Author: RAZAFIMAHATRATRA MAMY RIJASON

The Africa Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) joins the global community in commemorating World Teachers’ Day 2025, celebrated annually on October 5th to honor teachers worldwide. Established in 1994, this day also marks the anniversary of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, a landmark framework that set standards for the rights, responsibilities, and working conditions of teachers.

This year’s theme, “Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession,” speaks directly to ACSL’s mission and vision. Teachers are the lifeblood of education systems, driving learning, equity, and innovation. Yet too often, they are left to carry this mission in isolation, without the supportive structures, networks, and leadership that enable them to thrive.

At ACSL, we believe that teaching and leadership are inseparable. Our vision is to transform education by strengthening school leadership across Africa, ensuring that teachers are guided, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. Through partnerships, research, and policy development, ACSL is advancing contextualized leadership models, fostering professional development, and building sustainable systems that make collaboration the norm, not the exception.

Effective school leadership means more than administration. It is about guiding teaching and learning with clear goals, supporting teachers through feedback and coaching, and creating inclusive environments where every learner, especially the most marginalized, can succeed. By shifting the role of school leaders from primarily administrative to instructional and collaborative, we can unlock a cycle of improvement: empowered leaders supporting teachers, empowered teachers improving classrooms, and empowered students achieving better outcomes.

This commitment is already shaping practice across the continent:

• In Tanzania, the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative, supported by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with ADEM and the government, is training 6,000 school leaders to strengthen teaching and learning for more than 2.8 million students.
• In Malawi, leadership mapping is turning strong education policies into classroom realities by improving coordination, teacher motivation, and quality assurance.
• In Sierra Leone, partnerships are tackling gaps in professional development, gender equity, and monitoring to build stronger, fairer leadership systems.

Across Africa, one truth stands out: when teachers are supported by strong, collaborative leadership, education is transformed.

Later this month, from October 29th to 31st, ACSL will join educators, partners, and leaders at the ADEA Triennale in Accra, Ghana, to reimagine the power of school and shared leadership. This gathering will be a platform to confront challenges, share solutions, and commit to practical actions that can reshape education across the continent.

On this World Teachers’ Day, ACSL celebrates the resilience, creativity, and dedication of teachers across Africa. Working hand in hand with visionary school leaders, they are laying the groundwork for a brighter, more inclusive future, where collaboration drives progress and takes education further.

The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) has concluded a rapid school leadership mapping for Sierra Leone. This followed a one-day workshop on Thursday 26th June, 2025, at Brookfield Hotels Freetown, with key school leadership stakeholders in Sierra Leone. Outcome from this activity will support the co-creation workshop for the Leaders in Teaching initiative in Sierra Leone from July 1 – 4, 2025. The effort forms part of a broader continental effort by ACSL to strengthen school leadership systems across Africa.

The workshop, which was a focused group discussion, unpacked the various school leadership context in Sierra Leone, with focus on the LEAD pillar of the LIT effort. It was an opportunityt o engage with representatives from the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), development partners, such as EducAid, Cambridge Education, Teach for Sierra Leone, and academic institutions, including the Fourah Bay College. Participants reflected on the country’s school leadership policies—including the 2017 Professional Standards for School Leaders and the 2023 Basic and Senior Secondary Education Act—while discussing challenges in implementation.

The discussions revealed interesting gaps such as the limited access to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), low female participation in leadership roles, weak CPD monitoring systems, and unclear role definitions among key institutions. Stakeholders called for a more structured, inclusive, and coordinated approach to developing effective school leadership nationwide.

The workshop’s outcomes will inform the finalization of the Sierra Leone school leadership mapping report and feed directly into a three-day co-creation workshop aimed at developing actionable strategies to design the LIT-LEAD programme in Sierra Leone. The LIT-LEAD initiative is also being implemented in Ghana and Tanzania.

The African Center for School Leadership (ACSL) joins the African Union (AU) and the global community in commemorating the 2025 Day of the African Child (DAC). Instituted by the AU in 1991, this day honors the memory of the 176 individuals who lost their lives during the Soweto Uprising of 1976, where students protested against an unjust education system. It is a day of profound historical significance and a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for every African child’s right to quality education and training.

This year’s theme, “Tracking Impact, Inspiring Action,” resonates deeply with ACSL’s mission. It aligns with our strategic commitment to securing a brighter future for the African child by supporting policies that bridge learning gaps, enhance the relevance and mobility of skills, promote equity and inclusion, and strengthen data-driven decision-making across African education systems.

Today, the ACSL honors the resilience, courage, and potential of the African child. Yet, across the continent, millions still face barriers to learning – ranging from poor infrastructure and a shortage of qualified teachers to persistent social inequalities, poverty, climate change, and conflict. These challenges continue to hinder children’s ability to acquire life-saving knowledge, thrive academically, and realize their full potential. Without the right skills, the future will remain uncertain for many of Africa’s children.

