New research grants programme is translating continental mapping findings into an African-led evidence agenda — targeting the systemic gaps that have left school leadership policy without the evidence base it needs

NAIROBI, 15th May 2026 – The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) is pleased to announce that 39 beneficiaries have received research grants under the Cohort 1 of its Research Grants Programme, committing USD865,000 to school leadership research across 14 African countries. The Research Grants Programme represents the largest known investment dedicated specifically to school leadership research on the African continent — and a defining step towards building an evidence base that is Africa-led, contextually grounded, and directly connected to the policy decisions shaping how school leaders are trained, supported, and held accountable.

The announcement comes less than two months after ACSL presented the findings of its Continental Mapping of School Leadership Initiatives in Africa at the 1st KEMI International Conference in Nairobi — the first continental-scale evidence synthesis on school leadership ever conducted. The Research Grants Programme is the direct operational response to what that mapping found.

The 2025 continental mapping exercise, conducted across 14 African countries through surveys, interviews, and documentary reviews, confirmed that school leadership research in Africa is fragmented, chronically underfunded, and insufficiently connected to the policy processes it is meant to inform. Most strikingly, 83 per cent of researchers examined school leadership only as part of broader education studies — not as a dedicated field of inquiry. The result is a critical evidence gap at precisely the level of the system where it is most costly. Policymakers designing leadership standards, governments investing in professional development, and school communities trying to hold leaders accountable are all making decisions in a near-vacuum of relevant, policy-responsive research. These findings were reinforced at the 2025 ADEA Triennale in Accra, where African ministers and senior policymakers named school leadership evidence generation as a continental priority for the coming decade — signalling that the growing political recognition of school leadership as a driver of education quality must now be matched by investment in the knowledge systems that can sustain it. The Research Grants Programme is ACSL’s direct answer to both signals.

Selected through a rigorous multi-stage review process led by ACSL’s Research Advisory Committee, the 39 grantees include doctoral holders, postdoctoral researchers, and senior research fellows from Tanzania — both Mainland and Zanzibar — Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and nine other African countries. In line with ACSL’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) commitments, priority was given to researchers working in arid and semi-arid regions, conflict-affected areas, and rural communities — ensuring that the evidence generated reflects the realities of populations too often absent from current research.

Cohort 1 is organised around eight thematic priorities drawn directly from the continental mapping, co-created continental school leadership research agenda and the 2025 ADEA Triennale outcomes: leadership preparation and development pathways; Afrocentric leadership models and indigenous knowledge systems; equity, inclusion, and social justice in school leadership; digital transformation and educational technology; leadership influence on teacher practice and learning outcomes; system enablers for effective leadership; distributed and middle leadership; and school leadership in emergencies and crisis contexts. The programme’s thematic architecture is aligned with the African Union’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016–2025), anchoring it within Africa’s broader education transformation agenda. Twenty-five Descriptive Action Research grants of up to USD15,000 per researcher support studies of up to 12 months; fourteen Comparative Action Research grants of up to USD35,000 per researcher support studies running up to 24 months.

The diversity of researchers joining the programme reflects both the breadth of the continental evidence gap and the appetite for rigorous, policy and practice -oriented school leadership research across African institutions. “I am particularly excited because I conceived the original research idea following my years of research involvement in Botswana,” said Obumneke Ugwu, a Cohort 1 grantee affiliated with Rainbow Education Consultancy Services. “This also marks my first international research contract since establishing my consultancy. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to research that strengthens school leadership and educational transformation across Africa.” Ugwu’s reflection captures something central to the programme’s design intent — not simply to fund individual studies, but to build a generation of African researchers who own and sustain dedicated school leadership evidence base long after each grant cycle closes.

That intent is embedded in the programme’s structure. A critical design feature is its accountability to policy impact, not merely academic output. Every grantee is required to produce a policy brief for submission to the relevant government ministry in their country, alongside at least one peer-reviewed journal article — closing the loop between what researchers find and what policymakers can act on. All 39 grantees will also participate in the ACSL Blended Exchange and Learning Trajectory (BELT), a structured peer learning, mentorship, and coaching platform delivered in collaboration with ACSL’s Research Advisory Committee and Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA), ensuring that researchers work as part of a connected, continent-wide community rather than in isolation.

