NAIROBI, 14th October 2026 – The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) has launched a Research Community of Learning (CoL), a continental platform to connect African school leadership researchers with the policymakers and practitioners who put evidence to use. The community was introduced at its inaugural webinar on 6 October 2026, which brought together researchers, school leaders, policymakers, practitioners and education partners. Its WhatsApp platform already has more than 500 members from diverse African countries, institutions and professional backgrounds.
The webinar explored how research, African philosophies and indigenous knowledge systems can shape school leadership policy and practice that reflects the realities of African education systems. Opening the session, Head of Research at ACSL, Dr Edmund Aalangdong said the aim is evidence that is used, not just published.
“We do not want to generate research that remains on the shelves. We want African-led evidence that informs policy decisions, strengthens professional development, improves school leadership practices, advances gender equality and inclusion,” he said.
He added that the Community of Learning is meant to be more than a network or a series of webinars: a sustained, African-led platform where researchers, policymakers, practitioners and partners exchange knowledge, collaborate and learn from one another.
ACSL Research Officer, Stephen Acquah explained that the community grew out of the need to bring African school leadership researchers together to address identified knowledge gaps.
“The Community of Learning is intended to provide a continental space for researchers, practitioners and policymakers to connect, share resources, exchange ideas and develop professional relationships. It will also create opportunities for mentorship, peer feedback, research methods support and research clinics to strengthen the quality of research produced by African scholars,” Acquah said.
That emphasis on African-produced scholarship carried into the session’s substantive discussion, which examined how African philosophies, values and lived experiences can inform leadership approaches grounded in local contexts. Presenting on the topic; Afrocentric philosophies and school leadership research, Prof Frederick Ebot of the University of Buea (Cameroon) urged researchers to draw on African theories.
“If you are here and you are a professor supporting students with their research, we should be able to use our own theories. If we start using our own philosophies, our own theories, I think it will take us a long way. Only we can bring it in front of our students. If we don’t encourage them, they will continue using European philosophies,” he said.
The inaugural webinar is the start of ongoing engagement, with the community’s work extending beyond individual events. In her closing remarks, Director of Research and Programme Delivery at ESSA, Dr Leila Abdullahi said the growing membership has the potential to strengthen African-led research.
“Our collective expertise, experience, and network have tremendous potential to strengthen African-led research and school leadership,” she said.
She pointed to members’ willingness to learn, share knowledge and engage in peer-to-peer exchange as the foundation for the community’s development. Participants were encouraged to share useful resources, offer mentorship, propose learning activities and raise policy and practice questions for research discussions.
On this World Teachers’ Day, the African Centre for School Leadership stands in solidarity with the teachers of Africa. Every day, in crowded classrooms, with limited resources and through demanding curriculum reforms, they give young people a real chance to learn, to work and to lead. We honour that commitment.
We also restate the conviction that drives our work: teachers do their best work in schools that are well led. A head of school who listens, gives professional guidance, protects time for teaching and opens space for participation shapes whether teachers feel valued, grow in their practice and stay in the profession. Collaboration among teachers does not happen by chance. It is led.
That is why, on a day dedicated to teachers, ACSL speaks about school leaders. Investing in the people who lead schools is one of the most direct ways to invest in the people who teach in them.
Strengthening school leadership across Africa
ACSL is a coalition coordinated by ADEA, ESSA, FAWE and VVOB, working with governments, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, to build school leadership systems that improve teaching and learning. Across the continent, that work is already delivering:
Evidence on where systems stand. With ministries of education and Leaders in Teaching (LiT) partners, ACSL has completed national school leadership mappings in Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and at the continental level, giving governments a clear picture of gaps in policy, professional development, research and coordination, and a roadmap to close them.
African-led research. Through our Research Grants Programme, ACSL has awarded 39 research grants to researchers in 14 African countries, building evidence on what effective school leadership looks like in African schools. A second cohort is now in progress.
Stronger providers of professional development. ACSL works with the institutions that prepare and train school leaders, strengthening how they design and deliver blended, practice-based programmes so that support reaches leaders at scale.
Providing policy and professional development support for school leadership. This is through our engagments with country-level and continental partners including reviewing and updating the continental school leadership policy framework.
Continued support to Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana. Building on ACSL’s foundation phase in these three countries, the Centre continues to accompany national efforts [e.g. supporting the Rwanda Basic Education Board on a national CPD framework for school leaders; and extending technial support to Kenya, through the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI).
Tanzania: school leadership at national scale
In Tanzania, ACSL leads the LEAD component of the Leaders in Teaching initiative (LiT-LEAD), working with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Agency for the Development of Educational Management (ADEM). This is where our continental commitments become concrete for teachers.
Building leadership capacity nationwide. In August 2025, ADEM and ACSL signed a partnership to deliver a certified blended leadership programme. Launched in Mwanza in May 2026, it will train 16,000 heads of school, deputy heads and Ward Education Officers over five years, reaching about 6,000 secondary schools on the Mainland and in Zanzibar. Its focus is instructional leadership, coaching and mentoring: the skills leaders need to support teachers through competency-based curriculum reform.
