This study examines how school leaders in Chivi District, Zimbabwe, perceive, prioritise, and manage risk within resource-constrained rural school environments. Drawing on risk governance theory and bounded rationality, the study explores how structural vulnerabilities shape leadership decision-making and institutional management practices. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining quantitative survey data from 60 school leaders with qualitative interviews to examine patterns of risk exposure, leadership responses, and contextual constraints affecting risk governance. The findings indicate that financial instability (88%), safety hazards (82%), and infrastructural deficits (79%) represent the most significant risks affecting school operations. While many schools implement visible safety measures such as drills and security procedures, formal governance mechanisms—including systematic risk assessments, financial audits, and structured community risk committees—remain limited. Regression analysis further reveals that resource availability, risk management training, leadership experience, and stakeholder participation significantly predict risk management effectiveness, with resource availability emerging as the strongest predictor. Qualitative findings highlight additional constraints including resource scarcity, limited professional training in risk governance, bureaucratic restrictions, and weak community engagement. These conditions contribute to largely reactive leadership practices. The study introduces the concept of risk-mediated leadership, emphasising institutional stability as a priority in high-vulnerability educational contexts.

This study examined how school leaders in Chivi District, Zimbabwe, perceive and manage institutional risks within resource-constrained rural school environments. The findings demonstrate that risk management forms a central dimension of leadership practice in contexts characterised by financial uncertainty, infrastructural challenges, and limited institutional resources. The study revealed that financial instability, safety hazards, and deteriorating infrastructure represent the most significant risks affecting school operations. While school leaders have adopted visible safety practices such as drills and basic security measures, systematic governance mechanisms—including formal risk assessments, financial oversight structures, and structured community risk committees—remain limited. Regression analysis further indicated that resource availability, risk management training, leadership experience, and stakeholder participation significantly influence the effectiveness of school-level risk management practices. Among these factors, resource availability emerged as the strongest predictor, highlighting the importance of institutional capacity in strengthening risk governance. The study contributes to educational leadership scholarship by introducing the concept of risk-mediated leadership, which recognises that leadership priorities in high-risk environments often emphasise institutional stability and operational resilience before instructional transformation. Overall, the findings suggest that strengthening risk governance within rural schools requires coordinated policy support, leadership capacity development, and improved resource allocation mechanisms.

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