For Dr. Leyla Abdullahi, ACSL’s Director of Research and Programme Delivery, the programme’s significance extends far beyond the immediate research outputs. “The Continental Mapping confirmed something many of us had long observed but had never documented at this scale: across Africa, critical decisions about how school leaders are selected, trained, and supported are often being made with limited contextually grounded evidence,” she said. “This grants programme is therefore not simply about funding research. It is about strengthening an Africa-led research ecosystem that reflects African realities, priorities, and knowledge systems, while ensuring that evidence reaches the policymakers and practitioners shaping education systems.”

She further emphasised that the programme is also contributing to the co-creation of a continental school leadership research agenda and responding to the research needs identified through that agenda by bringing together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to identify shared priorities, emerging gaps, and actionable pathways for strengthening school leadership across diverse African contexts. “The 39 researchers we are supporting in Cohort 1 are part of a growing movement to build a sustainable and policy-responsive research infrastructure that Africa owns and drives.”

Research findings will be shared through relevant government forums, national and international education conferences, peer-reviewed publications, and digital platforms — ensuring that evidence reaches not only academic audiences but also the ministries, communities and schools it is intended to serve.

Gaborone, Botwana, 6th May – Ministers of Education from across Africa have made a landmark continental commitment to strengthen school leadership training as a specialised professional track — distinct from the teaching profession but fundamentally linked to its effectiveness. The commitment is contained in the ministerial communiqué from the 13th Conference and 15th Roundtable of the Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 5th to 6th May 2026.

The communiqué affirms that effective school leadership is a key determinant of teacher retention, professional performance, improved learner outcomes and competency acquisition — and signals a shift in continental thinking from treating school leadership as an extension of teaching, to recognising it as a profession in its own right requiring dedicated standards, structured preparation, and sustained investment.

For the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), whose mandate is built on precisely this argument, the outcome represents a significant policy advocacy milestone.

The ACSL was represented by Dr. Leila Abdullahi, Director of Research and Programme Delivery, and Chantal Kabanda Dusabe, Technical Lead. The two colleagues engaged ministers of education directly — introducing ACSL’s continental mandate, presenting the case for school leadership as a specialised profession, and drawing on the findings from ACSL’s Continental Mapping Report on School Leadership Initiatives in Africa to anchor the advocacy in evidence.

The AFTRA platform was a deliberate and strategic choice. As an intergovernmental body comprising Ministries of Education and national teaching regulatory authorities from across the African Union, AFTRA convenes the exact audience — ministers, regulators, and policy architects — whose decisions shape how school leadership is defined, resourced, and governed within national education systems. Engaging at this level, and securing a ministerial commitment in the resulting communiqué, reflects ACSL’s approach to advocacy: targeted, evidence-based, and focused on the moments when political decisions are made.

The Gaborone commitment adds to a pattern of deepening continental recognition of school leadership that has been building through 2025 and into 2026. Earlier in April, senior technical education officials at the 1st International Conference of the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) in Nairobi endorsed the ACSL Continental Mapping Report and its call for coherent, well-resourced school leadership systems. Also in April, the francophone edition of the 2025 Spotlight Report Series — launched with the African Union, UNESCO GEM-R, and the Ministry of National Education of Côte d’Ivoire — reinforced the instructional leadership agenda in French-speaking Africa. Equally, the 2025 ADEA Triennale in Accra, last September, placed school leadership explicitly among the eight pillars required for education transformation across the continent.

The AFTRA ministerial communiqué adds regulatory and professional legitimacy — a commitment not just to supporting school leaders, but to treating school leadership as a distinct professional track, governed by the same standards and accountability frameworks that define the teaching profession itself. ACSL will continue to track implementation of this commitment and to support member states in translating it into national policy action.

The AFTRA conference, convened under the theme “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession: Implications for Africa” and hosted by the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education in collaboration with the Botswana Teaching Professionals Council (BOTEPCO), was officially opened by the President of the Republic of Botswana, Advocate Duma Gideon Boko. In his address to open the session, President Boko called for a unified continental approach to teacher development and professional standards, stressing that African education systems must adapt to modern demands and that leadership — at the school level and the system level — is central to that adaptation.

Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Kebuang Nono Kgafela-Mokoka, framed Botswana’s hosting of the conference as a statement of commitment to the continent’s education future, noting that partnerships between governments, regulatory bodies, and international partners are indispensable to raising standards and transforming the profession. AFTRA President Ebby Mubanga reinforced the conference’s core thesis — that teaching as a collaborative profession cannot be strengthened by any single country working alone, and that collective effort, shared evidence, and sustained continental coordination are the only path to meaningful transformation.

