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.
