education in modern world

Our education system is losing relevance. Here's how to unleash its potential

Our education system was founded to supply workers with a relatively fixed set of skills and knowledge

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• Our current education system is built on the Industrial Revolution model and focuses on IQ, in particular memorization and standardization;
• We must update education with job readiness, the ability to compete against smart machines and the creation of long-term economic value in mind;
• Education access, equity and quality must be improved to solve the global education crisis – 72 million children of primary education age are not in school.

Education today is in crisis. Even before the coronavirus pandemic struck, in many parts of the world, children who should be in school aren’t; for those who are, their schools often lack the resources to provide adequate instruction. At a time when quality education is arguably more vital to one’s life chances than ever before, these children are missing out on the education needed to live fulfilling lives as adults and to participate in and contribute to the world economy.

Historically, education has been the shortest bridge between the haves and the have-nots, bringing progress and prosperity for both individuals and countries, but the current education system is showing its age. Founded at a time when industries needed workers with a relatively fixed set of skills and knowledge, it is losing its relevance in an era of innovation, disruption and constant change, where adaptability and learning agility are most needed.

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Two things that need to change for the future of education, the world is failing miserably on access to education. here's how to change course, how higher education can adapt to the future of work.

Our current education system, built on the Industrial Revolution model, focuses on IQ, in particular memorization and standardization – skills that will be easily and efficiently supplanted by artificial and augmented intelligence (AI), where IQ alone isn’t sufficient. A good blend of IQ (intelligence) + EQ (emotional intelligence) + RQ (resilience) is critical to unleashing a student’s potential.

Evaluating our current education system against three criteria – job readiness, ability to compete against smart machines for jobs and creating long-term economic value – reveals the following:

• 34% of students believe their schools are not preparing them for success in the job market . We need to fix the bridge from education to employability;
• 60% of future jobs haven’t been developed yet and 40% of nursery-age children (kindergarteners) in schools today will need to be self-employed to have any form of income (Source: WEF Future of Jobs Report). We need to prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet and to become entrepreneurs. What we need to learn, how we learn, and the role of the teacher are all changing.

The $1.5 trillion in student debt in the US is the second highest debt after home mortgages . With tuition fees expected to break $100,000 per year , student debt will be crushing for future generations. Even Barack Obama was reportedly paying off student loans in his 40s . With the average new college graduate making $48,400 , many people will be paying off their student loans well into their retirement, hurting their ability to save, buy homes, support their families and contribute to philanthropic efforts.

While we work to transform education, we also need to make it more accessible. According to UNICEF, more than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school, while 750 million adults are illiterate and do not have the ability to improve their and their children’s living conditions . As we take on education transformation, daisy-chaining across three crucial categories (access, equity, quality/impact) is critical for unleashing potential.

Access means ensuring learners everywhere are not prevented by circumstances from being in school and getting an education. Access to education is low in many developing nations, but inequalities also exist within developed countries that are highly stratified socially , for example, in the UK . How do we make education/learning more accessible? What role can technology play? How can countries, particularly developing ones, hold on to top talent to ensure economic progress?

Equity means ensuring every child has the resources needed to get to school and to thrive, regardless of circumstance. While equality means treating every student the same; equity means making sure every student has the support they need to be successful. The essential drivers are fairness (ensuring that personal and social circumstances do not prevent students from achieving their academic potential); and inclusion (setting a basic minimum standard for all students regardless of background, gender or location). This leads to several questions: how do you raise awareness in communities? What role can technology play in creating personalized and differentiated learning so all students get the kind of instruction they need to succeed?

The definition of quality and success has to move beyond standardized test scores to a more holistic measurement tied to life improvements and societal impact. Quality education would provide learners with capabilities and competencies required to make them economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, enhance individual well-being and contribute to community. The impact orientation will help shift our gaze away from behaviour and activities (attending school and checking the box) to value-creation environments (from personalized learning and career counselling to job readiness and becoming responsible global citizens).

It’s in everybody’s best interest to solve the global education crisis:

• 13 million US students are likely to drop out of school during the next decade costing the country $3 trillion;
• Compared to high-school dropouts, graduates pay more taxes, draw less from social welfare programmes and are less likely to commit a crime;
• An 8% improvement in US PISA scores in the next 20 years would boost GDP by about $70 trillion in the next 80 years.

