This is an opportunity to be part of something transformational for education and leadership in Africa.

Inaugural School | For January 2024

Through generous seed funding from social entrepreneur George Bevis and the support of a small but world class team of experts assembled to deliver on his vision, Crucible aims to establish 100 leadership schools across Africa by 2045. This is a once-in-a-career opportunity to become the founding Principal of the very first Crucible secondary school, located in Zambia.

Crucible’s premise is that great secondary education is a necessary precondition for development. Countries that have experienced the most rapid economic development have well-educated leaders in all sectors of their economies and societies. Crucible recognises that there are too few schools focusing on leadership in Africa – and without such schools there is little chance of creating a generation of leaders who can deliver economic impact and long-term prosperity across the continent.

Crucible graduates will be academically brilliant, but also equipped with a much broader set of life skills and a deeper understanding of how they can make a difference to their communities. They will be challenged to make a meaningful contribution to their country’s future. The curriculum will be a mix of examined STEM subjects, a wide-ranging arts programme and project-based learning to develop entrepreneurial and team management skills. Sports and community engagement will be encouraged in an environment that also builds leadership potential and fosters independent thinking.

The first school will be residential and sixth form/upper secondary only so that it can allow scope for experimentation and establish a proof of concept quickly. Later schools will be for 11-18 year-olds.

The search is now on for the school’s Founding Principal. The Principal will require experience across all aspects of a school, with founding experience a distinct advantage. Above all, they will need the hunger and ambition that will enable them to share the vision of the founders and to turn that into the reality of a school. They will require a commitment to Africa and to education as a force for change. The Founding Principal will need to be an embodiment of Crucible’s philosophy because they will inspire the founding staff and students through their commitment.

All eyes will be on this first school, and the Principal will have the initiative and drive to establish a school that will be outstanding in its own right and will inspire the founding of subsequent schools. This will require not only experience, but determination and tenacity, resilience and flexibility, credibility and huge energy. Above all it will need a belief in the power of education to transform a continent.

The position is available for January 2024 or potentially earlier.