Leaders in Teaching Uganda: empowering teachers, strengthening learning systems

Across Uganda, secondary schools continue to face persistent challenges in attracting, supporting, and retaining qualified teachers, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Yet teachers remain the single most important influence on how young people learn, grow, and prepare for life beyond school. When teachers are supported, learners thrive.

It is this understanding that lies at the heart of the Leaders in Teaching (LiT) Uganda program.

A national response to a continental challenge

Leaders in Teaching Uganda is a five-year program (2025–2030) implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. The program is aligned with Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy, which seeks to enable 30 million young people in Africa to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. In Uganda, the strategy aims to support 4.3 million young people, and strengthening the quality of secondary education is central to achieving this goal.

Building on successful implementation in countries such as Ghana and Rwanda, the Leaders in Teaching program focuses on improving both the quality and quantity of teachers, ensuring that young people acquire the skills and competencies needed for meaningful employment, lifelong learning, and productive lives.

Nationally, the program is aligned with the priorities and reforms of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), including Uganda Vision 2040, the National Teachers’ Policy (2019), and the National Teachers’ Motivation and Continuous Professional Development frameworks.

A strong consortium for system-wide impact

The Leaders in Teaching Uganda program is implemented through a consortium model led by the Luigi Giussani Foundation (LGF) and UNICEF, working closely with the MoES, which provides strategic oversight and leadership.

LGF brings decades of experience in educational research, teacher capacity building, and systems strengthening, while UNICEF leads efforts to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning. Together, they coordinate national and international partners to deliver a coherent, large-scale program that strengthens the teaching profession across the country.

“Leaders in Teaching Uganda reflects a shared commitment to strengthening secondary education as a pathway to dignified work for young people. By investing in teachers and school leaders today, we are helping to prepare a generation of learners with the skills, confidence, and resilience needed for tomorrow’s labour market,” said Emmanuel Adengo, Consortium Manager, Leaders in Teaching Uganda.

Four pillars across the teacher lifecycle

The program adopts a holistic approach built around four interconnected pillars, addressing the entire teacher lifecycle:

Recruit
Led by the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda (FENU), with support from Teach for Uganda, this pillar promotes fair and equitable teacher recruitment. It also pilots the placement and mentoring of young volunteer female STEM graduates in rural schools, helping address staffing gaps while inspiring learners and strengthening gender equity.

Train
Led by the British Council, with Edukans International Uganda and Brainwave Careers as downstream partners, this pillar strengthens pre-service and in-service teacher education. It focuses on competency-based curriculum delivery, gender-responsive pedagogy, digital literacy, life skills, entrepreneurship, and career guidance to ensure learning remains relevant to the world of work.

Lead
Led by VVOB – education for development, with PEAS Uganda as a downstream partner, the Lead pillar supports school leaders to improve leadership and management practices. By strengthening leadership, the program creates positive, supportive learning environments where teachers and learners can succeed.

Motivate
Led by STiR Education, this pillar focuses on strengthening teacher motivation and professional growth. Through mentorship, recognition, and continuous learning opportunities, it aims to elevate the status of the teaching profession and improve retention and job satisfaction.

These pillars are reinforced by cross-cutting partners supporting communications for impact; monitoring, evaluation, accountability, research and learning (MEARL); financial management and capacity strengthening, and disability inclusion, ensuring that the program remains inclusive, accountable, and adaptive.

Reaching teachers and learners at scale

The Leaders in Teaching program in Uganda targets 2,091 secondary schools across the country, including 1,000 government schools and 1,091 private schools. The program will directly support:

• 67,000 in-service teachers
• 7,500 pre-service teachers
• 300 university tutors across 10 universities and five teacher training institutions
• 6,273 school leaders

Through its scholarship component, the program will support 1,000 female student teachers to train as STEM and ICT educators, including 5% persons with disabilities and 7% refugees or individuals from marginalised communities.

Indirectly, the program is proposed to impact an estimated 627,300 learners, based on an average of 300 students per participating school.

Investing in teachers, shaping Uganda’s future

By 2030, Leaders in Teaching Uganda aims to achieve four key outcomes:
Increased numbers of qualified and gender-inclusive teachers; strengthened teacher competencies for effective delivery of competency-based education; improved leadership practices in secondary schools; and enhanced teacher motivation reflected in professional growth, recognition, and retention.

At its core, Leaders in Teaching Uganda is an investment in people. By empowering teachers and school leaders, the program is strengthening education systems and helping to build a skilled, confident, and hopeful generation of young Ugandans.

Through strong partnerships, evidence-based approaches, and sustained commitment, LGF and its partners are working to ensure that every learner is taught by a motivated, capable, and supported teacher — today and into the future.

Join the movement

Strengthening Uganda’s secondary education system requires collective commitment. Leaders in Teaching Uganda is more than a program; it is a movement to elevate the teaching profession and equip young people with the skills needed for dignified work and lifelong success.

Whether you are a policymaker, educator, development partner, school leader, or young graduate, your engagement matters.