“Investing in education is the most cost-effective way to drive economic development, improve skills and opportunities for young women and men, and unlock progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals," says United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres .

So let us reset education and learning to meet 21st-century needs , shaping a path from education to employability and economic independence.

Let’s all commit to collectively helping to break a link in the shackles holding education back. Let’s blend the lessons of the past with the technology of the present and future to truly transform education, giving students the ability to think, learn and evolve no matter what the challenges that await them tomorrow and unleash their potential to benefit the world.

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Global Education

By Hannah Ritchie, Veronika Samborska, Natasha Ahuja, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser

A good education offers individuals the opportunity to lead richer, more interesting lives. At a societal level, it creates opportunities for humanity to solve its pressing problems.

The world has gone through a dramatic transition over the last few centuries, from one where very few had any basic education to one where most people do. This is not only reflected in the inputs to education – enrollment and attendance – but also in outcomes, where literacy rates have greatly improved.

Getting children into school is also not enough. What they learn matters. There are large differences in educational outcomes : in low-income countries, most children cannot read by the end of primary school. These inequalities in education exacerbate poverty and existing inequalities in global incomes .

On this page, you can find all of our writing and data on global education.

Key insights on Global Education

The world has made substantial progress in increasing basic levels of education.

Access to education is now seen as a fundamental right – in many cases, it’s the government’s duty to provide it.

But formal education is a very recent phenomenon. In the chart, we see the share of the adult population – those older than 15 – that has received some basic education and those who haven’t.

In the early 1800s, fewer than 1 in 5 adults had some basic education. Education was a luxury; in all places, it was only available to a small elite.

But you can see that this share has grown dramatically, such that this ratio is now reversed. Less than 1 in 5 adults has not received any formal education.

This is reflected in literacy data , too: 200 years ago, very few could read and write. Now most adults have basic literacy skills.

What you should know about this data

• Basic education is defined as receiving some kind of formal primary, secondary, or tertiary (post-secondary) education.
• This indicator does not tell us how long a person received formal education. They could have received a full program of schooling, or may only have been in attendance for a short period. To account for such differences, researchers measure the mean years of schooling or the expected years of schooling .

Despite being in school, many children learn very little

International statistics often focus on attendance as the marker of educational progress.

However, being in school does not guarantee that a child receives high-quality education. In fact, in many countries, the data shows that children learn very little.

Just half – 48% – of the world’s children can read with comprehension by the end of primary school. It’s based on data collected over a 9-year period, with 2016 as the average year of collection.

This is shown in the chart, where we plot averages across countries with different income levels. 1

The situation in low-income countries is incredibly worrying, with 90% of children unable to read by that age.

This can be improved – even among high-income countries. The best-performing countries have rates as low as 2%. That’s more than four times lower than the average across high-income countries.

Making sure that every child gets to go to school is essential. But the world also needs to focus on what children learn once they’re in the classroom.

Millions of children learn only very little. How can the world provide a better education to the next generation?

Research suggests that many children – especially in the world’s poorest countries – learn only very little in school. What can we do to improve this?

• This data does not capture total literacy over someone’s lifetime. Many children will learn to read eventually, even if they cannot read by the end of primary school. However, this means they are in a constant state of “catching up” and will leave formal education far behind where they could be.

Children across the world receive very different amounts of quality learning

There are still significant inequalities in the amount of education children get across the world.

This can be measured as the total number of years that children spend in school. However, researchers can also adjust for the quality of education to estimate how many years of quality learning they receive. This is done using an indicator called “learning-adjusted years of schooling”.

On the map, you see vast differences across the world.

In many of the world’s poorest countries, children receive less than three years of learning-adjusted schooling. In most rich countries, this is more than 10 years.

Across most countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa – where the largest share of children live – the average years of quality schooling are less than 7.

• Learning-adjusted years of schooling merge the quantity and quality of education into one metric, accounting for the fact that similar durations of schooling can yield different learning outcomes.
• Learning-adjusted years is computed by adjusting the expected years of school based on the quality of learning, as measured by the harmonized test scores from various international student achievement testing programs. The adjustment involves multiplying the expected years of school by the ratio of the most recent harmonized test score to 625. Here, 625 signifies advanced attainment on the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) test, with 300 representing minimal attainment. These scores are measured in TIMSS-equivalent units.