Training the trainers. ACSL is strengthening ADEM’s capacity to design and facilitate blended professional development, so that quality leadership training becomes part of the national system, not a one-off project.
Tanzanian evidence for Tanzanian decisions. ACSL is supporting a national research agenda on school leadership, and Tanzanian researchers are among the recipients of ACSL school leadership research grants.
A sector that works together. At Tanzania’s School Leadership Engagement Week in Dar es Salaam in July 2026, more than 100 stakeholders from Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda took stock of the evidence. One concrete result: a School Leadership Sector Coordination Working Group, with ADEM as its secretariat.
Policy that recognises the role. ACSL is supporting the development of a contextualised school leadership policy framework, including gender-responsive guidance on appointment and career progression, so that more women can lead.
What Tanzania’s school leaders are showing us
The leaders we work with already know what support for teachers looks like. For one head of school, it starts with listening:
“I listen to and consider the needs, experiences and challenges of teachers by meeting them individually, listening to their challenges and seeking solutions without discrimination based on age, gender or experience.” — Fadhili Nko, Head of School, Kyaka Secondary School, Missenyi District, Kagera
Another helped a struggling Geography teacher make lessons work without buying materials:
“I was able to help the teacher develop their capacity using real objects from the environment they work in instead of relying on materials bought from shops.” — Audax Mutungwa, Head of School, Mutukula Secondary School, Kagera
A third leader guided a teacher away from punishing learners with a stick. Students re-engaged, and results improved. None of this required new budgets. It required leaders with the skills, time and confidence to coach.
Yet research in Tanzania points to real gaps in leadership and management skills among heads and deputies, limited involvement in teachers’ professional development, and heavy administrative workloads that crowd out instructional leadership. One leader put the need plainly:
“When a school head is appointed, they should receive leadership training before beginning their leadership responsibilities.”
Our commitment
On this World Teachers’ Day, ACSL renews its commitment to teachers by committing to the leaders who support them. We call on governments and partners to treat school leadership as a core part of every teacher agenda: clear professional standards, structured and certified professional development, fair and gender-responsive career pathways, and systems that free leaders to focus on teaching and learning.
To every teacher across Africa: thank you. We will keep working so that every one of you is led by someone equipped to support you.
About ACSL
The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) is a coalition of partners coordinated by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and VVOB – education for development. Working in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, ACSL collaborates with governments to strengthen school leadership systems that enhance teaching, learning and student well-being across Africa.
The 2nd East African Community Regional Education Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together policymakers, government officials, researchers, development partners, practitioners and education networks from across the region to reflect on how education systems can move from commitments to measurable improvements in learning. Across nearly 200 presentations, discussions explored foundational learning, teacher professional development, school leadership, inclusive education, digitalisation, education financing, data use, TVET, higher education and regional collaboration. For the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), one message stood out clearly: effective school leadership is increasingly recognised as a critical lever for improving teaching, learning, inclusion and education system performance.
At the conference, ACSL shared evidence, engaged in regional discussions, and showcased its work on school leadership. The keynote address by ADEA Executive Secretary, Albert Nsenginyumva, reinforced the need for East African education systems to move from commitments and declarations to measurable results and impact, with emphasis on foundational learning, teacher development, equitable use of technology, inclusion, data driven decision making, resilient financing, scaling evidence-based interventions and purposeful partnerships. His call to use data as a common regional foundation strongly resonated with ACSL’s contribution, including presentations and exhibited communications materials which included study reports and documented best practices. Together, these contributions brought attention to the professional development in strengthening school leadership and education systems. These engagements positioned ACSL and its wider partners as active contributors to the regional conversation on strengthening school leadership, translating evidence into practice, and moving education systems from commitments to measurableimpact.
The conference provided valuable lessons for ACSL’s work across Africa particularly for the delivery of the LEAD pillar of the Leaders in Teaching (LIT-LEAD) initiative in Tanzania.
1: School leadership must go beyond one-off training
A recurring lesson from the conference was that professional development for school leaders must move beyond isolated workshopsto being a sustained policy, entrenched in education systems. Effective leadership development requires continuous opportunities for leaders to practise, reflect, receive feedback and learn from peers. Sessions on school leadership, coaching, mentorship and continuous professional development highlighted the importance of combining structured training with workplace learning, peer networks and sustained follow-up.
This strongly resonates with ACSL’s approach to strengthening school leadership as a profession rather than treating leadership development as a single training event. In Tanzania, LIT-LEAD is advancing this through blended professional development for school heads, deputies and education officials, with an emphasis on strengthening leadership practices that can influence what happens in schools and classrooms.