Africa is home to over 40% of the world’s youth, with more than 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population under the age of 30. The urgency to invest in quality, relevant education is both a moral responsibility and an economic necessity. Youth unemployment remains alarmingly high, with four out of every ten unemployed persons being young. ACSL is committed to helping countries close this gap.

Through our various initiatives, and leveraging the capacities of our coalition members to aggressively counter these trends. The foundational phase of the ACSL initiative amplified the value of school leadership by showcasing best practices in Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda. Our work on the LEAD pillar of the Leaders in Teaching initiative is building the capacity of teachers across Africa – especially at the primary and post-primary levels – empowering them to shape the leaders of tomorrow. Through policy and practice briefs, webinars and technical learning sessions, we are mobilizing knowledge and expanding the pipeline of innovative policy options to support school leadership development across Africa.

On this Day of the African Child, ACSL enjoins governments, educators, parents, development partners, and youth themselves to recommit to the promise of education. Let this day serve as a solemn reminder of our shared responsibility – to ensure every African child is equipped not only to learn, but to thrive, lead, and shape the continent’s future. We salute the African child – brave, brilliant, and bold. Together, we pledge to keep working toward a continent where no child is left behind, and every child is empowered to learn.

By Chinedu Ejike Anarado, Shem Okore Bodo, Chantal Kabanda Dusabe and Kouamé Kouman Aimé

“How do you manage under-performing students?”

Responding to this question from the group that visited the Dar es Salam School in Tanzania on 12th May 2025, the Head Teacher said;

“First, we have student-led meetings. The students write anonymous views, which I analyze, and I identify challenge areas. I then meet with the teachers and agree on the course of action. I then give feedback to the subject teachers, and we also meet with the parents. We have created WhatsApp groups for teachers as part of using technology for peer learning and exchange of ideas. We have therefore adopted the learner-school-parent triangle.”

This interaction is a good example of instructional leadership within a distributed structure, the sort we intend to promote on the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative. The reason for this isn’t far-fetched. Research confirms the link between strong school leadership and student learning outcomes. A landmark study by Leithwood et al. (2004) found that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching among in-school factors that affect student achievement. More recently, the World Bank (2022) drew insights from Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria to show that school leadership quality correlates directly with learning outcomes. Leaders who lack instructional focus often preside over weak teaching practices and poor student performance. Other studies by UNESCO, VVOB, RTI, and the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) further underscore this point: School leaders shape instructional quality, influence teacher motivation, and create conditions for student success.

But often, teachers and school leaders do not receive the sort of training they need to excel at school leadership. This was equally evident from the responses of some of the school heads we spoke to in Tanzania.

For instance, the second visiting group inquired about any formal leadership or school management trainings from the Head Teacher of Karibuni Secondary School, in Temeke Municipal Council, Dar es Salam.

“Have you had any formal training in management, administration, or leadership before becoming Head of this school?”

“No”, she replied. “I rely on observations from my predecessors and insights from fellow teachers and parents.” 

Across Africa, teacher training curricula – both pre-service and in-service – have not sufficiently addressed the leadership competencies a teacher needs to deliver quality learning or run a school that nurtures the next generation of leaders. The school leadership gap could be one of the hidden drivers of poor learning outcomes across the continent and needs to be corrected if we are to improve learning outcomes sustainably.

Lessons from Tanzania Karibuni and Dar-es-Salam Secondary Schools

Between 12th – 16th May, we joined colleagues in Tanzania for the kick-off meeting for the Leaders in Teaching Tanzania (LIT-TZ) project. A key part of the schedule included school visits. We visited two schools (Karibuni Secondary School and Dar es Salam Secondary School) to observe firsthand how leadership can make or break learning outcomes.  

Founded in 2019 with 1,045 Form One students and just 24 teachers, Karibuni now educates 1,334 students (617 boys and 717 girls) with a teaching staff of 44. The school offers 11 subjects across 21 classes averaging 63 students per class – a challenging context by any standard. Despite these constraints, the school achieved a 78% success rate in national exams in 2022, rising to 92% in 2023, and maintaining 87% in 2024. How? Through strategic leadership actions such as: 

• Remedial programs on evenings and Saturdays to help struggling learners
• Monthly assessments to track progress and close learning gaps
• Recognition and rewards to motivate students and teachers
• Weekly academic review meetings for instructional planning
• Parental engagement to boost learner support at home
• Psychological support for students facing stress, poverty, or trauma 

Meanwhile, Dar es Salam Secondary School has 912 students with 42 teachers (11 male and 31 female). Some of the subjects taught include Cookery, Business Studies, French, Textile, and Sowing Technology. One of the challenges is the teaching of Mathematics where the school accepts volunteers. The teaching load is 28 subjects per week, but most of the teachers are below this number, giving enough time to prepare, develop assignments, and link with the learners. The school achieved a 100% performance in the last Form 4 examinations, with 100 out of the 171 students scoring Division 1. The calm and peaceful environment helps to retain teachers. The school has also a teacher motivating initiative: it gives Tz Shs 10,000 to the subject teacher for each student who scores an “A” in a subject, and Tz Shs 5,000 for a “B” score. The school is currently discussing the possibility of including for those who get a “C” score in the STEM subject, depending on the budget, because a score from “A” to “C” is considered a good performance.