Hundreds of millions of children worldwide do not go to school

While most children worldwide get the opportunity to go to school, hundreds of millions still don’t.

In the chart, we see the number of children who aren’t in school across primary and secondary education.

This number was around 260 million in 2019.

Many children who attend primary school drop out and do not attend secondary school. That means many more children or adolescents are missing from secondary school than primary education.

Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school

The world has made a lot of progress in recent generations, but millions of children are still not in school.

The gender gap in school attendance has closed across most of the world

Globally, until recently, boys were more likely to attend school than girls. The world has focused on closing this gap to ensure every child gets the opportunity to go to school.

Today, these gender gaps have largely disappeared. In the chart, we see the difference in the global enrollment rates for primary, secondary, and tertiary (post-secondary) education. The share of children who complete primary school is also shown.

We see these lines converging over time, and recently they met: rates between boys and girls are the same.

For tertiary education, young women are now more likely than young men to be enrolled.

While the differences are small globally, there are some countries where the differences are still large: girls in Afghanistan, for example, are much less likely to go to school than boys.

Research & Writing

Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. We are all losing out because of this.

Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school, interactive charts on global education.

This data comes from a paper by João Pedro Azevedo et al.

João Pedro Azevedo, Diana Goldemberg, Silvia Montoya, Reema Nayar, Halsey Rogers, Jaime Saavedra, Brian William Stacy (2021) – “ Will Every Child Be Able to Read by 2030? Why Eliminating Learning Poverty Will Be Harder Than You Think, and What to Do About It .” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9588, March 2021.

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What the Future of Education Looks Like from Here

• Posted December 11, 2020
• By Emily Boudreau

After a year that involved a global pandemic, school closures, nationwide remote instruction, protests for racial justice, and an election, the role of education has never been more critical or more uncertain. When the dust settles from this year, what will education look like — and what should it aspire to?

To mark the end of its centennial year, HGSE convened a faculty-led discussion to explore those questions. The Future of Education panel, moderated by Dean Bridget Long and hosted by HGSE’s Askwith Forums , focused on hopes for education going forward, as well as HGSE’s role. “The story of HGSE is the story of pivotal decisions, meeting challenges, and tremendous growth,” Long said. “We have a long history of empowering our students and partners to be innovators in a constantly changing world. And that is needed now more than ever.”

Joining Long were Associate Professor Karen Brennan , Senior Lecturer Jennifer Cheatham , Assistant Professor Anthony Jack, and Professors Adriana Umaña-Taylor and Martin West , as they looked forward to what the future could hold for schools, educators, and communities:

… After the pandemic subsides

The pandemic heightened existing gaps and disparities and exposed a need to rethink how systems leaders design schools, instruction, and who they put at the center of that design. “As a leader, in the years before the pandemic hit, I realized the balance of our work as practitioners was off,” Cheatham said. “If we had been spending time knowing our children and our staff and designing schools for them, we might not be feeling the pain in the way we are. I think we’re learning something about what the real work of school is about.” In the coming years, the panelists hope that a widespread push to recognize the identity and health of the whole-child in K–12 and higher education will help educators design support systems that can reduce inequity on multiple levels.

… For the global community

As much as the pandemic isolated individuals, on the global scale, people have looked to connect with each other to find solutions and share ideas as they faced a common challenge. This year may have brought everyone together and allowed for exchange of ideas, policies, practices, and assessments across boundaries.

… For technological advancements

As educators and leaders create, design, and imagine the future, technology should be used in service of that vision rather than dictating it. As technology becomes a major part of how we communicate and share ideas, educators need to think critically about how to deploy technology strategically. “My stance on technology is that it should always be used in the service of our human purpose and interest,” said Brennan. “We’ve talked about racial equity, building relationships. Our values and purposes and goals need to lead the way, not the tech.”

… For teachers

Human connections and interactions are at the heart of education. At this time, it’s become abundantly clear that the role of the teacher in the school community is irreplaceable. “I think the next few years hinge on how much we’re willing to invest in educators and all of these additional supports in the school which essentially make learning possible,” Umaña-Taylor said, “these are the individuals who are making the future minds of the nation possible.”