Nairobi, Kenya | 13th April: The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) took centre stage as lead sponsor, keynote speaker, moderator,  and chair across five days of Kenya’s newest flagship education leadership event.

The 1^st International Conference of the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) opened earlier today in Nairobi, under the theme “Catalysts for Transformation: Re-inventing Leadership in a Sustainable and Inclusive Education Ecosystem.” Drawing together over 300 education leaders and policymakers, researchers,  and practitioners from across Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. The five-day gathering marks a significant moment for school leadership as a continental policy priority — and the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) is at its heart.

As lead sponsor of the conference, ACSL’s presence extends far beyond the plenary and panel sessions to the exhibition stand. Across all five days, ACSL colleagues from partner organisations ADEA, Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), and VVOB are contributing as keynote speakers, panel moderators, lead presenters, panellists, and day facilitators — making this the most concentrated demonstration of ACSL’s convening role on school leadership and technical depth on a single platform to date.

To set the stage, Dr. Maurice Odondo, CEO of KEMI, opened the proceedings by anchoring the conference in the realities of a rapidly changing world and the need for education leadership and management to match evolving demands. “Leadership is no longer administrative; it is transformational, adaptive, and future-oriented,” he said, calling on delegates to commit to “strong, visionary, and ethical leadership as the foundation upon which sustainable and inclusive education systems are built.”

The official opening address was delivered by Dr. Elyas Abdi, Director General of the State Department for Basic Education, on behalf of Principal Secretary — Amb. Julius Bitok. Dr. Abdi called for the week to be treated as a genuine inflection point: “The future of education depends not only on policies we design, but on the leadership we demonstrate. Let this not be just another conference, but a turning point for action and impact.”

The day’s keynote was delivered virtually by Albert Nsengiyumva, Executive Secretary of ADEA and a driving force behind ACSL’s continental mandate. Drawing on the 2025 ADEA Triennale Synthesis Report and CESA 2026–2035, he set out eight pillars for transforming education leadership across Africa — from governance and financing to data systems, technology equity, and continental harmonisation — with resilience as the cross-cutting thread running through all of them.

His framing was provocative. By 2040, Africa will be home to over one billion young people of working age. “One billion minds that will either be equipped — or abandoned. One billion futures that will either flourish — or be lost.” The question he placed before delegates was not whether Africa can transform its education systems, but what governments must concretely do now.

On financing, he was direct: “Africa does not have an education financing problem. It has an education financing priority problem” — noting that median African government education spending fell from 16% to 14.5% of total expenditure between 2016 and 2022, moving further from the 20% Dakar benchmark. On equity, he painted a sharp picture of systemic failure: “A child’s chance of being taught by a skilled, supported, motivated teacher — and led by a competent, empowered principal — depends almost entirely on where that child was born. That is not an education system. That is a lottery.”

His closing injunction carried the weight of the entire address: “Africa does not need more policy documents. It needs the political will to implement what is already known...So, let’s walk the talk.“

The conference’s flagship panel discussion — Repositioning School Leadership as a Strategic Policy Driver for Education Transformation — was moderated by Shem Bodo, ADEA’s Senior Progams Officer and Senior Strategic Advisor at ACSL, bringing together voices from government, research, academia, and civil society to interrogate the persistent gap between policy and on-the-ground investment in school leadership. Panellists examined why school leadership continues to be treated as an extension of teaching in most African educational systems, rather than a distinct professional role requiring structured preparation, defined standards, and protected career pathways.

The opening day also featured the launch of the Kenya edition of the 2025 Spotlight Report Series, presented jointly by Dr. Manos Antoninis (Director, UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report), Martin Kungania (Deputy Director, Ministry of Education Kenya), and Prof. Martin Mutegi (University of Nairobi). The report makes the case that school heads must be understood not as administrators but as instructional leaders whose daily decisions are directly linked to the quality of learning in classrooms.

Day 1 was only the opening chapter. Across the remaining four days, ACSL colleagues will be active in some of the conference’s most significant sessions: On the second day, the conference’s flagship knowledge moment arrives early in the morning. Tom Vandenbosch, General Director of VVOB, delivers the Day 2 keynote — Shaping the Future of School Leadership through Professional Development. He will be followed immediately by the headline event of the conference: the formal launch and dissemination of the ACSL Continental Mapping Report on School Leadership Initiatives in Africa, to be presented by ACSL colleagues, Joyceline Kirezi and Caren Namalenya.

