Have you ever stopped to think about how political decision-making directly impacts the education received by millions of people? Today, more than ever, educational systems require firm and visionary leadership to address complex challenges such as persistent inequalities, social tensions, climate emergencies, or health crises. According to UNESCO’s GEM 2025 Report (previously discussed in this post), bold and thoughtful political leadership can make the difference between stagnated education and an education system that exemplifies resilience and adaptability.
Political leadership in education demands empathy, strategic vision, and the ability to forge alliances with a diverse array of stakeholders. It is this skill that transforms educational policies into true drivers of social transformation. Drawing on the conclusions of the GEM 2025 Report, we will explore how those who lead politically can become the cornerstone for developing inclusive, equitable, and forward-looking educational systems capable of facing the uncertainties of 21st-century society.
The Importance of Broadly Visioned Political Leadership
When schools must face conflicts, economic pressures, or rapid changes in teaching and learning methods, political leadership ceases to be an abstract concept and becomes a decisive factor. According to the GEM 2025 Report, political leadership is not about wielding power for its own sake but about positively influencing the direction of the educational system. But what does this truly entail? It involves aligning resources, objectives, and efforts so that the learning of all students—especially the most vulnerable—becomes the central axis of change.
Unlike school leadership, which focuses on the daily management of educational centres, political leadership operates on a larger scale, defining national policies, designing curricular frameworks, managing budgets, and building coalitions with teachers, families, experts, and international organisations. Here, contextual understanding, adaptability, and perseverance are just as crucial as technical expertise.
The key, according to the report, lies in cooperation with diverse stakeholders. An education minister who listens to experienced teachers, civil society organisations, or indigenous communities and integrates their voices into policy design is closer to forging an educational system that truly responds to the needs of learners and educators.
Political leadership in education demands empathy,
strategic vision, and the ability to forge alliances with a diverse array of
stakeholders.
Overcoming Obstacles: Continuity and Classroom Knowledge
However, the path is not free of obstacles. The GEM 2025 Report paints a concerning picture: in many countries, more than half of education ministers leave their positions in less than two years. This statistic is not just a number; it reflects a reality where efforts to implement long-term policies are thwarted before reforms have time to bear fruit. How can an early literacy programme be sustained if priorities shift and the initial team is replaced within 18 months? Political instability prevents reforms from taking root, creating a cycle of constant renewal that leaves the system halfway toward transformation.
Adding to this is the disconnect between policymakers and classroom realities. According to the report, only 23% of education ministers have prior teaching experience. This is significant: how can coherent initiatives be designed without understanding the daily dynamics of students, the specific challenges faced by teachers, or resource shortages in rural schools? This gap between offices and classrooms not only diminishes the relevance of measures but also undermines trust in proposed changes. Furthermore, the politicisation of certain appointments—where partisan alliances are prioritised over experience or technical capacity—exacerbates this divide, making it even harder to build trust in reforms.
The fragility of political leadership is further exacerbated by external pressures such as economic crises, armed conflicts, natural disasters, or health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, affected more than 1.6 billion students worldwide and put educational systems to an unprecedented test. However, it was also a revealing moment: in countries where policymakers acted decisively, flexibly, and equitably—for example, by quickly investing in digital learning platforms, supporting teacher training in virtual environments, or ensuring electronic devices for underprivileged students—it was demonstrated that it is possible to respond agilely to the unexpected. This requires not only leadership but also on-the-ground knowledge and the willingness to prioritise educational well-being over circumstantial interests.
Ultimately, continuity in office, classroom experience, and the willingness to foster technical and inclusive leadership form the foundation of a political direction capable of developing stable, coherent, and contextually adapted policies. Without these ingredients, the educational system risks remaining trapped in a back-and-forth motion that hinders its resilience and its capacity to provide quality education to future generations.
Four Dimensions of Robust Political Leadership
The GEM 2025 Report identifies four essential dimensions to guide political leadership in education. These are:
Setting Clear Expectations
Effective political leadership begins with establishing a clear vision for the country’s educational future. Leaders must define realistic yet ambitious objectives aligned with the educational system’s needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This involves setting concrete goals in areas such as equity, access, learning quality, and infrastructure.
However, the GEM 2025 Report warns that these expectations must be consistent and communicated to all system actors: schools, teachers, families, and communities. For instance, countries like Finland have demonstrated how a shared and well-articulated educational vision can align national efforts, fostering continuous system improvement.
Focusing on Learning
The central focus of political leadership should be student learning. Beyond measurable outcomes like mathematics or reading performance, educational policies must consider the holistic development of students, including socio-emotional, civic, and adaptive skills.
The report highlights that countries with leaders committed to learning achieve significant improvements in educational outcomes. In Jamaica, for example, programmes implemented by visionary ministries integrated academic support strategies and emotional well-being initiatives, significantly reducing dropout rates. This approach demonstrates that prioritising learning involves addressing barriers preventing students from reaching their potential.
Promoting Collaboration
Collaboration is a fundamental pillar of effective political leadership in education. Leaders must forge alliances among governments, local actors, communities, civil organisations, and international bodies. Such cooperation enables the tackling of complex challenges and the creation of more inclusive and sustainable educational policies.
The GEM 2025 Report highlights examples like Puebla, Mexico, where coordination among political leaders, school directors, and supervisors was key to implementing successful educational reforms. Similarly, national dialogues in countries like Norway have encouraged teacher and family participation in decision-making, generating policies better adapted to local contexts.
However, collaboration does not arise spontaneously. It requires political leadership that promotes participation, builds trust, and creates effective dialogue spaces.
Capacity Development
Finally, political leadership must drive capacity development at all levels of the educational system. This includes investing in the training of teachers, school leaders, and administrators, ensuring they have the skills and resources needed to implement policies.
The GEM 2025 Report notes that leadership training remains insufficient in many countries. For instance, less than 50% of training programmes for school leaders address key dimensions such as collaboration or professional development of teaching staff. Political leaders have a responsibility to create policies that integrate continuous training programmes, fostering the professionalisation of school and educational management leadership.
In countries like Singapore, capacity development has materialised through structured training programmes where school leaders receive mentoring and practical training, significantly improving management and educational outcomes.
Political leadership in education is not merely an exercise of power; it involves inspiring trust, mobilising resources, creating consensus, and investing in the future.
Strengthening Political Leadership in Education
The GEM 2025 Report underscores that strengthening political leadership in education is key to transforming educational systems and preparing them for current and future challenges. To achieve this, it presents concrete strategies to professionalise leadership, promote transparency, and foster gender equity in decision-making roles.
Investing in Specialised Training for Ministers and Technical Teams
One of the most significant challenges in political leadership in education is the lack of specific training for leaders. According to the report, only 23% of education ministers have prior teaching experience, leading to policies disconnected from classroom realities. To bridge this gap, GEM 2025 recommends investing in specialised training programmes for both ministers and their technical teams.
These programmes should focus on educational management, data analysis, and evidence-based decision-making. Best practices can be observed in Singapore, where political and technical leaders participate in structured programmes combining theoretical training with practical experiences. Additionally, mentoring and access to experts enable policymakers to better understand the systems they govern and design effective, context-sensitive solutions.
Ensuring Transparent and Open Selection Processes for Educational Leaders
The politicisation of appointments in education is another major obstacle. In many countries, school and technical leaders are selected not based on merit but on political affiliations, compromising the quality and stability of educational management. The GEM 2025 Report emphasises the need for transparent, open, and competency-based selection processes for ministers, school directors, and supervisors.
Countries like Romania have demonstrated that competitive selections, where candidates are objectively evaluated, improve educational outcomes. Likewise, professionalising school leadership through clear criteria and impartial processes strengthens public trust in educational institutions and ensures that selected leaders possess the skills needed to tackle sector challenges.
Encouraging Greater Participation of Women in Key Political Roles
The GEM 2025 Report highlights a key finding: countries with greater female representation in political leadership roles have achieved significant progress in education. Women in decision-making positions tend to prioritise policies geared towards educational equity and improved education spending. However, globally, only 30% of education ministers are women, and this gap persists across other leadership levels.
To address this disparity, GEM 2025 recommends implementing active policies to encourage female participation, such as leadership development programmes, mentoring, and temporary measures like gender quotas. In countries like Rwanda, reserving 30% of leadership positions for women has brought about significant change, increasing diversity in decision-making and promoting more inclusive policies.
Building Resilience Through Transformative Political Leadership
Political leadership in education is not merely an exercise of power; it involves inspiring trust, mobilising resources, creating consensus, and investing in the future. How can this be achieved? By recognising the complexity of the educational landscape, understanding that there are no quick fixes, and remembering that every decision impacts millions of students. Resilience—the ability of a system to withstand tensions, reinvent itself, and thrive—is forged through interaction and dialogue.
It is not about imposing solutions but co-constructing policies alongside teachers, families, specialists, and communities. This demanding work requires patience and a willingness to listen to those who have often been excluded from decision-making. But the effort is worthwhile: robust political leadership can bring us closer to an education system prepared for present uncertainties and future transformations.
Strengthening this type of leadership is not merely an academic recommendation. It is an urgent task, a starting point for education to cease being fragile in the face of crises and to become a beacon of hope and sustainable development. In this way, future generations will find in schools not just answers but also the tools to formulate the questions and solutions that tomorrow will require. Are we ready to take on this challenge? The decision lies in the hands of those who lead and in ours, as we demand and support political leadership truly committed to education.