2: Coaching and peer learning can bridge the gap between knowledge and practice
The conference reinforced the importance of coaching, mentoring and professional learning networks in helping education leaders translate new knowledge into changes in everyday practice. School leaders often operate in complex environments where solving problems requires more than technical knowledge. They need opportunities to discuss challenges with peers, receive guidance and adapt solutions to their school contexts.
For ACSL, this presents an opportunity to further strengthen post-training support within leadership development programmes. Within LIT-LEAD Tanzania, coaching and peer-learning structures can complement blended learning by creating a continuous professional learning journey before, during and after formal training.
3: Data becomes powerful when leaders use it
Another major theme was the need to move from data collection to data use. Schools and education systems already generate considerable information, but its value depends on whether leaders can interpret it, identify challenges, take action and monitor whether those actions are producing results. For ACSL, evidence-informed leadership therefore needs to remain a core leadership competency. School leaders should be supported not only to understand data but also to use it to improve teacher support, learner participation, instructional practices and overall school performance. This is particularly relevant to LIT-LEAD Tanzania, where strengthening data-driven decision-making aligned with competency-based education reforms is an important part of leadership development. We are also growing the evidence-based on school leadership in the country, through our school leadership research grants.
4: The middle tier is critical to sustainable school improvement
Conference discussions also highlighted the importance of actors who sit between schools and national-level policymakers. District, regional and other middle-tier education leaders can provide coaching, supervision, professional support and accountability while helping schools interpret and implement national reforms.
This reinforces ACSL’s systems approach to school leadership. Strengthening school heads alone is unlikely to sustain change unless the education officials who support them also have the competencies and structures required to promote continuous improvement. LIT-LEAD Tanzania reflects this approach by extending leadership development beyond school heads and deputies to include Ward Education Officers and district and regional education actors.
5: Inclusion must become part of everyday leadership
Gender responsiveness and inclusion featured prominently in conversations on leadership and accountability. Rather than treating inclusion as a separate programme area, discussions pointed towards integrating equity into everyday decisions about teacher support, learner participation, resource allocation, school climate and accountability. For ACSL, this reinforces the importance of developing leaders who can identify and respond to barriers affecting girls, learners with disabilities and other groups at risk of exclusion. It also connects directly with efforts within LIT-LEAD Tanzania to strengthen equitable school leadership and increase attention to women’s participation and leadership within education systems.
6: Digital solutions can support scale—but need strong systems
Blended and digital learning were repeatedly presented as opportunities to expand access to professional development. However, the conference also cautioned that technology alone does not guarantee effective learning. Successful digital and blended approaches require accessible platforms, contextualised content, adequate digital skills and strong follow-up support. For ACSL, this means maintaining a balance between the efficiencies offered by technology and the human relationships that make professional learning effective. Tanzania’s blended school leadership development model provides an important opportunity to generate evidence on how face-to-face learning, digital learning, coaching and peer support can work together at scale.
Nairobi to action
Perhaps the most important lesson from Nairobi was that Africa does not lack promising education initiatives. The greater challenge is building the systems, partnerships and evidence needed to move successful approaches beyond pilots and into sustained implementation.
This is where ACSL has an important continental role. By bringing together professional development expertise, policy engagement, research and evidence, the Centre can help connect innovations across countries, facilitate learning between education systems and strengthen the evidence base for effective school leadership in Africa.
For LIT-LEAD Tanzania, the conference provided an opportunity to elaborate on its coaching and mentorship efforts, deepen advocacy on data-use competencies, reinforce the value of middle-tier leadership, promote gender and inclusion, and continuously benchmark its approach against emerging regional evidence.
The message from Nairobi is therefore not simply to provide more leadership training. It is to build leadership development systems that enable African school leaders to continuously learn, collaborate, use evidence and lead meaningful improvements in teaching and learning. That ambition sits at the heart of ACSL: strengthening African education systems by investing in the people who lead them.
The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) is supporting the implementation of the LEAD pillar of the Leaders in Teaching (LiT) initiative in Tanzania, under the coordination of VVOB. The LiT-LEAD initiative is expected to strengthen the capacity of school leaders across Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. The initiative is being delivered by the Agency for the Development of Educational Management in Tanzania (ADEM) under Tanzania’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), coordinated with PO-RALG on the Mainland and MoEVT in Zanzibar, with the ACSL partner consortium, comprising ADEA, VVOB, ESSA and FAWE, providing technical support in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
Rationale for the Explainer Series
The Explainer Series is conceived as a set of short form video materials that will help improve awareness, understanding and insights on the ACSL LiT-LEAD initiative. They will define the expected beneficiaries, the intended outcome and how the collaboration is expected to drive change and improve learning outcomes in the secondary education context in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
The video materials will build a visual record of the programme as it moves from design into active delivery. The series serves four purposes: drive public awareness; establish accountability; and build a continental case for further investment in school leadership, as a tool to enhance secondary education outcomes. Through this effort, ACSL will also build a visual evidence of the programme’s early engagement and efforts.
