This document outlines the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL)’s standardized approach to mapping school leadership initiatives across Africa at both continental and national levels. It presents the objectives, conceptual framework, and a phased mixed-methods methodology combining desk reviews, research mapping, stakeholder consultations, and validation processes.

The approach enables identification of policies, professional development initiatives, research, and key actors shaping school leadership systems. It emphasizes generating evidence-based insights, strengthening coordination, and ensuring contextual relevance.

By integrating continental trends with country-specific diagnostics, the methodology supports informed policy reform, improved leadership development systems, and more coherent, data-driven strategies to enhance education quality across Africa.

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This fact sheet synthesizes key insights from the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) continental mapping on school leadership in Africa. It analyzes policy, professional development, research, and sector coordination to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for strengthening leadership systems.

The study highlights growing recognition of school leadership as a driver of education quality, yet underscores fragmented policies, limited professionalization, and uneven implementation across countries. While professional development initiatives and research are expanding, they remain insufficiently coordinated and underutilized.

The document calls for stronger policy alignment, institutionalized leadership development, increased investment in evidence, improved coordination, and greater emphasis on gender equity to support effective, system-wide school leadership across Africa.

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This report presents a continental mapping of school leadership in Africa, conducted by the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL). It examines policies, professional development, research, and coordination mechanisms shaping school leadership systems. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study highlights growing recognition of school leadership as a key driver of education quality, while identifying major gaps in implementation, professionalization, and alignment across countries.

The report emphasizes the need for stronger policy coherence, institutionalized training, improved research and data use, enhanced stakeholder coordination, and greater focus on gender equity to strengthen school leadership and improve learning outcomes across Africa.

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In this case study, we explore the stands of quality school leadership delivered in Tanzania, that has helped move a struggling local school to a national champion in Tanzania. We unpack the standards of school leadership exhibited by the head teacher, who exemplifies how values-driven, inclusive, and results-oriented leadership can reinvent a failing institution into a national leader. It illustrates the power of leadership ecosystems that prioritize sustainability, equity, and holistic development. 

Emmanuel Kisimiri’s journey under Kisongo Elementary School demonstrates that even in resource-constrained, rural contexts,transformational leadership can create lasting, nationally recognised change.

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This study examined how Leadership Communities of Practice (LCoPs) strengthen Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Ghana by fostering leadership and improving practices at school and stakeholder levels. Conducted across three districts—Ho West, Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA), and Binduri—the study used interviews, group discussions, and observations to gather data from education partners, School Management Committees (SMC), and community members.

Inquiry-based learning cycles emerged as key to developing leadership within LCoPs, promoting collaboration, reflection, and problem-solving. These cycles enabled distributed leadership, enhancing facilitation skills, empathy, and collective ownership of educational improvements. Stakeholders, including parents and local communities, became more engaged in school activities, boosting accountability and transparency.

At the school level, LCoPs improved teaching by deepening teachers’ understanding of play-based curricula, resulting in child-centred methods and increased enrolment. The study highlights LCoPs’ transformative potential but calls for continued support to scale the model nationwide.

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This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2024/5 GEM Report, Leadership in education.

This study on school leadership competences in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) examines leadership traits and practices specific to the region, emphasising the concept of Ubuntu school leadership. Drawing on data from Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia through narrative interviews and qualitative analysis, the research highlights school leaders’ adaptability, community engagement, and inclusive decision-making. Despite resource constraints and organisational challenges, leaders employ innovative, community-based solutions to drive academic success and personal growth.
The findings emphasise the importance of empowering leadership practices, continuous professional development, and mentorship for effective leadership. School leaders demonstrate resilience and the ability to inspire both teachers and students while fostering holistic well-being within their communities. Ubuntu principles—focusing on inclusivity and interconnectedness—emerge as a foundation for transformative leadership in African education.
The study offers policy and practice recommendations for promoting these competences and advancing the Ubuntu leadership approach. It also calls for further research to deepen understanding and support leadership development in SSA.

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The policy brief, Fostering gender responsive school leadership in Africa, addresses the persistent underrepresentation of women in school leadership across sub-Saharan Africa, despite women making up the majority of teaching staff. It outlines the key gender barriers limiting women’s access to leadership roles and provides policy recommendations to promote gender-responsive leadership.
Building on existing studies on school leadership in Africa, this policy brief highlights two main barriers to women’s participation in leadership: harmful social norms and structural obstacles. Gender stereotypes undermine women’s confidence, confining them to domestic roles, while education systems lack clear recruitment standards, career pathways, and professional development opportunities for aspiring female leaders. In some countries, such as Chad, women represent as little as five per cent of school leaders.
This imbalance is problematic because it limits diverse perspectives in decision-making and perpetuates gender bias in education. Women’s leadership is crucial for fostering inclusive, equitable learning environments. The brief emphasizes the importance of creating standardised recruitment frameworks, clear competency models, and dismantling gender stereotypes.
The following policy recommendations are proposed: 1) a standardised school leader competency framework and recruitment framework; 2) mentoring networks for female teachers and leaders; 3) transparent school leader career pathways; 4) anti-discrimination policies; 5) training on gender bias and gender-responsive education; 6) work-life balance initiatives for school leaders; 7) incentives for school leaders in rural and remote schools; and 8) gender audits and transparency in data.