Cutting-edge research and new knowledge must become part of the public discussion in order to meaningfully shape the policies and practices that influence the future of education. “I fundamentally believe that we as academics and scholars must be part of the conversation and not limit ourselves to just articles behind paywalls or policy paragraphs at the end of a paper,” Jack said. “We have to engage the larger public.”

… In 25 years

“We shouldn’t underestimate the possibility that the future might look a lot like the present,” West said. “As I think about the potential sources of change in education, and in American education in particular, I tend to think about longer-term trends as the key driver.” Changing student demographics, access to higher education, structural inequality, and the focus of school leaders are all longer-term trends that, according to panelists, will influence the future of education. 

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The state of the global education crisis, a path to recovery.

The global disruption to education caused by the COVD-19 pandemic is without parallel and the effects on learning are severe. The crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt, with school closures affecting more than 1.6 billion learners. While nearly every country in the world offered remote learning opportunities for students, the quality and reach of such initiatives varied greatly and were at best partial substitutes for in-person learning. Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children and youth, and millions more are at risk of never returning to education. Evidence of the detrimental impacts of school closures on children’s learning offer a harrowing reality: learning losses are substantial, with the most marginalized children and youth often disproportionately affected.

The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery charts a path out of the global education crisis and towards building more effective, equitable and resilient education systems.

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Rethinking education in a changing world

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, rebecca winthrop and rebecca winthrop director - center for universal education , senior fellow - global economy and development @rebeccawinthrop eileen mcgivney em eileen mcgivney former research associate - center for universal education.

September 12, 2016

This post originally appeared on the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) as part of the Preparing Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s World series produced in partnership with SSIR and CUE.

E arlier this year, we visited developers from IBM Watson , famous for creating the intelligent machine that beat both the world’s top chess player and the long-time Jeopardy! champion. IBM’s work to simulate the intelligence and actions of humans has reached the level of science fiction, prompting the question: What will the world look like in the future? Depending on which economist you talk to , advances in technology such as AI either hold incredible promise—enabling increases in productivity that will give us twice as much leisure time —or mark the end of decent work for most of the population and an incredible increase in inequality.

Skills that allow young people to adapt to rapid change could be an important factor in determining whether the future is full of promise or peril. Automation has hollowed out the labor market, leaving many middle-skilled workers out of work or in low-wage jobs, a phenomenon documented in more than 30 countries across the developed and developing world . On the other hand, the skills that are uniquely human and that complement digital technologies are increasingly in demand. These skills, such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and flexibility, have always been important for work and life, but the current context makes them even more crucial for future generations. A 70-country study by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2020, approximately 83 million high- and middle-skilled jobs will go unfilled because employers looking to hire in developed and developing countries will not find people with the necessary skills.

Not only individuals’ future employment needs, but also ever-more-complex global challenges demand a new approach to education. As boundaries between nations and communities that once contained our problems fade, we will need creative solutions to problems such as climate change, the global migrant crisis, and, as the spread of the Zika virus reminds us, cross-border health epidemics. We need to foster good global citizens who actively care about their communities and the world, work together to solve problems across boundaries, and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies.

Throughout history, every society has grappled with how to best educate and prepare its young people for the world they will face. From hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago who had to impart vast amounts of knowledge about plants, animals, and relations between tribes to their youth, to craftsmen who taught trades through apprenticeships that defined education for many young men in the 18th and 19th centuries, humans have adapted education to meet the needs and challenges of the time.

Our current world and the changes we predict for the future call for education to equip every young person with the appropriate set of skills. Academic skills—such as mastery of reading, math, and science—are crucial but not sufficient. Young people increasingly need to be able to do such things as develop ideas, empathize with others, and collaboratively problem-solve; they also need to have the resilience and adaptability to continue to learn and master new things. Indeed, some learning scientists argue that these non-academic skills are among the most important skills of all, as they can help to both drive better academic outcomes in school and prepare children to thrive in a changing world .

The problem is that most children are not participating in the learning experiences that would help them develop this full breadth of skills. Opportunities to engage in the types of experiences in and out of school that do promote these skills are too often unequally distributed between richer and poorer children, perpetuating deep inequities both between and within nations.

