Developing the Capacity of Education Local Leaders for Sustaining Professional Learning Communities in Rwanda

Strengthening the leadership skills of school heads is key to improving education quality in Rwanda. While the Ministry of Education has made strong progress in teacher recruitment, training, and coordination, many head teachers still need support to lead effectively and implement the new competence-based curriculum.

A partnership launched in 2014 between government and non-governmental organisations responded to this need by developing certified Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes for school leaders. Using the Kirkpatrick training evaluation framework, early findings show positive results in both learning and behaviour change.

Through these programmes, head teachers, mentors, and education officers have gained new skills to lead schools and manage professional development at local levels. What began in six districts has now expanded to 14, demonstrating how this collaborative model can be scaled — and adapted — to strengthen education leadership in Rwanda and beyond.