The School Leadership Continental Mapping Report represents the most comprehensive evidence synthesis on school leadership recently conducted on the African continent. Its findings confirm both the growing recognition of school leadership as a driver of education quality and the fragmentation, inequity, and under-institutionalisation that still characterise most systems across the continent.

Later on Day 2, Chantal Kabanda Dusabe moderates a panel on Beyond Compliance: Transforming Professional Development for School Leaders.

On the third day, ACSL’s Strategic Education Advisor on Gender and Equity, Sandrine Ishimiwe, joins a panel on Leading for Resilience: Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Education — bringing ACSL’s gender-responsive leadership agenda into one of the conference’s most substantive thematic discussions.

Day 4 will be facilitated by ACSL’s Communications and Advocacy Strategic Advisor, Chinedu Anarado, who will chair the full day’s proceedings — overseeing a packed programme that includes a panel on Digital Transformation and Innovation in School Leadership, a roundtable with heads of primary and junior schools on CBC implementation, and a panel on Financing Education Reforms: Unlocking Resources for Transformative Change, moderated by ACSL’s Policy Strategic Advisor, Mamadou Lamine Sow.

On the final day, ACSL Research Advisor, Dr. Leyla Abdullahi will moderate the panel discussion on Bridging Research and Policy: Leveraging Education Research to Transform School Leadership and Learning Outcomes. This before Tom Vandenbosh joins the other high-level officials in the closing formalities with remarks.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 

Building on a multi-year continental effort to map and strengthen school leadership systems across Africa, the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) recently completed a critical two-part engagement in Liberia — conducting a national school leadership mapping exercise and convening a national validation workshop in Monrovia on 31 March and 1 April 2026.

The mapping exercise engaged a wide range of national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, the University of Liberia, the Liberia University Commission, district and regional education officers, and school leaders and practitioners from across the system. The goal was to deepen understanding of what works in strengthening school leadership and to identify how best to support policy and practice in Liberia. Working in close collaboration with EDC — the in-country implementing partner for the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative — the ACSL team gathered evidence grounded in the lived realities of Liberian school leaders and stakeholders.

While opening the validation workshop Assistant Minister for Teacher Education, Honorable Clifford Konah, Jr., powerfully framed the stakes of the exercise. He affirmed that visionary and accountable school leaders are indispensable in shaping schools that deliver meaningful learning outcomes, and described the mapping initiative as a critical and commendable step — one that ensures reforms are rooted in the life realities of Liberian schools.

“Central to this mission is the recognition that effective school leadership is the cornerstone of a functional, inclusive, and high-performing education system. Visionary and accountable leaders are indispensable in shaping schools that deliver meaningful learning outcomes. In the face of this goal, the initiative to map and analyze the current landscape of school leadership in Liberia represents a critical and commendable step. By emphasizing evidence-based decision-making, this process ensures that reforms are rooted in the life realities of our schools.”

The two-day validation workshop that followed brought together approximately 30 participants drawn from across Liberia’s education stakeholder community. The workshop was designed as an active, participatory process in which stakeholders led the proceedings and qualitatively shaped the outcomes — not merely as an audience to findings, but as co-owners of the evidence and its implications. Participants confirmed what aligned with their experiences, challenged what did not, and surfaced critical gaps not yet captured in the initial findings. Together, they built consensus around three to five strategic actions to meaningfully strengthen school leadership in Liberia.

On its second and final day, the workshop turned toward concrete action. Participants co-developed a context-driven action plan specifying key activities, roles, responsibilities, expected results, and means of verification for the immediate steps needed to advance school leadership development in the country. These priorities were deliberately anchored to current and future Education Sector Plan dispositions, ensuring the long-term sustainability and institutionalisation of the work.

The Liberia engagement forms part of a broader programme of national school leadership mapping exercises being conducted by ACSL across LIT countries, following similar engagements in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, as well as a parallel continental mapping effort. The validated findings and agreed strategic priorities will directly inform the next phase of ACSL’s LEAD pillar support in Liberia, contributing to a stronger and more coherent school leadership ecosystem both nationally and across the continent.

The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL), in partnership with the African Union and the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, has launched the third edition of the Spotlight Report on Education in Africa. The report titled, Lead for foundational learning, makes a compelling and timely case for improving school leadership and the capacity of school leaders if the continent wants to sustain its growth trajectory. It recommends that improved learning outcomes require urgent, sustained attention on who leads schools and how they lead.