This Terms of Reference scopes eight core videos plus a flexible ‘Voices from the Field’ series of additional videos as a shoot list for a production agency. It states each video and the target audience. It also sequences production for ease of planning and delivery, and surfaces the compliance, safeguarding and government-clearance requirements necessary for seamless delivery.
Objectives of the assignment
Each video is tied to one of four objectives, collectively contributing to a defined purpose rather than a topic alone:
Public awareness and legitimacy — leverage the feedback and narration of school leaders and communities in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar to demonstrate how the initiative enhances schools, communities and learning outcomes.
Audience: The public, school leadership stakeholders, ACSL’s continental network.
Continental case-building — capture evidence and gender narratives ACSL can use in its school leadership advocacy beyond Tanzania.
Audience: ACSL leadership, continental partners.
External funder accountability — demonstrate to the Mastercard Foundation that the initiative is being delivered as designed and reaching its target schools and leaders, with credible evidence of results.
Audience: Mastercard Foundation, ACSL leadership.
Government advocacy — position ACSL’s technical support as reinforcing, not replacing, government ownership of the initiative, to support institutionalization in government education ministries.
Audience: MoEST, PO-RALG, MoEVT, other African Ministries of Education.
Language. The assignment covers English and Kiswahili. Most interview subjects — school leaders including head teachers and their deputies, teacher-leaders, parents, community members — will likely speak Kiswahili; any content captured in Kiswahili must have English subtitles inserted during post-production. English-language content should stand as delivered.
Distribution channels: ACSL website and program pages, YouTube and social platforms, Mastercard Foundation reports, screenings at national and regional and continental conference on school leadership.
Scope of work and deliverables
This engagement covers eight core explainer videos plus Video 9, ‘Voices from the Field’ — up to five additional videos tied to Cohort 2 of the LiT-LEAD school leadership professional development providers training in Tanzania. Each video’s working title, target duration, core objective, primary audience and production notes are set out in the table below:
Video
Duration
Core objective
Primary audience
Notes
1. Introducing ACSL-LiT-LEAD in Tanzania
2:30–3:00
Donor accountability + Government advocacy
MCF, government, general public
Framing sign-off required first
2. Strengthening School Leadership in Tanzania
2:45–3:00
Donor accountability (evidence case)
MCF, policy audiences
—
3. Leading a Tanzanian Secondary School
~90 sec
Public awareness
General public, sector stakeholders
From the voices of school leaders in their environment
Cohort 2 beneficiary feedback; schedule and regions to be confirmed.
Shot-level content, speakers and footage for each video are outlined in the original creative brief, which the intending applicants will receive alongside the Terms of Reference.
Duration and timeline
The engagement covers scripting, production and post-production of the videos above. Target completion date is 31 January 2027. Successful agencies should propose a detailed schedule from contract signature to final delivery, building in review checkpoints and branding sign-off as agreed with ACSL at contract signature. Videos are expected to be delivered as they become ready, and not wait until the deadline.
Qualifications and selection criteria
Eligibility (mandatory). ACSL is looking for qualified creative agencies to deliver this assignment, not just a videographer. The agency must be legally registered and operating in Tanzania (Mainland or Zanzibar). A Tanzania-registered branch or local partner of an international firm qualifies. Companies who do not meet this requirement will not be shortlisted.
Agencies responding to this ToR should demonstrate:
Experience producing documentary-style or explainer video content for education, development, or external-funded programs in Africa.
Experience filming in school environments, including documented child safeguarding protocols and consent procedures.
Capacity to manage simultaneous multi-region production logistics within Tanzania, including Zanzibar/Unguja, within the proposed timeline.
Production and post-production capability in both Kiswahili and English, including subtitling.
A portfolio of at least five comparable productions, with samples, including at least one produced for a government agency (mandatory). Portfolio work in the education sector is preferred, and work produced specifically for a government education agency is preferred most.
In addition, they should provide information about their production team (director, camera, editor, local producer/fixer), with CVs, and at least one reference from a prior institutional or funding client.
Compliance and safeguarding requirements
Beneficiary consent. The selected agency is responsible for securing documented consent (signed consent/media release forms) from every individual who appears on camera or is recorded — including parents/guardians and school administration for any student in identifiable footage, and each other featured speaker or participant (head teachers, teachers, community members, research grantees, government officials). Consent must be obtained before filming and must cover the intended use and distribution channels of the footage. Signed consent forms are a deliverable: they must be submitted to ACSL alongside the raw and edited footage, and their absence is grounds to withhold payment for that footage. The successful agency is expected to submit a sample consent form alongside the workplan for review and sign off.
Child safeguarding. Videos 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 could feature students, classrooms or school assemblies on camera. Minors – persons under 18 years – may appear identifiably on camera, provided authorization is secured from a parent or guardian, another responsible adult, or the relevant institution (the school) — in addition to the signed consent required from every person appearing.
