ADEA 2025: Education Ministry introducing National Standards for School Leaders – Prof. Oduro

The Ministry of Education has developed a set of national standards to guide school leadership practices and improve the quality of educational leadership across the country, Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education, Professor G. K. T. Oduro, has revealed.

According to him, the initiative seeks to provide clear benchmarks for assessing the performance of school leaders in alignment with national values and priorities.

Speaking as a panelist at the 2025 Triennale of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in Accra on Thursday, Prof. Oduro explained that the standards were born out of the realization that leading schools require specialized leadership skills beyond theoretical content programmes.

“In Ghana, we came to understand that school issues are complex, and there was a need for targeted leadership training before appointments are made,” he said. “We already have leadership development programmes focusing on learning, transformation, and others, but there was a missing link, the absence of clear standards against which we can evaluate performance.”

He revealed that the national school leadership standards are built on three key pillars: *pedagogical leadership, **systems leadership, and **community leadership*.

The first pillar, pedagogical leadership, focuses on teachers’ ability to demonstrate leadership in the classroom, ensuring that every child is recognized and no learner is left behind.

“If school leaders focus on learning rather than just teaching, the outcomes will be better. You can’t miss teaching when your focus is on learning,” he noted.

The second pillar, systems leadership, he disclosed, emphasizes the need for an enabling environment where teachers and students have the resources necessary for effective teaching and learning.

The third pillar, community leadership, promotes stakeholder participation in education, especially in early learning.

Prof. Oduro cited the case of an NGO: Lively Minds, which engaged parents to support the use of local language in promoting learning at the kindergarten level, as an example of a community leadership model.

He said the Minister for Education is preparing to present the proposed leadership standards to Cabinet for approval, paving the way for their adoption as national policy.

“This framework will ensure school leaders uphold accountability, quality, and inclusiveness in Ghana’s education system,” he added.