“We are moving beyond just building schools to transforming classroom outcomes,” says Usha Rudradat, Education Officer in Education District 11, North Georgetown, Guyana.
At the core of Guyana’s education reform is the growing recognition that effective leadership is essential to improving teaching and learning. School and district leaders are increasingly seen as the natural bridge between everyday classroom practice and national education policy, and as the drivers of sustainable improvement.
“As we modernize the curriculum and expand digital access, we need now, more than ever, leaders who can bridge the gap between national policy and daily teaching,” Rudradat explains.
Building leadership through NELA
Over the past year, Rudradat has participated in the National Education Leadership Academy (NELA) flagship training programme, an initiative led by Guyana’s Ministry of Education with funding from the Global Partnership for Education’s System Transformation Grant and support from the Inter-American Development Bank and IIEP-UNESCO.
Since its launch in 2025, NELA has supported 100 current and aspiring education leaders across Guyana. The programme is designed to strengthen instructional leadership, improve school management, and help translate national education reforms into better learning outcomes for students.
Rudradat says the training has shifted her leadership approach from administrative supervision towards more active instructional leadership. “I am actively working with teachers to improve their classroom techniques, moving away from just checking books to conducting classroom observations and providing constructive feedback,” she says.
Recent discussions with the Ministry are moving the NELA toward a permanent pillar of the country’s educational landscape, and its impact will extend beyond the completion of the programme’s two pilot cohorts in 2029.
Fellow Education Officer Akash Persaud, also working in Education District 11, stresses that leadership must be grounded in school realities. To support this, the establishment of the NELA and development of its training programme have involved regular consultations with education stakeholders across Guyana, to identify key challenges and contextual realities that can inform the training.
READ MORE: https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/articles/how-education-leadership-transforms-guyanas-schools