Government filming clearance. Videos 1, 5 and 8 may require filming permission from MoEST, PO-RALG and, separately, MoEVT for Zanzibar (a distinct jurisdiction with its own clearance process). The selected agency is expected to work with the ACSL Tanzania team to process these permits before filming starts. It needs to be built into the lead time for work planning.
Government framing. Videos should be framed as government-facing explainers, with the delivering Ministry positioned as the visible lead and funder/coalition support framed underneath — not the reverse.
Intellectual property. All final video products, raw footage, project files, graphics, animations and other commissioned production assets shall be delivered to ACSL and licensed/transferred for unrestricted institutional, advocacy, communications, digital, broadcast, reporting and archival use. They are considered the intellectual propert of the African Centre for School Leadership. Nothing in this Terms of Reference should be construed to imply liability to ACSL or its partnership with ADEM, MoEST, MoEVT or the Mastercard Foundation.
Reporting arrangements
The selected agency reports to Chinedu Anarado, ACSL Communications and Advocacy Lead, with supervision from Tausi Kiggula, ACSL Communications and Advocacy Officer. Oversight responsibility is envisaged from the LiT-LEAD National Programme Manager who will review and approve scripts, approve final cuts, logo placements and attributions.
Budget and payment terms
Interested agencies should propose a budget for the delivery of the assignment. This should include relevant fees to cover all aspects of the assignment such as transportation, equipment rental where necessary, professional fees etc. Please note that budget/pricing carries some weighting in the selection process. Agencies are encouraged to be as competitive as possible in their pricing, without compromising technical capacity. Proposals must also include a detailed cost breakdown.
Submission requirements
Interested agencies should submit in one folder:
A technical proposal setting out the creative approach for the full video slate, including a proposed visual identity linking the series.
A production timeline from contract signature to final delivery, phased as set out above.
A portfolio of at least five comparable productions, with samples, including at least one produced for a government agency.
A named production team and CVs.
A financial proposal with a cost breakdown by phase and video, and a proposed payment schedule.
At least one institutional or external funder-client reference.
Proposals should be submitted by midnight GMT, 10th October 2026 to adea-applications@afdb.org with the subject: ACSL LiT-LEAD Explainer Video Proposal. Any submission beyond this deadline will be screened out.
The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) will launch its Research Community of Learning (CoL) through an inaugural webinar bringing together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and education partners from across Africa.
Under the theme “Advancing School Leadership Research in Africa: Strengthening African-Led Evidence through Research Collaboration and the Community of Learning”, the webinar will provide participants with a space to examine emerging evidence, share perspectives, and explore how research can better inform school leadership policy and practice across the continent.
The launch comes at a time of growing recognition of the importance of effective school leadership in strengthening education systems and improving learning outcomes. Questions have emerged about how leadership approaches can respond to the diverse contexts, priorities, and realities of African education systems.
The inaugural CoL webinar will contribute to this conversation by presenting emerging evidence and perspectives on school leadership in Africa. This will include findings from the School Leadership in Africa: A Continental Mapping Report, which synthesises evidence on the school leadership research landscape for school leadership across the continent.
The webinar will also explore African philosophies and perspectives on educational leadership, offering an opportunity to consider how African knowledge, contexts and experiences can inform approaches to school leadership.
Beyond sharing evidence, the webinar will formally launch the Research Community of Learning as a platform for ongoing engagement. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss priorities for the Community, identify opportunities for collaboration, share learning and explore ways to strengthen connections between research, policy and practice.
The CoL will provide an ongoing forum for researchers, policymakers, practitioners and partners to learn from one another, exchange evidence and perspectives, and contribute to a stronger body of Africa-led knowledge on school leadership.
Through the Community of Learning, ACSL seeks to support meaningful dialogue and collaboration to help ensure that research on school leadership is grounded in African contexts and contributes to education systems that better serve learners, teachers and communities.
Join the conversation
Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, education leaders and partners interested in African school leadership are invited to join the inaugural webinar and become part of the Research Community of Learning.
Webinar:Advancing School Leadership Research in Africa: Strengthening African-Led Evidence through Research Collaboration and the Community of Learning
Event: Launch of the ACSL Research Community of Learning
Nairobi, Kenya, 28 August 2026 – EAC Member States are placing transformational school leadership more explicit on the regional education agenda, with education leaders emphasising the importance of more relevant school leadership policies, professional development, evidence-informed decision-making and accountability to improve both teaching practices and learning outcomes.
The message emerged at the 2nd East African Community (EAC) Regional Education Conference, held in Nairobi from 25 to 28 August 2026 under the theme “From Commitments to Impact: Fostering Resilient and Future-Ready Systems for Sustainable Development.” The conference brought together more than 600 education leaders, policymakers and stakeholders from the eight EAC Partner States – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – to share evidence and practical approaches for strengthening education systems across the region.
School leadership featured prominently in the discussions, including through research examining how leadership, evidence and accountability can contribute to school and system improvements. This reflected a growing focus on what is required to translate regional education commitments into effective action at school level. The Nairobi conference built on the commitments and priorities emerging from the inaugural EAC Regional Education Conference held in Arusha in August 2024, while placing greater emphasis on implementation, accountability and measurable results.