The report places school principals, head teachers, and local education authorities at the centre of efforts to transform early-grade learning. It argues that school leaders must prioritise instructional leadership — equipping their teams with clarity on learning objectives and teaching methodologies, even when resources are severely constrained.

Beyond the classroom, effective school leadership, the report finds, involves creating engaging and inclusive learning environments while maintaining productive relationships with teachers, parents, and local education officials. These dual demands — pedagogical and relational — define the scope of the leadership challenge facing Africa’s schools today.

Evidence Grounded in African Realities

The third edition of the Spotlight series draws on some of the most comprehensive, Africa-specific evidence gathered to date. Its findings are informed by:

• A survey of school principals and parent representatives across approximately 300 primary schools in five focus countries: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, and Zimbabwe.
• Interviews with local education authorities in the same five countries.
• Detailed policy analysis of school leadership frameworks in Kaduna State, Nigeria and Rwanda.
• Country case studies examining language of instruction in Algeria, learning outcomes in Burundi, pre-primary financing in Cape Verde, decentralisation in Congo, and school feeding programmes in Mali.
• Background research on national assessment frameworks, community engagement, competency-based curricula, and primary school infrastructure financing across the continent.

Data reviewed in the report reveals significant progress, including improved school enrolment, existence of school leadership policies and systems. But it also says that fewer than 11% of children in Africa achieve the minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics by the end of primary school — the threshold considered essential for children to continue learning and realise their full potential.

A policy dashboard to drive action

The report’s recommendations are supported by a new dashboard of policy indicators designed to guide evidence-based dialogue on foundational learning. The dashboard is being developed under the African Union’s Leveraging Education Analysis for Results Network (LEARN)  and aligns with the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2026–2035 (CESA 26–35).

This tool is intended to help governments, regional bodies, and development partners track, compare, and strengthen school leadership policies in a systematic and data-driven way.

Building on the Spotlight Series

The Lead for Foundational Learning report is the third in the Spotlight on Education in Africa series, a flagship initiative that provides an authoritative continental stocktake on key dimensions of Africa’s education systems. This edition reflects ACSL’s core conviction: that professionalising school leadership is not a peripheral concern but a central lever for transforming learning outcomes in the early grades — and ultimately, across an entire generation.

The Spotlight Report on Education in Africa is produced in partnership with the African Union and the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report. Download the full report or read the summary.

Nairobi, Kenya | February 2026

School leadership policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from across Africa validated the findings of the first continent-wide mapping of school leadership initiatives at a workshop in Nairobi from the 10^th to the 13^th of February 2026. They also commenced the process of developing a pathway toward more coherent, institutionalised leadership systems across African educational systems. These were the main outcomes of a three-day validation workshop convened by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) in partnership with the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI). 

Policymakers, regulatory authorities, researchers, school leaders, and development partners reviewed and validated the findings from a comprehensive mapping exercise that assessed the status of school leadership policy, research, professional development, certification, sector coordination, and advocacy pathways across the continent. The study unpacked several insights and findings including the following:

• Policy attention is increasing, but many countries lack coherent leadership standards, structured progression pathways and low level of awareness of school leadership policies.
• Professional development remains fragmented, often project-based and donor-driven rather than institutionalised within national systems.
• Research is growing but uneven, with significant gaps in accessibility, comparability, and longitudinal evidence.
• Gender and inclusion gaps persist, with women underrepresented in leadership positions and limited documentation of leadership practices in marginalised and crisis-affected contexts. This is also the case for persons with disability.

School leadership is widely recognized as second only to classroom teaching in its influence on learner achievement, shaping instructional quality, teacher motivation, school climate, and the effective use of resources. Throughout the first two days—which featured presentation of findings and a deep dive into the research landscape—participants consistently emphasized that strengthening school leadership is central to improving learning outcomes. They also stressed the importance of adopting a holistic understanding of leadership—one that goes beyond classroom instruction to encompass the broader culture, governance, and direction of the school. As one participant aptly noted, “the head is the school, and the school is the head,” underscoring the profound influence of school leaders on the identity, performance, and overall trajectory of their institutions.

Discussions on the final day focused on moving from policy to practice, especially professional development of school leaders, and exploring modalities for stronger link between country-level action and regional and continental frameworks alignment, including with the African Union Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2026-2035 (CESA 26–35) and the outcomes of the 2025 ADEA Triennale in Accra, Ghana. 

