A continent-wide push to fix gaps in Researchers across 14 African countries engage in a continent-wide initiative after 39 grants worth USD865,000 were awarded to strengthen evidence and training in school leadership systems.
leadership evidence is translating research findings into action through 39 new grants aimed at reshaping how African education systems train and support school leaders.
The initiative has awarded USD865,000 to researchers across 14 African countries under its Cohort 1 Research Grants Programme, targeting what organisers describe as weak and fragmented evidence shaping leadership policy across the continent.
The African Centre for School Leadership said the programme responds directly to findings from its Continental Mapping of School Leadership Initiatives in Africa, presented at the Kenya Institute of Management and Education International Conference in Nairobi.
That mapping found school leadership research remains underfunded and poorly coordinated, with 83 per cent of studies treating leadership only as part of broader education research rather than a standalone field.
It also showed governments often design leadership standards, training systems and accountability frameworks without sufficient context-specific evidence.
Selected grantees include doctoral researchers, postdoctoral scholars and senior fellows from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Malawi among 14 countries.
The programme prioritises researchers working in rural, arid, semi-arid and conflict-affected areas under its gender equality and social inclusion framework.
Funding is split into 25 descriptive action research grants of up to USD15,000 and 14 comparative action research grants of up to USD35,000, with studies running up to 24 months.
Eight thematic areas guide the research, including leadership preparation pathways, Afrocentric leadership models, equity and inclusion, digital transformation, teacher practice, system governance, distributed leadership and crisis leadership.
Each grantee will produce a policy brief for education ministries and at least one peer reviewed journal article.
“I am particularly excited because I conceived the original research idea following my years of research involvement in Botswana,” said Obumneke Ugwu, a Cohort 1 grantee affiliated with Rainbow Education Consultancy Services.
Ugwu said the grant marks his first international research contract since establishing his consultancy.
Leyla Abdullahi, director of research and programme delivery at the African Centre for School Leadership, said the mapping exposed a structural gap between research and policy.
“Across Africa, critical decisions about how school leaders are selected, trained and supported are often being made with limited contextually grounded evidence,” said Abdullahi.
She said the programme aims to build a connected, Africa-led research ecosystem that directly informs policy decisions.
Findings will be disseminated through government forums, academic conferences, peer-reviewed journals and digital platforms.