The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) contributed to this dialogue through research on the role of school leadership in using evidence to strengthen teaching and learning. The paper, titled “Reclaiming Data for Learning through School Leadership in Tanzania and Uganda,” was presented under the conference’s data-driven decision-making sub-theme and examined how school leaders generate, interpret and use data to support school improvement.
The research highlights the importance of strengthening school leaders’ capacity to move beyond collecting and reporting data towards using evidence to identify challenges, inform decisions and improve teaching and learning. It also points to the organisational and system-level conditions that can either enable or constrain evidence-informed leadership.
The discussion was complemented by “Strengthening Standards-Based Accountability in School Leadership: Comparative Evidence from East African Community Member States.” Presented in the session on school leadership, accountability and system improvement, the paper examined standards-based accountability as part of efforts to strengthen school leadership and improve education systems across EAC Member States.
Together, the research contributions reinforced the importance of connecting school leadership, evidence and accountability. In fact, effective school leadership requires not only access to information, but also the capacity, professional support and enabling systems needed to turn that information into meaningful actions.
The discussion also drew on emerging country-level evidence from Tanzania and Uganda. In Tanzania, the National School Leadership Mapping Report, disseminated in July 2026 by the Agency for the Development of Educational Management (ADEM) in collaboration with ACSL, highlighted the need to strengthen instructional leadership and professional development while improving coordination across the school leadership ecosystem. Evidence from Uganda similarly points to the need to use school-level data for school improvement rather than only for reporting.
These priorities align with the conference’s preliminary communiqué, in which Member States committed to enhancing transformational school leadership alongside stronger teacher recruitment, retention and continuous professional development. The communiqué also calls for professional development to focus increasingly on sustained, school-based coaching, mentorship and reflective practice, with technology supporting coaching and peer learning for in-service teachers.
The importance of investing in teachers and school leaders together was underscored by Hon. Khamis Abdulla Said, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), Zanzibar:
“We need to invest in teachers before they engage with students. The regional bloc should focus more on promoting the learning of our teachers and school leaders. By 2028, we expect teachers and school leaders to be able to point to the practical benefits of learning and collaboration.”
The emphasis on professional learning reflects the close relationship between teaching and school leadership. School leaders help create the conditions in which teachers can collaborate, reflect on practice, use evidence and continuously strengthen their work.
The conference also placed these priorities within a broader focus on implementation and accountability. Discussions included strengthening evidence ecosystems, improving data use and translating evidence into action. The preliminary communiqué calls for stronger use of data and evidence in decision-making, and for commitments to be carried from national to subnational and community levels.
Progress towards 2028 will be tracked through an accountability framework setting out regional and country-owned priorities, targets and milestones.
The Nairobi conference provided an opportunity to bring research and country-level evidence into a regional policy dialogue on strengthening school leadership, professional learning, evidence use and accountability.
As East Africa moves from commitments to actions and impact, ensuring that school leaders are equipped, supported and made accountable for leading learning and using evidence effectively will be critical to turning regional ambition into meaningful improvement for schools and learners.
On 24 August 2026, the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) convened a meeting with key partners to review its Continental Framework for School Leadership Policy Development, designed to guide policymakers in strengthening school leadership in their respective countries. The discussions focused on the framework’s relevance to African education systems, its alignment with existing continental frameworks, and how it can be translated into effective policy implementation at country level.
Developed in 2024, the framework provides an inspirational reference tool for policymakers and other education stakeholders across Africa seeking to strengthen effective school leadership through policy development and implementation. It addresses the conceptualization of school leadership in the African context, leadership roles and competencies, career pathways, recruitment, preparation, licensing and professional development.
Senior officials who participated in this initial session, alongside ACSL representatives, included: Dr. Maurice Odondo, Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI), Prof. George K.T. Oduro, Advisor to the Minister of Education in Ghana, Dr. Mugenyi Cleophus, Commissioner for Basic Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports; Dr. Maulid J. Maulid, Chief Executive of the Agency for the Development of Educational Management (ADEM), Prof. Steve Chidi Nwokeocha, Executive Director of the Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), Abuja, and Prof. Michael Boakye-Yiadom from the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
An African perspective on school leadership
The main objective of the review was to ensure that the framework reflects the realities, values and diversity of African education systems. This means moving beyond generic descriptions of effective leadership to considering what school leadership means in practice in the African context: the behaviours, values and principles as well as the practices that enable school leaders to work with teachers, learners, communities and education authorities.
Participants considered how concepts such as “Ubuntu” can inform the understanding of effective school leadership, while avoiding the assumption that there is a single model of “African leadership”. The aim being to have a framework that offers a meaningful continental reference while allowing countries to adapt it to their own contexts.
