Uganda’s education reforms need instructional leaders, not just administrators
Muringi says Uganda’s government, in partnership with development partners, is already piloting approaches that recognise the importance of leadership development.
Joana Bakimi Murungi
By Joana Bakimi Murungi
Uganda is making strides in reforming secondary education. The competency-based curriculum is reshaping classroom practice, while efforts to strengthen teacher professional development are helping educators respond to new expectations.
But there is a question we are not asking enough: who is leading our schools through these reforms?
Reforms of this scale do not implement themselves. Their success ultimately depends on what happens in schools and classrooms and on the people leading that work. That puts headteachers at the centre of education reform.
Headteachers manage staff, finances, infrastructure, parents, communities and government requirements. At the same time, they are expected to guide curriculum implementation, support teachers and improve the quality of teaching and learning.
A headteacher can run an orderly school without necessarily being equipped to lead instructional improvement.
The latter requires a close understanding of what is happening in classrooms, the ability to support teachers to strengthen their practice, and the use of professional learning and evidence to improve teaching and learning.
UNESCO's 2024/5 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report identifies school leadership as one of the most influential school-level factors shaping education quality and student achievement across Africa.
Similarly, Nabitula et al. (2025) examined 287 novice head teachers in Ugandan secondary schools and found that they demonstrated stronger competence in administrative responsibilities than in instructional leadership and stakeholder engagement.
The point is not that headteachers should do less administration. It is that they need the preparation and support to lead teaching alongside it.
This becomes particularly important as Uganda implements competency-based education. Teachers are being asked to rethink how they teach, assess and engage learners.
Continuous Professional Development is important to this process, but what happens after training matters just as much.
Headteachers need to follow up, support teachers through challenges and create opportunities for professional learning, using evidence to see whether changes in practice are improving learning.
Without that layer of leadership, we risk treating teacher development as an event rather than a process.
Uganda’s government, in partnership with development partners, is already piloting approaches that recognise the importance of leadership development.
The challenge now is to move from important but often fragmented efforts towards a more deliberate and sustained approach to preparing and supporting school leaders. This is an area where the Leaders in Teaching Uganda program offers useful experience to build on.
The program takes a systems approach to transforming secondary education. The program combines blended training for school leaders with leadership, competency development, professional learning, peer support and better use of data for school improvement.
This matters because school leadership is not an add-on to education reform. It is what enables teachers to apply, sustain and improve new approaches in their schools.
If Uganda expects teachers to change their practice, we cannot leave the people leading those teachers to acquire the skills by chance. Leadership preparation needs to begin before someone becomes a headteacher and continue through the early years of the role.
This requires action across the education system. The Ministry of Education and Sports and education service commissions should strengthen how readiness for leadership is assessed and supported.
District education structures should provide structured induction, coaching and mentoring for newly appointed headteachers.
Development partners should invest in approaches that can be integrated and scaled through the education system.
School leadership should also be judged by more than whether a school is well administered. Teachers need leaders who can support their professional growth, strengthen classroom practice and keep attention on learning.
Uganda has invested in changing the curriculum and strengthening teachers. Now we need to invest in the leaders who must make those changes stick. If reforms are to change what happens in classrooms, school leadership cannot remain an afterthought.
This article is by a Communication Advisor at VVOB in Uganda.