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.