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Effective school leadership is essential for improving student achievement and creating supportive school environments. Leaders manage school operations, support teachers, and engage with the community, all of which contribute to better learning outcomes. By focusing on teacher development and student well-being, school leaders significantly enhance both teacher performance and student success.

A review by Bush et al. (2022) identified the key competencies needed for effective school leadership, emphasizing leadership development and scalable professional development (PD) programs. The review also stressed the importance of promoting gender equality in leadership roles. Experts from VVOB (2023) further highlighted the need for leadership that enhances student well-being, reduces dropout rates, and improves teacher quality through targeted support and development. They also advocated for gender-responsive policies.

The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) conducted a country mapping exercise to assess school leadership policies, PD programs, and support systems in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia. This exercise aims to guide ACSL’s efforts to strengthen leadership across the continent through collection of good practices. The reports offer insights into policy, practice, monitoring, and gender mainstreaming, along with recommendations for improving school leadership and professional development systems across Africa.

Country mapping report: School leadership in Kenya

Country mapping report: School leadership in Zambia

This practice brief offers research-based insights for providers of school leadership professional development (PD) services in Africa, focusing on the design and implementation of blended and remote PD programmes. Recognizing that effective PD is essential for empowering school leaders and enhancing the culture of teaching and learning, the practice brief emphasizes the practicality of blended and remote PD formats zooming in on how to design, develop and deliver cost-effective school leadership PD at scale.

To ensure these PD programmes are impactful, the practice brief recommends using the ADDIE instructional design framework, which stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. This model is favored for its iterative nature, allowing PD providers to refine and scale successful programmes. The practice brief illustrates the application of ADDIE through case studies from Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, showcasing how these countries have effectively developed and delivered blended PD programmes.

Furthermore, the guide underscores the importance of collaboration between governments and PD providers to achieve transformative outcomes. It also highlights the need to address cross-cutting themes such as gender, equity, inclusion, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability within the PD design, development and delivery processes. By drawing on the experiences of Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, this guide serves as a valuable resource for other African countries aiming to develop and implement effective blended PD programs for school leaders.

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Quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) is essential for building a productive and competitive nation in Ghana, as highlighted in the Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030. In response, the government introduced compulsory, free kindergarten education in 2007 and a play-based curriculum in 2018. However, the effective implementation of ECE is hindered by challenges such as fragmented coordination among stakeholders, insufficient teacher professional development, limited understanding of the play-based curriculum, and weak school leadership that excludes relevant stakeholders from school development plans. Consequently, only 2% of children achieve the desired literacy standards by the end of their early years. 

To address these challenges, VVOB/ACSL, Sabre Education, Right to Play, and Afrikids, with support from Jacobs Foundation, launched an innovative intervention to strengthen play-based ECE through Leadership Communities of Practice (LCoP). These LCoPs bring together district education officers, school leaders, and community leaders to collaborate and improve ECE implementation. Participants engage in an inquiry-based learning cycle over six sessions, meeting bi-monthly to discuss ECE issues, prioritize one key challenge, and implement one feasible solution using available resources. A guiding framework supports this process, making the LCoP approach an effective model for enhancing ECE through targeted, collaborative action. 

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Recognizing the vital role that school leadership plays in enhancing educational outcomes, student achievement and wellbeing, VVOB – education for development in collaboration with partners initiated the “African Centre for School Leadership” to enhance effective school leadership in Africa. To lay the foundation for this Centre, an exploratory scoping review and a consensus-building study were conducted.  These studies revealed a significant gap in school leadership policy development across many African countries, confirmed by a mapping exercise in Rwanda, Kenya, and Ghana. 

To address this gap, the Centre is collaborating with governments on the development of school leadership policies, standards, and guidelines.

This framework provides evidence-based insights for developing school leadership policies in Africa, which together give guidance for the development of national policies to strengthen school leadership in Africa. The framework focuses on conceptualizing school leadership in the African context, defining roles and responsibilities, competences, standards, and assessment; school leaders’ career stages, certification and licensing of school leaders, removing gender barriers in school leadership, and professional organization of school leaders. A consultative workshop with policymakers and experts validated the framework, and policy briefs will be developed as the next step.  

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Ubuntu leadership, grounded in African values like collaboration, respect, and inclusion, aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This study aims to develop an Ubuntu School Leadership (USL) model tailored to Rwanda’s education system, enhancing leadership and stakeholder engagement. The research will explore how Ubuntu principles are reflected in current school leadership, how USL can meet leadership standards, and how it can be integrated into leadership development programs.

A qualitative approach will be used to gain deep insights from key education stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and community members. Semi-structured interviews, conducted in English or Kinyarwanda, will capture participants’ experiences and perceptions of Ubuntu leadership. Data will be analysed using thematic analysis to identify key themes. The study will involve 36 participants from four high-performing secondary schools in Huye, Rwanda, selected based on academic performance in Mathematics. It also includes educational leaders at district and national levels. To ensure data accuracy and trustworthiness, methods like data saturation, credibility checks, and peer debriefing will be applied. The ultimate goal is to create a comprehensive USL framework to support the African Centre for School Leadership’s efforts to enhance school leadership research across Africa.

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