Developing countries such as Kenya and Nigeria have introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) policies to ensure that all children have access to basic education. However, despite introducing these free primary education initiatives, both countries encounter significant challenges that affect their effectiveness and sustainability. Key issues include inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teaching resources, poor infrastructure, and sociocultural factors such as gender disparities, poverty, and rural-urban divides, all of which hinder equitable access to quality education.

This PhD research examines the leadership roles and skills of street-level bureaucrats who are the heart of policy implementation, specifically the primary headteachers, as they navigate the complexities of implementing FPE through co-production initiatives. The focus is on how headteachers engage with stakeholders, including parents and communities. By employing a comparative case study design to investigate co-production dynamics, where responsibility for educational outcomes is shared among stakeholders, the research will highlight how headteachers practice leadership to facilitate this collaborative process and adapt to the challenges associated with implementing the Free Education Policy. Ultimately, this research seeks to contribute to the broader discourse on the crucial role of leadership in facilitating co-production. It also seeks to develop sustainable co-productive strategies that have the potential to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on quality education.