In every high-performing education system, there is a powerful yet often underappreciated force at work—school leaders. These individuals play a critical role not only in managing day-to-day school operations but in shaping the learning environment, inspiring teachers, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed. Two major international studies—the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024/25 and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA‑PLM)—underscore the indispensable role that school leaders play in improving learning outcomes and advancing educational equity.

The 2024/25 GEM Report, titled “Leadership in Education: Lead for Learning,” emphasises that school leadership is second only to teaching in its influence on student learning. However, school leaders need more than just administrative authority—they must be empowered as instructional and transformational leaders. This means setting a clear learning vision, building collaborative school cultures, supporting teacher development, and ensuring learning is at the core of every decision.

Despite their importance, school leaders face numerous systemic challenges:

• Many are appointed without transparent, competency-based selection processes.
• In many countries, they receive little or no leadership training prior to or during their tenure.
• A significant portion of their time—up to 68% in some contexts—is consumed by administrative tasks, limiting their focus on instructional leadership.

The GEM Report calls for a paradigm shift in how we recruit, train, and support school leaders. Its key recommendations include:

• Professionalising school leadership through fair selection, structured training, and mentoring.
• Granting autonomy over pedagogical, staffing, and financial decisions, while ensuring clear accountability.
• Promoting shared and inclusive leadership by engaging teachers, students, and communities in school governance.
• Strengthening system-level leadership to translate national policies into impactful school-level action.

SEA‑PLM, a regional learning assessment initiative across six ASEAN countries, complements the GEM findings by offering data-driven insights into leadership and its effect on primary education.

A recent analysis titled “Women in Learning Leadership,” using SEA‑PLM data, reveals that:

• Women remain underrepresented in school leadership roles in many Southeast Asian countries.
• Students in schools led by women perform as well or better than those in male-led schools—highlighting the importance of inclusive and equitable leadership representation.

Moreover, SEA‑PLM highlights the leadership roles required at all levels—from school heads to district coordinators—in implementing assessments, using data for planning, and creating conditions that support quality learning. Countries such as Lao PDR and Cambodia have begun using SEA‑PLM findings to reform leadership policies and invest in the capacity development of school principals and education officials.

In its implementation, SEA‑PLM also illustrates how leadership is essential to turning data into action—by interpreting learning outcomes, identifying equity gaps, and coordinating responses that reach every child, including those in remote or marginalised communities.

Together, the GEM Report and SEA‑PLM findings send a powerful and consistent message: strong, well-prepared, and inclusive school leadership is key to improving education quality and achieving equity.

As the education sector grapples with widening learning gaps and rising demands, it is time to recognize and invest in school leaders as agents of transformation. The GEM Report offers a blueprint for system-wide reform, while SEA‑PLM provides real-world evidence from Southeast Asia on how leadership makes a tangible difference.

Empowering school leaders—through training, autonomy, and inclusion—is not just an administrative reform. It is a foundational strategy for achieving quality education for all.