We know more about young people’s academic competence, including their ability to think critically and analytically, than their non-academic skills, due to regular international student assessments in subjects such as math, reading, and science. The United States, which regularly beats itself up about the quality of its education system , actually has some of the best schools in the world, but stark inequities hold it back. Students in the state of Massachusetts, for example, achieve scores equivalent to the top 10 high-income countries in the world , demonstrating strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills in math. However, scores of students in Mississippi are tied with Chile for second-to-last place on the same list, beating out only Mexico.

Most students in low- and middle-income countries, those where per-capita income is less than $12,475 per year , perform far worse in academic competence than even the least accomplished students in the United States. By one estimate of reading and math skills, an average student in these countries scores alongside the worst 8 percent of students in countries where the annual per-capita income is above $12,475. And that only considers the students who are in school and being tested—not the 120 million kids shut out of academic learning all together, of which more than 96 percent live in developing countries. Based on a number of measures of academic learning and school completion, we have found that at the current pace of change, it would take nearly 100 years to close the education gap between rich and poor countries.

We know much less about children’s non-academic skills, largely because they are not easily captured in international student assessments. However, we do know that many educators, employers, and academics are deeply worried that children’s learning experiences often do not enable them to develop the full breadth of skills they need. For example, employers around the world regularly express unhappiness with young people’s lack of “workplace competencies” like communication and teamwork. The foundation for these and other skills, such as creativity and learning agility, are laid in early childhood, and we know that globally a full 200 million children below the age of 5 are not achieving proper cognitive development due to impoverished early childhood experiences that include poor nutrition and lack of stimulation. We also know that children from high-income families struggle to master the full range of skills necessary, even if they perform well on academic measures, often because parents and schools do not provide learning experiences that would cultivate skills and attitudes such as the ability to work hard to meet goals and resilience in the face of failure.

Ultimately, we need to redefine the basics to include the full breadth of academic and non-academic skills that all children, rich and poor alike, need. Then we need to rethink how to help children have the types of learning experiences—both in and outside of school—that can help cultivate these skills.

That’s why we are excited to announce this series, Preparing Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s World . Over the next 10 months, experts from around the globe will weigh in on some of the biggest challenges that we face today in achieving breadth of skills that the world’s children will need, and give examples of success in widely varying contexts. Contributors will include many of our scholars from the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution , as well as a diverse array of individuals implementing programs on the ground.

The series will examine critical areas where education efforts from early childhood through adolescence, in and outside of classrooms, can give children the skills they need to deal with rapid change and how our current systems can adapt to cultivate this broader vision of learning; how innovative solutions can be implemented and scaled; and perhaps most importantly, how to reach the world’s most marginalized children. Our aim is to bring together the latest evidence and a diversity of perspectives to increase understanding of and debate on one of the most burning issues of our time. We encourage you to follow along and participate in the conversation here at Stanford Social Innovation Review and on social media.

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New advances in technology are upending education, from the recent debut of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing accessibility of virtual-reality tools that expand the boundaries of the classroom. For educators, at the heart of it all is the hope that every learner gets an equal chance to develop the skills they need to succeed. But that promise is not without its pitfalls.

“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is also a professor of educational technology at the GSE and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . “But there are a lot of ways we teach that aren’t great, and a big fear with AI in particular is that we just get more efficient at teaching badly. This is a moment to pay attention, to do things differently.”

For K-12 schools, this year also marks the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program, which has provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. With these funds running out in September 2024, schools are trying to determine their best use of technology as they face the prospect of diminishing resources.

Here, Schwartz and other Stanford education scholars weigh in on some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom this year.

AI in the classroom

In 2023, the big story in technology and education was generative AI, following the introduction of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce text seemingly written by a human in response to a question or prompt. Educators immediately worried that students would use the chatbot to cheat by trying to pass its writing off as their own. As schools move to adopt policies around students’ use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore potential opportunities – for example, to generate reading assignments or coach students during the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing teachers to do the human work that drew them into the profession in the first place, said Victor Lee, an associate professor at the GSE and faculty lead for the AI + Education initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “I’m heartened to see some movement toward creating AI tools that make teachers’ lives better – not to replace them, but to give them the time to do the work that only teachers are able to do,” he said. “I hope to see more on that front.”

