More children and young people in Africa have access to schooling, but unfortunately, being in school does not automatically result in learning at school. The continent faces a "learning crisis” that jeopardizes economic growth and the well-being of its citizens. Too many young Africans are lacking the skills needed to thrive in the future, yet these young people represent the potential and future of the continent. To tap into the opportunities of a rapidly changing continent, Africa's young people need a relevant education which can help them develop 21st century skills. This requires robust investment in many aspects of the education system, including effective school leaders across the continent.
Young Africans can transform the region and create lasting economic change, but they need to be equipped to do so. To solve the learning crisis and allow young Africans to thrive and achieve their full potential, four critical pillars must be addressed:
- prepared learners
- quality teachers
- inputs and monitoring focused on learning
- and effective school leaders
Effective school leadership enables the three other pillars to come together. School leaders are responsible for the effective management of the school, providing academic leadership and strategic vision. Effective school leaders are especially important in schools serving the most disadvantaged and can support equity, inclusion, and community involvement. School leaders play a key role in influencing the motivation and capacity of teachers to deliver quality education in part by creating a supportive school climate and environment. School leaders provide mentoring, supervision, professional support, and guidance for teachers. They can identify strengths and weaknesses of their teachers and provide support for continuing development. Good teachers in turn, are central to enabling student learning and success. Effective teaching inspired by the best leadership are at the heart of the learning process and are the most important school-based factors for improving learning.
In fact, research has clearly shown that school leadership accounts for up to 25% of variation in students’ learning achievements, second only to classroom teaching. A study by the World Bank found that the most effective school leaders achieved the equivalent of three extra months of learning per year, compared to their least effective counterparts.
Surprisingly, the school leadership level is often forgotten in education reforms in spite of the potential for impacting the success of students. The underutilisation of school leadership is even more surprising when we acknowledge how cost-effective it is for tackling the learning crisis.
Weak school leadership capacity remains a reality in many countries. A recent report on Secondary Education in Africa by the Mastercard Foundation offers important insights as to why. In Sub-Saharan Africa, limited school leader capacity reflects a historical legacy of seeing a school leader as a purely administrative role. Instead of appointing staff for their educational leadership capacities, promotion processes for school leaders were often exclusively based on social or political networks. This also explains the striking underrepresentation of women in school leadership positions in many of these countries, when compared to the proportion of female teachers. Generally speaking, women are underrepresented in educational decision-making bodies, such as boards and ministries.
Clearly, a fundamental shift is required. Training just one school leader could potentially improve the learning outcomes of all students in that school. This study calculated the expected return on investment of management training for learner outcomes and found that it is one of the most meaningful in education reform.
School leadership can be strengthened by providing professional development opportunities for school leaders. Good practices already exist, such as the programme implemented by VVOB and Mastercard Foundation in Rwanda. As part of the Leaders in Teaching initiative, we work closely with the Government of Rwanda to strengthen school leadership in secondary education. The programme started in 14 districts of Rwanda and will now be scaled up to all 30 districts. Even in these difficult circumstances of COVID-19, the ICT-enabled model for professional development of school leaders allows us to reach large numbers of beneficiaries. Professional development of school leaders is provided through certified courses in effective school leadership and through professional learning networks of school leaders. Through iterative learning cycles, we are learning what works best while implementing the programme. An early impact evaluation showed improvements in learning among teaching staff, and more collaboration between the schools and wider community. A midline study highlighted that there is increased support for professional development of teachers in schools where school leaders have been trained.
With this increasing evidence available on what works and how, we are looking forward to taking a next step in strengthening school leadership across Africa. Existing innovative approaches on school leadership, such as the Rwanda case, which was recognized by the African Union as a top innovation should be further tested and scaled in other African contexts. . Strengthening in-service teacher mentorship and support has also been identified as key policy challenge in the KIX Africa 19 regional hub.
Based on more than a decade of experience in strengthening effective school leadership in Rwanda, we can leapfrog reforms in other African contexts and generate the impact African young people deserve. Existing school leadership standards can be contextualized and current professional development trajectories for school leaders can easily be adapted to new environments. We believe that this will truly make a difference for education in Africa, and can help the continent fulfil its potential as a region where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper.
Rica Rwigamba is the Country Head, Rwanda, Mastercard Foundation; Marianne Kiggundu is the Country Programmes Manager Rwanda, VVOB – education for development.