Developing the personal readiness of vocational school heads for management in the digital education space through distance postgraduate education

This paper examines the personal readiness of vocational school heads for management in the context of the digitalisation of education. An empirical study revealed insufficient leadership qualities like entrepreneurship, self-efficacy, focus and communication among vocational school heads. A training program was developed to improve these competencies through distance postgraduate education. The program consisted of two modules delivered online over 30 hours. It utilised interactive methods like group discussions, role-playing, case studies and individual assignments. The program's effectiveness was evaluated through a pre/post-test design with experimental and control groups. Results showed statistically significant improvement in personal readiness components like entrepreneurship and focus on business in the experimental group compared to the control. The study demonstrates the potential of distance postgraduate programs to develop the leadership competencies needed to manage vocational schools effectively in the digital era.