Building on what already exists
Policy coherence emerged as a key message. Participants emphasized that improving school leadership policy should not mean creating new frameworks in isolation but connecting and making better use of the continental instruments and evidence already available. These include existing African Union instruments addressing standards and competencies, school leadership development initiatives, and continental guidance for education systems.
Prof. Steve Chidi Nwokeocha, noted that only around 10% of frameworks developed on teachers and school-level education have been communicated, underlining the need to make greater use of what already exists.
“The African Union guidelines have been in place since 2019, yet they have not been communicated to the people expected to use them. We should build on the existing African Union guidance at school level, strengthen alignment and make better use of the evidence that is already available.”
— Prof. Steve Chidi Nwokeocha
Closer alignment can reduce duplication and give countries clearer guidance, positioning the revised framework as a bridge between continental guidance and national implementation rather than a parallel policy architecture.
From competencies to professional pathways
The review examined how school leadership can be positioned as a distinct professional pathway rather than an extension of the teaching profession. This calls for greater clarity on the minimum requirements, recruitment, preparation, competency assessment, certification, licensing and career progression.
Participants highlighted the need for pathways through which teachers can prepare for leadership responsibilities before taking up school leadership positions, with continuous professional development once they are in post. Effective school leadership requires more than teaching experience alone: school leaders need specific knowledge, competencies and professional support to lead teaching and learning, manage people and resources, engage communities, navigate change and respond to challenges within their schools.
Removing gender barriers in school leadership
Removing the barriers that limit women’s progression into school leadership was identified as an area requiring stronger and more actionable attention within the framework. Women make significant contributions to education systems across Africa, yet their representation in school leadership remains uneven.
The review considered how policy can move beyond recognising disparities to removing the barriers that produce them, through practical measures in recruitment, preparation, career progression and the institutional conditions that enable women to enter and remain in school leadership. Discussions also pointed to the historical and structural factors that continue to shape education leadership in different African contexts, including the legacy of colonial education systems.
From framework to implementation
Participants stressed that a continental framework should offer practical value to countries rather than remain a high-level policy reference. The revised framework will therefore give greater attention to how policy commitments are translated into implementation through governance arrangements, partnerships, communication, resource mobilisation and monitoring.
This includes identifying the actors required to support school leadership, from ministries and education authorities to teacher training institutions, professional bodies, school leaders, teachers and communities, while remaining flexible enough to accommodate different education systems and levels of institutional capacity.
Next steps
ACSL will consolidate the feedback from the Nairobi discussions and finalize the draft framework. The next stage will involve engagement with selected continental and international partners through the “Strategic Thinking Team”, which includes African Union institutions and partners working on teacher development, school leadership and education policy, the organization of another physical workshop to further elaborate on the editorial aspects of the document and to provide additional technical perspectives before a continental level validation event.
The review forms part of ACSL’s wider effort to establish school leadership as a critical component of education system transformation. The ambition is not only to define what effective school leadership looks like, but to help African education systems build the policies, professional pathways and enabling conditions that allow school leaders to lead effectively and improve teaching, learning and learner outcomes.
This document presents the ACSL Practice Framework for Afrocentric School Leadership, a practical guide developed to strengthen school leadership and professional development across Africa by grounding leadership practice in African values, knowledge systems, and cultural traditions. Developed by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), the framework responds to the need for leadership approaches that reflect the continent’s diverse educational realities while complementing internationally recognised leadership models. It provides policymakers, school leaders, and professional development providers with a coherent framework for building more effective, inclusive, and culturally relevant education systems.
The document defines Afrocentric school leadership as a values-driven approach rooted in philosophies such as Ubuntu, Sankofa, Ujamaa, and Seriti, emphasising ethical leadership, collective responsibility, community participation, and indigenous knowledge. It translates these principles into five leadership pathways: developing organisational vision and culture, improving teaching and learning, supporting teacher professional development and wellbeing, strengthening family–school partnerships, and advancing gender equality and social inclusion. The framework also outlines principles for effective professional development, including mentoring, collaborative learning, applied practice, value-based leadership, and culturally responsive facilitation.
By integrating African philosophies with evidence-based leadership practices, the document offers a practical roadmap for developing school leaders who can improve educational quality, equity, learner wellbeing, and sustainable school improvement across the African continent.
This fact sheet presents the key findings from Uganda’s School Leadership Country Mapping, undertaken by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) and the Ministry of Education and Sports. It provides a concise overview of the country’s school leadership landscape, examining four strategic areas: policy frameworks, professional development, research and evidence, and sector coordination. Drawing on policy analysis, a review of 53 research publications, stakeholder consultations, and a national validation workshop, the fact sheet identifies the most significant achievements, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening school leadership in support of improved teaching and learning.
The fact sheet highlights that Uganda has a strong legislative foundation for school leadership, but the absence of a dedicated national school leadership policy has resulted in fragmented implementation, inconsistent leadership preparation, and limited coordination across institutions. While professional development opportunities are expanding, access remains uneven, formal induction and mentoring are insufficient, and many programmes continue to rely on project-based funding. It also identifies important evidence gaps, particularly in gender equality, disability inclusion, digital leadership, and system-wide governance, while noting that stakeholder coordination requires stronger institutional alignment.