Participants underscored the need to institutionalise preparation and certification pathways for school leaders, develop clear leadership standards aligned with teaching and learning outcomes; strengthen structured professional development and coaching systems, build gender-responsive and inclusive leadership pipelines and enhance coordination between research, policy, and practice.

The workshop co-created a draft continental school leadership roadmap, outlining priority actions and mechanisms for coordination and accountability. Other key highlights include consensus on the need for stronger collaboration across ministries, regulatory bodies, training institutions, and partners. At the continental participants pushed for improved connection with the African Union, regional economic communities and member states in shaping, harmonizing and implementing school leadership policies and standards. 

Participants agreed to advance a continental community of practice and a coordinated coalition of partners to support the implementation of the recommendations, backed by structured monitoring mechanisms to track progress.

As African educational systems expand access to secondary education and accelerate reforms at the foundational and other learning levels, strengthening school leadership in its holistic form is increasingly seen as a strategic lever for system-wide transformation. ACSL and its founding consortium partners — ADEA, VVOB, ESSA, and FAWE — will continue working with African countries and partners to translate the roadmap into actionable reforms at national level, guided by regional and continental frameworks. The final validated mapping report will be published in the coming weeks.

The session featured contributions from national and continental institutions and policymakers including the African Union, East African Community (EAC), Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), Teachers Service Commissions from Kenya and Sierra Leone, The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO GEM-R), Ministries of Education from Ghana, Kenya, Liberia and Uganda, Institute for Education Planning and Administration (IEPA). Researchers from Lagos State University, University of Botswana, Moi University, University of Buea, University of Rwanda-College of Education, University of Pretoria, South African Council of Educators amongst others. 

School leadership stakeholders in Africa have called for a coherent and institutionalised process for developing school leaders. The call was made during the opening session of a three-day workshop (10–12 February) in Nairobi to validate findings from the first continent-wide mapping of school leadership initiatives in Africa. The workshop was organised by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) in partnership with the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI).

The convening brought together education leaders, policymakers, researchers, school principals, and development partners at regional and continental levels. Over three days, participants will review, refine, and validate the mapping findings while co-creating a continental roadmap to strengthen school leadership systems.

School leadership is widely recognised as a decisive lever for learning—second only to classroom teaching in its influence on learner outcomes. Research shows that effective school leaders shape what happens in classrooms by strengthening instructional quality, motivating and supporting teachers, creating a positive and safe school climate, engaging parents and communities, and ensuring the strategic use of resources to improve learning. This is why ACSL is deepening its engagement on school leadership across Africa—particularly at the secondary level, which is increasingly central to preparing young Africans for the world of work.

In his keynote address, the Director General at Kenya’s Ministry of Education, Dr. Elyas Abdi, described the workshop as timely as education systems implement sweeping reforms—from curriculum change and expanded access to digital integration and heightened demands for accountability and equity. Drawing on evidence, he emphasised that school leadership ranks second only to classroom teaching in its influence on learner outcomes, calling for a shift in mindset:

“Leadership is not a side issue. The success or failure of education reform is inseparable from the quality of leadership at the school level. School leadership must be understood not as an individual attribute, but as a system-level policy priority and a strategic public investment.”

He also framed the validation process as a strategic step toward coherence and action:

“This workshop is not a routine technical exercise. It is a critical platform for strengthening the credibility, relevance, and usefulness of the continental mapping.”

The CEO of KEMI and co-host of the workshop, Dr. Maurice Odundo, underscored the urgency of professionalising school leadership across African systems, pointing to a persistent capacity gap that undermines reform implementation at school level. He stressed that the mapping’s value depends on a rigorous validation process that strengthens its completeness and usability for decision-makers.

“Many school leaders across Africa take up leadership roles with little or no formal preparation,” he added: “Evidence is most useful when it is reviewed, contextualised, and owned by stakeholders,”

setting the tone for a collaborative, practitioner-informed dialogue.

In her opening remarks, Nuria Moreno, ACSL Programmes Manager, situated the workshop within ACSL’s broader mission to strengthen school leadership as a driver of improved teaching, learning outcomes, and learner well-being.

“Our objective is clear: build supportive school leadership systems that strengthen teaching and improve learning outcomes and well-being for all.”

She emphasised that ACSL’s theory of change focuses on system reform—aligning policy, professional development, research, and advocacy around coherent leadership pathways.

