCE schools, XLRI sources ruled out any such possibility.

Jamshedpur-based CBSE schools are however yet to receive any notification on the issue.

“We are aware of the tie-up, but no formal letter has reached us,” said Lalitha Sareen, the principal of Jamshedpur Public School.