To address these challenges, the fact sheet recommends establishing a standalone school leadership policy, institutionalising professional development, investing in applied research, strengthening national coordination mechanisms, promoting gender-responsive and inclusive leadership, and leveraging digital technologies to improve leadership effectiveness and education outcomes nationwide.
This report presents a comprehensive mapping of the school leadership landscape in Uganda, developed by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports. Using a mixed-methods approach—including a policy review, analysis of 53 research publications (2010–2025), stakeholder interviews, and a national validation workshop—the study examines the country’s policy environment, professional development systems, research ecosystem, and stakeholder coordination mechanisms.
The findings reveal that Uganda has a solid policy and governance framework for school leadership, supported by national legislation and professional standards. However, implementation remains uneven due to fragmented policies, inconsistent supervision, limited induction and mentoring for newly appointed school leaders, and insufficient coordination across institutions. Professional development opportunities exist through government, universities, NGOs, and development partners, but many remain donor-driven rather than fully institutionalised. The report also identifies significant research gaps, particularly in leadership development, equity, inclusion, and evidence-informed policymaking. Gender disparities in leadership representation and limited attention to inclusive education further constrain progress.
The report concludes that strengthening school leadership in Uganda requires coordinated policy implementation, institutionalised leadership preparation and mentoring, stronger research uptake, improved stakeholder collaboration, and greater emphasis on equity and instructional leadership to enhance teaching quality and learning outcomes.
Up to $15,000 for descriptive action research and up to $ 35,000 for comparative action research on school leadership
Are you passionate about generating evidence to strengthen school leadership and improve learning outcomes across Africa? The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is offering grants for Descriptive and Comparative Action Research in Africa. The grants will support 23 researchers across the continent.
The grants aim to support rigorous, action-oriented research that addresses Africa’s school leadership challenges and contributes to national and continental education priorities. Researchers will work closely with policymakers, practitioners, school leaders, and implementing institutions to ensure that evidence informs policy, strengthens practice, and improves education systems.
Grants Overview
Application deadline: Wednesday, 30th September 2026, 11:59 pm GMT
Grant Type and Award:
Sixteen (16) Descriptive Action Research Grants worth up to USD 15,000 each for research conducted within a single educational context over 12 months.
Seven (7) Comparative Action Research Grants worth up to USD 35,000 each for research conducted across two or more educational contexts over 24 months.
Eligible countries: All African countries
Information Webinar
An information webinar for prospective applicants will be held on 20th August 2026 (12:00–1:30 pm GMT | 3:00–4:30 pm EAT) to provide guidance on the application process, eligibility criteria, and grant expectations.
Be a citizen of an African country, based in Africa, and research must focus on school leadership practice in one or multiple African countries.
The Principal Investigator must hold a Doctorate in Education, Educational Leadership, Educational Management, or a closely related field, earned within the past five (5) years.
Proposals must include multidisciplinary research teams of three to five members.
Research teams are strongly encouraged to promote team diversity by including female researchers, young researchers (under 35 years) and researchers with different education levels (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees/candidates).
Proposals must adopt an action-research approach and demonstrate meaningful collaboration with practitioners and policymakers.
Cross-country collaborations and proposals addressing gender equality, disability inclusion, rural and underserved communities, and other marginalised groups are strongly encouraged.
Beyond receiving funding, successful researchers will join the School Leadership Communityof Learning and participate in the Blended Exchange and Learning Trajectory (BELT).
Join a growing community of African researchers generating evidence that strengthens school leadership policy and practice across the continent.
This document is an evidence brief that translates research findings into practical recommendations for policymakers, education leaders, and practitioners seeking to strengthen school leadership and improve learning outcomes in Tanzania. Building on the first national mapping of school leadership research, the brief highlights how evidence-informed leadership can support ongoing education reforms, including the Competency-Based Curriculum and fee-free education, while addressing persistent gaps in leadership preparation and professional development.
Drawing on a mixed-methods study that analysed 161 publications, surveyed 66 researchers, engaged 58 policymakers and practitioners, and validated findings with more than 50 national stakeholders, the brief identifies key challenges within the research–policy–practice ecosystem. It reveals that research remains fragmented, dominated by academic publications, and insufficiently translated into policy and school-level practice. Important topics such as leadership models, school culture, and community engagement also remain underexplored.
The brief proposes five strategic priorities: institutionalising evidence use, investing in local research capacity, strengthening dissemination and data literacy, fostering national and regional collaboration, and monitoring the impact of evidence on policy and practice. It concludes that a nationally co-created research agenda provides a strong foundation for building an inclusive, evidence-driven school leadership system capable of improving teaching quality, educational equity, and student learning across Tanzania.
