School leaders provided a great deal of information for the 2021 PILNA. This included school leaders’ perceptions of their school’s resources, external events that may have affected learning at their schools, and resource challenges they were experiencing, as well as their job satisfaction and well-being.

A high proportion of students had school leaders who reported various resource challenges that affected instruction. These included challenges with the school’s infrastructure, such as shortages or poor conditions of toilets, challenges with the availability of instructional materials, and challenges with teacher absenteeism.

Generally, school leaders are highly satisfied and proud of their work but are less frequently content with their salaries. Large proportions of students have school leaders who are experiencing well-being challenges. Many students have school leaders who frequently experience stress (75%) and feel overwhelmed (74%) because of their job, and between 34% and 69% of students have school leaders experiencing frequent well-being challenges. The implication is that school leaders are sustained by a sense of purpose or, in the absence of this, are at risk of disengagement.