Training or demotion? Rethinking accountability for school leaders in Rwanda

School leaders are increasingly expected to improve learning while being held to high-stakes performance targets. Rwanda makes the resulting tension unusually visible. In 2025, 890 school leaders were reassigned to teaching after a national performance review. In 2026, an examination-malpractice investigation implicated education officials, headteachers and school staff, while investigators publicly linked the alleged scheme to pressure to raise pass rates under education-related Imihigo (performance contract) targets. This opinion piece argues that accountability is indispensable but can become counterproductive when performance demands, professional capacity, contextual support and consequences fall out of alignment. I call this the capacity–accountability gap. Drawing on Rwanda's experience, the article proposes developmental accountability: diagnose before sanction, make professional support part of accountability, use multiple indicators, protect data integrity and reserve punitive consequences for persistent failure or proven misconduct.