He also emphasized the need to teach students now to begin questioning and critiquing the development and use of AI. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also director of CRAFT (Classroom-Ready Resources about AI for Teaching), which provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students across subject areas. “We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology.”

Immersive environments

The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom, especially as new high-profile devices integrating these realities hit the marketplace in 2024.

The educational possibilities now go beyond putting on a headset and experiencing life in a distant location. With new technologies, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios, using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

“This is an area that’s really going to explode over the next couple of years,” said Kristen Pilner Blair, director of research for the Digital Learning initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which runs a program exploring the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the effects of climate change, say, by virtually experiencing the impact on a particular environment. But they can also become creators, documenting and sharing immersive media that shows the effects where they live.”

Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”

Gamification

Another trend expected to intensify this year is the gamification of learning activities, often featuring dynamic videos with interactive elements to engage and hold students’ attention.

“Gamification is a good motivator, because one key aspect is reward, which is very powerful,” said Schwartz. The downside? Rewards are specific to the activity at hand, which may not extend to learning more generally. “If I get rewarded for doing math in a space-age video game, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be motivated to do math anywhere else.”

Gamification sometimes tries to make “chocolate-covered broccoli,” Schwartz said, by adding art and rewards to make speeded response tasks involving single-answer, factual questions more fun. He hopes to see more creative play patterns that give students points for rethinking an approach or adapting their strategy, rather than only rewarding them for quickly producing a correct response.

Data-gathering and analysis

The growing use of technology in schools is producing massive amounts of data on students’ activities in the classroom and online. “We’re now able to capture moment-to-moment data, every keystroke a kid makes,” said Schwartz – data that can reveal areas of struggle and different learning opportunities, from solving a math problem to approaching a writing assignment.

But outside of research settings, he said, that type of granular data – now owned by tech companies – is more likely used to refine the design of the software than to provide teachers with actionable information.

The promise of personalized learning is being able to generate content aligned with students’ interests and skill levels, and making lessons more accessible for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Realizing that promise requires that educators can make sense of the data that’s being collected, said Schwartz – and while advances in AI are making it easier to identify patterns and findings, the data also needs to be in a system and form educators can access and analyze for decision-making. Developing a usable infrastructure for that data, Schwartz said, is an important next step.

With the accumulation of student data comes privacy concerns: How is the data being collected? Are there regulations or guidelines around its use in decision-making? What steps are being taken to prevent unauthorized access? In 2023 K-12 schools experienced a rise in cyberattacks, underscoring the need to implement strong systems to safeguard student data.

Technology is “requiring people to check their assumptions about education,” said Schwartz, noting that AI in particular is very efficient at replicating biases and automating the way things have been done in the past, including poor models of instruction. “But it’s also opening up new possibilities for students producing material, and for being able to identify children who are not average so we can customize toward them. It’s an opportunity to think of entirely new ways of teaching – this is the path I hope to see.”

• Education for Our Times

Improbable Scholars

The rebirth of a great american school system and a strategy for america’s schools.

David L. Kirp

How do we determine if our schools are preparing students for a meaningful future in our society and improve the schools that are not living up to those standards? Explores the current crisis in American education and four districts that have made positive changes.

Beyond the Hole in the Wall

Discover the power of self-organized learning.

Sugata Mitra

Sugata Mitra’s now famous experiments have shone light on the immense capacities that children have for learning in self-composed and self-regulated groups.

One World Schoolhouse

Education reimagined.

Salman Kahn

There may be a young girl in an African village with the potential to find a cancer cure. A fisherman’s son in New Guinea might have incredible insight into the health of the oceans. By combining the enlightened use of technology with the best teaching practices, we can foster students who are capable of self-directed learning, deep understanding of fundamentals, and creative approaches to real-world problems.

In the series: Education Yesterday and Today

• Education and the World of Work
• Communities, Schools and Teachers
• Technology and Education
• Right Use of Testing
• Unlocking Potential: Nurturing Young Minds in Early Childhood

Related articles:

• The Way Forward
• You CAN Get There from Here
• Can Schools Improve?
• Adolescence: Challenges and Opportunities
• Education in the Developing World

Further Reading

External stories and videos.

