HOW SCHOOLS CAN SAVE THEMSELVES

What impact does the current global crisis have on education, an industry widely considered as not-for-profit? How does the education sector remain service-oriented without going bankrupt in such difficult economic conditions?

Finance people are saying the worst is yet to come. International banks are on red-alert. Companies are cutting down on manpower. Entrepreneurs would rather hoard money than invest on new ventures. With little money that most schools actually earn, how will they manage?

The task of developing and implementing cost-effective plans falls largely on the shoulders of the heads of schools---principals, administrators and owners. And in this time of economic uncertainty, every centavo saved can go a long, long way.

Energy-saving
For example, electricity bills take up a huge chunk of operations budgets. Implementing energy conservation measures can help minimize what schools pay for electricity. An energy audit of the whole school can find out just which areas use a lot of power and where energy consumption can be cut down. Based on the findings of this audit, schools can determine which energy-efficient practices can be implemented and which energy-efficient materials and equipment can be bought and used.

Energy-efficient practices can be big, such as implementing school-wide week-long breaks or shutdowns during summer or in between semesters, which can lead to one big reduction of bills and expenses.

Cost-cutting practices can be small as well. Turning off the lights of various rooms that are not in use or of hallways that already have enough illumination, using low- wattage lights such as compact fluorescent lights, or better yet, maximizing natural light to illuminate a room can lead to a collectively substantial reduction in energy consumption. Asking computer users to make full use of energy-saving features of their equipment can help some more. Some equipment like vending machines and refrigerators could be unplugged overnight.

School heads could implement guidelines on the use of air conditioners---equipment that use a lot of electricity. For example, aircon units could be turned on when at least three people are in a room. They must also be turned off during lunch breaks and an hour before people leave the office. Measures could be established on the practice of bringing and plugging in personal equipment like laptops and cell phones and personal appliances such as radios and coffeemakers in schools. In the United States, some schools allow teachers and staff to use personal appliances in the school, but for a fee.

Wiser use of supplies
Suppliers are usually bought in bulk. Thus by implementing procurement strategies and systems that revolve around cost-cutting measures, schools can make use of alternative and cheaper but still good-quality brands of ball pens, papers, envelopes, and other supplies. This can also ensure that schools work only with companies that give energy-efficient supplies and services. Each employee could help by using the econofast mode of printers and both sides of bond papers. This may cut down on ink and paper usage.

Where leadership comes in
With all these changes, school officials must be able to showcase their leadership skills. It is imperative that they effectively and clearly communicate to the whole community the reason behind these new belt-tightening measures. School officials must be able to get the cooperation of all members of their community, from teachers to students to staff to parents, in order to smoothly implement the changes in policies and procedures. They must be open to dialogues and suggestions in order to ease the anxiety felt by all stakeholders.

Getting help
School heads must also actively seek out partner schools and organizations, which will allow them to learn cost-cutting projects that could be applied to their own institutions. Seminars and conferences where managers of different schools converge are good avenues for educators to share their best practices in saving.

With a little help from others and a lot of will po0wer on the part of the school head, what may seem impossible at first can be doable.

*The author was communications director at a private college before turning freelance writer