For the Mastercard Foundation, a strong base of school leadership is essential to ensuring that more young people receive the support they need to transition successfully into the world of work. Tracy Osuo, Lead for Secondary Education (Access and Success) at the Mastercard Foundation, linked the school leadership agenda to the rapid expansion of secondary education across Africa.

“Increasingly, secondary education is emerging as a key platform to the world of work for the majority of young people on the continent. Recognising secondary education as a platform to work is a paradigm shift.”

Preliminary findings: a continent-wide diagnostic

In a presentation and discussion session, the ACSL research team shared the rationale, methodology, and preliminary findings from the mapping. Key insights include:

• Evidence gaps: Research on school leadership is growing, but uneven across regions and not easily accessible to policymakers—reinforcing the need for more African-led, comparative, and longitudinal studies linked to outcomes.
• Policy gaps: Policy attention is increasing (aligned with CESA 2026–2035), but many countries still lack coherent frameworks and clear pathways from preparation to certification and progression.
• Capacity gaps: Leadership professional development is expanding, yet remains fragmented—often donor-funded and project-based—with promising blended and school-based models not fully institutionalised.
• Equity gaps: Gender and inclusion barriers persist; women remain underrepresented in leadership, and leadership in rural, marginalised, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable contexts is under-documented.

A key outcome of Day 1 was the deliberate use of plenary discussions and group validation sessions to test the accuracy and completeness of the preliminary mapping and to deepen recommendations. Participants contributed additional initiatives and perspectives that may not be visible through desk review alone—particularly given acknowledged limitations, including an English-language bias that can limit coverage of Francophone, Lusophone, and Maghreb contexts. Participants also reiterated the need for coherent, institutionalised policy processes that strengthen instructional leadership and support teacher development.

The opening day advanced the mapping from a research product into a more actionable, stakeholder-owned resource—strengthening its credibility and utility for governments, professional development institutions, and partners seeking to build coherent school leadership pipelines. The workshop will culminate in a co-created continental roadmap and a final validated mapping report, scheduled for publication on the ACSL website by the end of March 2026.

On the 24th of January every year, the global community celebrates the International Day of Education. For 2026, the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) stands in solidarity with young people across Africa whose voices, creativity, and aspirations are central to shaping the future of education—and, by extension, the future of the continent. The 2026 global theme, “The power of youth in co-creating education,” reminds us that education systems thrive when young people are recognised as active agents in their learning journeys. Youth participation does not emerge in isolation, it is enabled—or constrained—by the quality of leadership within schools.

Across Africa, school leaders occupy a pivotal position at the intersection of policy, pedagogy, and lived experience. They shape whether classrooms are spaces of silence or dialogue, fear or belonging, compliance or curiosity. When school leaders are equipped to listen, include, and lead with purpose, young people gain more than academic knowledge: they gain confidence, agency, and the belief that their ideas matter.

At ACSL, our work is grounded in the understanding that youth is future, and that youth voice is inseparable from leadership practice. Through our leadership development programmes, research, and continental platforms, we support policymakers, principals and head teachers to foster inclusive school cultures where students are encouraged to question, collaborate, and contribute meaningfully to their learning environments. These conditions are essential not only for improved learning outcomes, but for preparing young people to navigate life beyond school with dignity, resilience, and purpose.

This is exemplified in our various initiatives and projects such as the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) initiative in Tanzania, where we are strengthening the capacity of 6000 school leaders in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. Our continental school leadership mapping initiative is helping us set up a one-stop-shop for all school leadership support services in Africa. We demonstrated the efficacy of these services during our foundation phase – from 2022 to 2024 – in Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda.

At ACSL, we believe that youth agency is foundational to building pathways toward meaningful and fulfilling lives. When students experience voice and agency in school, they are better prepared to shape their futures—whether in further learning, work, entrepreneurship, or civic life. In this sense, school leadership plays a critical role in linking education to broader life outcomes, including employability, social cohesion, and well-being.

On this International Day of Education, ACSL reaffirms its commitment to strengthening school leadership across Africa as a catalyst for youth agency and long-term transformation. We stand with young people, educators, and policymakers in advancing education systems that do not merely teach, but empower—systems that recognise young people not only as learners, but as co-creators of their futures.

We call on policymakers and political leaders to recognize the role of school leadership in shaping the future, and thus strengthen the capacity of teachers and school leaders to build the young people who are the torch-bearers of our tomorrow.

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.

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).