Watch: China Is the Wrong Model

Yong zhao, network for public education national conference.

Yong Zhao’s lively address brings a thought-provoking perspective on comparing U.S. and Chinese student test scores as a way to evaluate our education systems.

Watch: Experts Debate Merits of PISA

Yong zhao & andreas schleicher, schools & academies show birmingham 2018.

Education scholars Yong Zhao and Andreas Schleicher share their divergent views on the pros and cons of OECD’s international testing program.

The Other Segregation

Whitney pirtle,  the atlantic.

The public focuses its attention on divides  between  schools, while tracking has created separate and unequal education systems  within  single schools.

Math with Meaning

Comp & siam.

Math educators provide helpful guidelines for transforming traditional math equations and problems in a way that gives students as early as pre-K the foundation to tackle open-ended, reality-based questions collaboratively—questions that they find meaningful and can enhance their future. (PDF)

Watch: Our Failing Schools. Enough is Enough

Geoffrey canada, ted.

Why does our education system look the way it did 50 years ago? Millions of students were failing then, as they are now — and it’s because we’re clinging to a business model that clearly doesn’t work. Education advocate Geoffrey Canada dares the system to make systematic shifts in order to help greater numbers of kids excel.

Watch: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir ken robinson, ted.

Here the entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity

Watch: Will Our Kids Be Ready for the World in 2050?

Dana mortenson, ted.

World Savvy founder Dana Mortenson explores how teaching and learning in the U.S. is changing, or should change, in our rapidly evolving, interconnected global society. Will our kids will be ready to compete in, and contribute to, a new reality?

Four of the biggest problems facing education—and four trends that could make a difference

Eduardo velez bustillo, harry a. patrinos.

In 2022, we published, Lessons for the education sector from the COVID-19 pandemic , which was a follow up to,  Four Education Trends that Countries Everywhere Should Know About , which summarized views of education experts around the world on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the education sector then. We focused on neuroscience, the role of the private sector, education technology, inequality, and pedagogy.

Unfortunately, we think the four biggest problems facing education today in developing countries are the same ones we have identified in the last decades .

1. The learning crisis was made worse by COVID-19 school closures

Low quality instruction is a major constraint and prior to COVID-19, the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries was 57% (6 out of 10 children could not read and understand basic texts by age 10). More dramatic is the case of Sub-Saharan Africa with a rate even higher at 86%. Several analyses show that the impact of the pandemic on student learning was significant, leaving students in low- and middle-income countries way behind in mathematics, reading and other subjects.  Some argue that learning poverty may be close to 70% after the pandemic , with a substantial long-term negative effect in future earnings. This generation could lose around $21 trillion in future salaries, with the vulnerable students affected the most.

2. Countries are not paying enough attention to early childhood care and education (ECCE)

At the pre-school level about two-thirds of countries do not have a proper legal framework to provide free and compulsory pre-primary education. According to UNESCO, only a minority of countries, mostly high-income, were making timely progress towards SDG4 benchmarks on early childhood indicators prior to the onset of COVID-19. And remember that ECCE is not only preparation for primary school. It can be the foundation for emotional wellbeing and learning throughout life; one of the best investments a country can make.

3. There is an inadequate supply of high-quality teachers

Low quality teaching is a huge problem and getting worse in many low- and middle-income countries.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the percentage of trained teachers fell from 84% in 2000 to 69% in 2019 . In addition, in many countries teachers are formally trained and as such qualified, but do not have the minimum pedagogical training. Globally, teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are the biggest shortfalls.

4. Decision-makers are not implementing evidence-based or pro-equity policies that guarantee solid foundations

It is difficult to understand the continued focus on non-evidence-based policies when there is so much that we know now about what works. Two factors contribute to this problem. One is the short tenure that top officials have when leading education systems. Examples of countries where ministers last less than one year on average are plentiful. The second and more worrisome deals with the fact that there is little attention given to empirical evidence when designing education policies.

