Ghana
Strengthening instructional leadership in Ghana
In Ghana, low-fee private schools play a crucial role in the education ecosystem, comprising nearly 40% of schools, reaching about one-third of the country’s school-going children. Yet school leaders across all types of schools often lack the training, networks, and support they need to lead schools that support teachers, foster student well-being, and improve learning outcomes.
We are partnering with the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), the Institute of Teacher Education and Development (INTED), and UNICEF Innocenti to understand and strengthen the role of school leadership across Ghana’s education system.
Our Work with GNAPS
GNAPS represents over 70% of Ghana’s low-fee private schools and advocates for improved quality and support for its members. In 2021, we began working with GNAPS, starting with post-COVID school strengthening
School strengthening post-COVID
In 2022, GNAPS adapted GSL’s school reopening resources to local needs and trained over 1,000 school leaders across the country. Sessions focused on mental health, learning loss, and blended learning strategies. School leaders expressed a clear need: access to deeper, long-term leadership development.
Grow Your School program
In 2023, GSL and GNAPS launched Grow Your School, a five-day training program focused on:
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Sharing leadership among school teams.
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Supporting teachers through lesson observation and feedback.
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Growing the school with sound and inclusive financial management practices
The program reached school leadership teams from 100 schools and laid the foundation for our ongoing training work in Ghana. In 2024, we deepened this work by developing an enhanced version of the Grow Your School program which we renamed Leadership for Learning. We piloted the program with school leadership teams from 40 schools in Greater Accra to understand how to further strengthen instructional leadership support for school leaders in the country.
Our Work with IEPA
IEPA is part of the University of Cape Coast, and is dedicated to advancing educational planning and administration through research, training, and policy development. We began partnering with IEPA in 2023.
The Consortium for School Leadership in Ghana
In 2024, we worked with IEPA to convene a group of stakeholders to both strengthen our work on school leadership and to promote and advocate for school leadership in the country. This group, called the Consortium for School Leadership in Ghana, includes funders, academics, researchers, and implementers. The Consortium has reviewed the Leadership for Learning program, suggesting recommendations to enhance it further as we scale it to more school leaders in the country. With this consortium, we hope to build a shared vision for school leadership in Ghana, ensuring policy and program recommendations are informed by both evidence and the realities of school leaders.
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Our Work with INTED
INTED is a private non-profit organization based in Ghana, founded in 2011. Since its inception, INTED has trained, certified, and supported over 5,000 teachers and heads in Ghana.
Leadership for Learning
In partnership with INTED, we are implementing a new version of the Leadership for Learning program, which has been developed with inputs from the Consortium for School Leadership in Ghana. Beginning in 2025 and continuing through 2026, this revised program will be rolled out to a broader range of schools, both public and private, in rural and urban areas. The new Leadership for Learning program will offer a blended approach, combining in-person and online support, and will span just over a year. This extended duration, a shift from the previous three-month engagement, is designed to enable school leaders to more deeply engage with and sustain new practices. It will also allow for a comprehensive assessment of how effectively the program addresses the diverse needs of school leaders in various settings, and the impact that participating school leaders have on teaching and learning at school.
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Our work with UNICEF Innocenti
We are collaborating with UNICEF Innocenti on a research study exploring the barriers women face in becoming and succeeding as school leaders in Ghana. The forthcoming research report and Women Leaders Research Toolkit, drawn from research conducted in 2023-2024, will spotlight the challenges and opportunities for improving gender equity in educational leadership, helping to inform program design and policy advocacy. Learn more about the study here.
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