Unlocking the Potential of School Principals as Agents of Change

Education is the key that unlocks life. As the foundation of progress, education has the power to cultivate change in a generation. Yet, education systems remain an untapped potential as agents of change. School principals, in particular, have a crucial role in driving transformations within their communities.

Global Education Overview

Today, the world has more students than ever. According to the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024, over 110 million children and youth are enrolled in school. Despite this, global education systems are struggling with teacher shortage, inaccessibility, persistent gender gap, lack of inclusivity, and other issues.

After almost a decade of progress, the number of children and youth out of school has only reduced by 1%. About 251 million children and youth are still not in school, and the educational divide across nations is evident. While 3% of students are out of school in wealthier nations, the percentage reaches 33% in the poorest countries.

The funding gap is also concerning. While education is severely underfunded everywhere, low-income countries spend only $55 per learner every year while high-income countries spend $8,543.

Furthermore, literacy is in danger. An estimated 40% of primary-school-age children globally do not have basic reading skills. Alarmingly, about one out of seven youth and adults also lack basic literacy skills.

The report also noted, “Moreover, the frequent and widespread attacks on students, teachers, and educational institutions are posing a grave threat to fundamental human rights, including the right to quality education.”

Leadership in Education

Good leaders can help bring transformative changes to their institutions and communities. At school, they are the school principals and those in positions of responsibility. There is a critical need for strong education leaders to improve the quality of education systems everywhere.

“Effective school leaders bring out the best in teachers, who in turn deliver the best courses. School leaders are also key figures in ensuring that school environments are safe and inclusive, free from violence and bullying. The responsibilities they bear are heavy,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. “For this reason, it is critical to ensure that they are well selected, trained, trusted and supported throughout their career.”

Azoulay further noted, “Many leaders in education are passionate about their work and dedicated to making a difference on the ground, but rigid systems prevent them from striving for excellence. By enabling them to fulfil their potential, we can bring new energy into educational systems and inspire younger generations whose schooling experience can shape their views of leadership.”

Realities and Challenges for School Principals

Cultivating strong leadership in education systems is not an easy task. At the policy level, decision makers struggle to identify, prepare, and support people with the right skills and vision as leaders.

The report highlights four essential dimensions of leadership to nurture: set expectations, focus on learning, foster collaboration, and develop people. Yet, a mere one fifth of preparation and training programs for school principals across the globe focuses on all four of them—meanwhile, barely half of them focus on one.

Additionally, school principals seem to lack the time and space for instructional leadership. A survey of school principals in 14 middle-income countries revealed that 68% of their time is spent on routine management tasks.

There is also the matter of gender disparity. Men have more opportunities to lead schools, with only 11% of countries having measures in place to ensure gender diversity in the recruitment process.

Enabling School Principals as Leaders

The GEM Report offers several key recommendations to empower and support school principals. With synergy from relevant stakeholders across education systems, these may unlock their potential as agents of change.

The first recommendation is to create the conditions needed for school principals to maximize their functions. This involves empowering them with enough autonomy—balanced with accountability—to manage their schools’ financial and human resources. They also need to be able to make decisions regarding teaching and learning.

Next, the report underscores the importance of investing in the professionalization of school principals. It notes that the best teachers do not necessarily make the best principals. So, it is essential to have open, competitive, and inclusive school principal recruitment processes.

Beyond that, training and preparation programs are crucial. Almost half of principals in richer countries do not receive any training before assuming their leadership positions. A quarter of them even lack adequate training in practical skills like digital literacy, financial management, and data use.

The report also suggests setting national school leadership competency standards. The performance of school principals should be assessed against these standards. Then, feedback, recommendations, appraisals, and certifications can serve as the next steps based on the results.

Shared Leadership for Quality Education

Finally, it is vital to share leadership functions throughout the school. School principals need to meaningfully use school management committees, teachers, and even student councils as collaborative partners in consultation and engagement.

“Such collaborative relationships strengthen governance, improve decision making, enhance accountability, and foster inclusive and resilient environments,” highlighted the report. “[This environment] empowers teachers to lead within their classrooms, students to be active leaders with their peers, and parents and community members to be involved.”

Read the full report here.

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