The school gives a high priority to discipline, where teachers conduct a student character analysis on a random day when the students are gathered, and each teacher analyses the student. This helps the teachers to have a conducive environment with the learners. During graduation, students with good or improved character are awarded certificates. There is also a referral structure where parents are also involved, for undisciplined students. The school also participates in continuing professional development seminars for teachers at the ward and district levels. There are also communities of practice sessions at the municipal level, as well as departmental meetings chaired by the Deputy Principal.

These approaches reveal a crucial truth: Leadership is not just about administration and bureaucracy, it’s about shaping school culture, driving accountability, and supporting both learners and teachers.

These two schools are part of the 5,857 secondary schools in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, and part of the 350 schools in Dar es Salaam. The challenge is to define what effective school leadership looks like – and scale it nationally. This is the central goal of the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) over the next six years in Tanzania and across Africa, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, Educate! Teach United and TEN/MET who will push for improvements in school leadership across the four pillars (Train, Recruit, Motivate and Lead). VVOB and ACSL will be focused on the LEAD pillar.

The LIT initiative will work the Tanzanian government to sustainably tackle weak policy frameworks on school leadership, poor working conditions and heavy workloads for teachers, gender gaps in school leadership, limited training and support for new headteachers and address evidence and data gaps on school leadership. The LIT initiative will highlight, support and scale promising practices that are yielding results and creating impact. The overall aim is to support government in Tanzania and across Africa to invest in strong, visionary school leaders who can improve learning and lead with purpose, resilience, and instructional focus.

School leadership remains a critical component in enhancing the quality of education in Africa. To improve educational outcomes in Africa, we must take school leadership seriously. This means recruiting, training, supporting, and holding teachers and school leaders accountable – not just to manage, but to inspire, transform and groom the next generation of pupils. The insights from Dar es Salam and Karibuni Secondary School’s journey are a small but powerful example of what is possible. With the right vision, support, and strategy, school leadership can be the engine that powers Africa’s education renaissance.

From May 12^th – 16^th, members of the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) coalition participated in the official kick-off workshop for the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) project in Tanzania. Held in Dar es Salaam, the workshop brought together the representatives of the government of Tanzania, the Mastercard Foundation, Educate!, Teachers Education Network (TENMET), Teach United, and other key stakeholders to co-create the implementation model for the LIT Tanzania initiative.

It was also an opportunity to align with the Mastercard Foundation’s vision and expectations for the LIT Tanzania project, engage government counterparts, resolve key planning issues, and build a shared understanding of the collaborative roles each partner will play. Participants also defined a joint implementation framework and affirmed a shared commitment to inclusion, safeguarding, innovation, and effective communication.

Leaders in Teaching (LIT) is an initiative supported by the Mastercard Foundation to transform education across Africa, by strengthening teaching and learning so that young people acquire 21st-century skills and competencies needed for employment, lifelong learning, and adult life. Working through a multi-partner implementation model, LIT is a holistic approach to enhancing teaching and learning. LIT is structured around four key pillars:

• RECRUIT (led by Teach United in Tanzania)
• TRAIN (led by Educate! in Tanzania)
• MOTIVATE (led by TENMET in Tanzania)
• LEAD (led VVOB with support from ACSL)

VVOB, in partnership with ACSL, is responsible for the LEAD component in Tanzania, which focuses on strengthening school leadership systems at national and continental levels. ADEA, as a founding member of the ACSL coalition, joined the workshop alongside government stakeholders and development partners. The ACSL is expected to leverage the implementation outcomes from the Tanzania project to drive continental level advocacy on the value and importance of school leadership in grooming young Africans to find dignified work and lead fulfilling lives.

The four-day event laid the groundwork for robust coordination, developing an engagement plan for the national coordination platform and its working groups. It also helped define the LIT brand and its communications strategy, and initiated the development of a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) plan with input from Tanzanian authorities.

This kick-off marks a pivotal milestone in advancing coherent, inclusive, and effective school leadership across Africa. The LIT initiative is expected to build a new generation of empowered teacher leaders and school heads equipped to prepare young Africans for work, lifelong learning, and meaningful civic engagement.

About the ACSL Coalition

The Africa Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) was established in 2021 to promote effective school leadership. ACSL collaborates with governments and stakeholders in the education sector to build supportive school leadership systems with the objective of improving teaching and in turn learning outcomes. Its core coalition members include the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), VVOB – education for development, and Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA).