What If Corporates Invested in School Leadership?
The 2024 Execs Back to School event highlighted the vital role that Corporate South Africa must play in shaping South Africa’s future.
Now in its fifth year, the event, hosted by Citizen Leader Lab and sponsored by Sphere Holdings, has become a powerful call to action to Corporate South Africa to actively contribute to empowering the country’s education system. Held on 16 October at the Yeoville Boys Primary school in Johannesburg, the event brought together prominent business executives and dedicated school principals, creating opportunities for collaboration, learning and impact.
Perceptions
Executives began the day by reflecting on South Africa’s education system. Common sentiments emerged: 30 years post-democracy, the system is still plagued by gross inequalities and leadership gaps. Many expressed concerns that schools are failing to adequately prepare young people for employment, with the skills taught not aligning with the country’s economic needs. Despite substantial investment in education, outcomes often fall short of expectations. However, the executives noted that while challenges are significant, opportunities for innovation and solutions abound.
School tour
Executives were immersed in the realities of a South African public school during a tour of Yeoville Boys. “The concept of strong school leadership epitomised my experience of the school tour,” remarked Muzi Mthethwa, a Business Transformation Leader from EY. ‘’The school principal shared valuable nuggets on being a servant leader. If all school principals were empowered in this way, it would make a difference in the education system,’’ he added.
Mona Naidoo, an Executive Coach, also highlighted the crucial role of school leadership in her reflection of the tour. “Without leadership, Yeoville Boys would not be the school it is today, ‘’ she observed.
Reflecting on her conversation with the principal of Yeoville Boys, Chrissy Dube, Head of Governance Insights and Analytics at Good Governance Africa, was struck by how the school’s classification within the education system reveals deeper inequalities. “Yeoville Boys is classified as a Quintile 4 school, meaning it receives less funding from the government. Yet, the surrounding community is a largely marginalised, immigrant community, and most of the learners come from here. The quintile system, intended to level the educational playing field, is actually exacerbating inequality,” she explained.
Defining a fully functional school
These reflections led to conversations about Citizen Leader Lab’s work, which is specifically designed to address these challenges by building the leadership capacity of school principals. Executives began to consider a critical question: “What does it take for a school to be fully functional?
A fully functional school goes beyond having adequate infrastructure or textbooks; it requires strong leadership, empowered teachers and a supportive environment where all learners can thrive.
CEO of Citizen Leader Lab, Komala Pillay, stressed this, stating that systemic change will only occur by building leadership capacity in schools. “Principals are the CEOs of schools, leading in complex environments rife with challenges. At Citizen Leader Lab, we set schools up for success by working alongside government, the single largest funder of education in our country. Our programmes enable corporate sector business leaders to bring their management skills and networks of support to schools, increasing the social capital of both the schools and their communities,’’ she said.
Turning talk into action
With South Africa continuing to face deep-rooted challenges in its education system, the question is no longer whether business should be involved, but how and to what extent. Andre Young, Managing Partner of Business Transformation Design 4.0, remarked: “If we are to live Ubuntu, we must return to our humanity and think about how each of us can contribute to education in this country. And it’s not just Yeoville Boys we must think about—we must think about liberating the intelligence of every African child.”
Magdalena Lamprecht-Wallhoff, Chairperson of the Swiss-based Gottlieb Naef Foundation, echoed the importance of a “tri-sectoral approach’’, that is a collaboration between government, civil society and business, to solving education challenges. She added: “I want those in both developed and developing countries to learn about the Citizen Leader Lab leadership development model.”
Real results
The event also highlighted the ongoing success stories from Citizen Leader Lab. Lindelani Singo, Principal of Yeoville Boys, credited Citizen Leader Lab for helping him transform his school into “the centre of the Yeoville community.” He shared: “I gained the skills to form partnerships that have been crucial to improving my school, including ensuring that learners have access to social workers, speech therapists and good nutrition through the school’s vegetable garden.”
Principal Louisa Lekalakala of Khula Sizwe Primary believes that Citizen Leader Lab’s leadership workshops, as well as the opportunities to network and learn from other principals and business leaders, enabled her to turn around the “underperforming school” she inherited.
Matshidiso Thobejane, Principal of Hans Kekana Secondary, shared how she improved her school’s matric pass rate. As she worked on becoming a better listener and refining her leadership style through Citizen Leader Lab, she noticed an increase in both parental involvement and teacher engagement. This collaborative effort culminated in the organisation of a 33-day matric camp, where learners were provided a focused environment away from distractions like drugs and alcohol. As a result of this initiative, the matric pass rate improved significantly, rising from 55% in 2022 to over 88% a year later.
What’s next?
This year executives left the event with a clear path on how to make a tangible impact in education. Itumeleng Kgaboesele, CEO of Sphere Holdings and a long-term supporter of Citizen Leader Lab and sponsors of Execs Back to School, said: “A functional country is built on the functionality of our schools and communities. For Sphere to be a sustainable business, we must operate in a sustainable country—and be part of co-creating that kind of country. We have around 26,000 public schools, yet only 25% of them are functioning as they should. Citizen Leader Lab has already impacted over 2,000 schools. Imagine if we could scale this impact?
Becoming involved with Citizen Leader Lab is an opportunity for donors and potential business leader participants to help achieve this goal.”
If you are a socially conscious business leader who would like the opportunity to contribute to education through a partnership with a principal from an under-resourced school please contact dorcas@citizenleaderlab.org or visit www.citizenleaderlab.org/leaders-for-education for more information.
