A growing cohort of education leaders across Africa works each day to drive education innovation in service of their communities. The Anzisha Education Accelerator (AEA) invests in and supports these leaders, recognizing their potential to build new models of excellence in and for communities across Africa.
Since its launch, the Accelerator program has supported nine education entrepreneurs with exceptional schools in nine countries across Africa: enabling them to share resources, information, best practices, and opportunities as they ampliify their impact.
The Anzisha Education Accelerator offers community, mentorship, and development for these leaders and their teams, helping them develop as education leaders on the continent. Each Accelerator school gains access to programs that foster ongoing leadership development for founders; coaching that advances foundational organisational systems like finance and M&E; and professional development for teacher-leaders in the school community.
Participating schools hone a unique, locally-rooted approach to education; strengthen educational delivery; improve higher-order outcomes for all children; and grow the number of students they serve. They lay a foundation for continuous improvement, and access ongoing connections to expert advisers, mentors and sources of capital through the ALforEducation Network.
We expect that many of these Accelerator schools will become magnets for other education leaders who seek to learn from their example. These leaders and their schools thus become levers for change in the broader education system.
The Executive Director of COBURWAS International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA) Ntakamaze Nziyonvira from Uganda, joined the AEA pilot program as a fellow in 2019.
In the beginning the plan was for COBURWAS to help orphans by establishing an orphanage where they can be fed. As time passed, however, they began to see the needs of the children developing and what was once known as an orphanage turned into a school: The Coburwas Primary School.
Today, COBURWAS Primary School is the highest performing refugee camp school in Uganda – offering a superior education. But Nziyonvira does not consider his aspirations for the school met, noting that there are many ways in which the school can and must improve to become a true model of excellence for Africa. His relentless focus on excellence and improvement is a quality he shares with his peers in the Accelerator program.
“Coming to ALA allowed us to see the potential COBURWAS has. On the ALA campus we have been able to see different cultures come together as one, how students and teachers interact, and how pastoral care, discipline and behavioural challenges are handled. From this experience we know that we can implement great changes in time,” said Nziyonvira.
Join the Next Cohort of AEA Fellows
We are recruiting our next cohort of young African school leaders. More specifically, we’re looking for leaders who meet the following criteria:
- Currently running schools that have a proven track record of impact in local communities
- Driven to improve and create a model of excellence consistent with their mission
- Working full time on their venture
- Passionate commitment to the betterment of education on the continent
- A vision for growing their schools both in reach and in quality
If the above resonates with you, please hit the Apply button below!