To help improve on these four fronts, we see four supporting trends:

1. Neuroscience should be integrated into education policies

Policies considering neuroscience can help ensure that students get proper attention early to support brain development in the first 2-3 years of life. It can also help ensure that children learn to read at the proper age so that they will be able to acquire foundational skills to learn during the primary education cycle and from there on. Inputs like micronutrients, early child stimulation for gross and fine motor skills, speech and language and playing with other children before the age of three are cost-effective ways to get proper development. Early grade reading, using the pedagogical suggestion by the Early Grade Reading Assessment model, has improved learning outcomes in many low- and middle-income countries. We now have the tools to incorporate these advances into the teaching and learning system with AI , ChatGPT , MOOCs and online tutoring.

2. Reversing learning losses at home and at school

There is a real need to address the remaining and lingering losses due to school closures because of COVID-19.  Most students living in households with incomes under the poverty line in the developing world, roughly the bottom 80% in low-income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries, do not have the minimum conditions to learn at home . These students do not have access to the internet, and, often, their parents or guardians do not have the necessary schooling level or the time to help them in their learning process. Connectivity for poor households is a priority. But learning continuity also requires the presence of an adult as a facilitator—a parent, guardian, instructor, or community worker assisting the student during the learning process while schools are closed or e-learning is used.

To recover from the negative impact of the pandemic, the school system will need to develop at the student level: (i) active and reflective learning; (ii) analytical and applied skills; (iii) strong self-esteem; (iv) attitudes supportive of cooperation and solidarity; and (v) a good knowledge of the curriculum areas. At the teacher (instructor, facilitator, parent) level, the system should aim to develop a new disposition toward the role of teacher as a guide and facilitator. And finally, the system also needs to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and be active part in the solution of the children’s problems. The Escuela Nueva Learning Circles or the Pratham Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) are models that can be used.

3. Use of evidence to improve teaching and learning

We now know more about what works at scale to address the learning crisis. To help countries improve teaching and learning and make teaching an attractive profession, based on available empirical world-wide evidence , we need to improve its status, compensation policies and career progression structures; ensure pre-service education includes a strong practicum component so teachers are well equipped to transition and perform effectively in the classroom; and provide high-quality in-service professional development to ensure they keep teaching in an effective way. We also have the tools to address learning issues cost-effectively. The returns to schooling are high and increasing post-pandemic. But we also have the cost-benefit tools to make good decisions, and these suggest that structured pedagogy, teaching according to learning levels (with and without technology use) are proven effective and cost-effective .

4. The role of the private sector

When properly regulated the private sector can be an effective education provider, and it can help address the specific needs of countries. Most of the pedagogical models that have received international recognition come from the private sector. For example, the recipients of the Yidan Prize on education development are from the non-state sector experiences (Escuela Nueva, BRAC, edX, Pratham, CAMFED and New Education Initiative). In the context of the Artificial Intelligence movement, most of the tools that will revolutionize teaching and learning come from the private sector (i.e., big data, machine learning, electronic pedagogies like OER-Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, etc.). Around the world education technology start-ups are developing AI tools that may have a good potential to help improve quality of education .

After decades asking the same questions on how to improve the education systems of countries, we, finally, are finding answers that are very promising.  Governments need to be aware of this fact.

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Consultant, Education Sector, World Bank

Senior Adviser, Education

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Driving a global movement to transform education: Key moments of 2022

2022 was a year that witnessed major milestones in the global movement to transform education. Against a backdrop of an alarming learning, and budgetary crisis, UNESCO’s call for a global mobilization to place education at the top of the political agenda resonated across the world with renewed national and global commitments. And three UNESCO World Conferences focusing on early childhood, higher education and lifelong learning further set out a common vision and pledges to drive progress in the next decade. Here are some key moments and themes that have marked this ‘transformative’ year in education.

The turning point: Why we must transform education now

Our current global education system is failing to provide quality learning for everyone throughout life and help us shape peaceful, just, and sustainable societies. UNESCO data shows that worldwide, 244 million children and youth are out of school. There is a crisis in foundational learning, literacy and numeracy skills among young learners. It is estimated that 60% of children globally are unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of ten. The COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered the largest disruption to education in history, has deepened a pre-existing crisis of inclusion, quality and relevance

It has never been more crucial to reimagine the way we learn, what we learn and how we learn, as outlined in UNESCO’s flagship Futures of Education Report, which called for a new social contract for education. The turning point is now. That is why the United Nations Secretary-General convened the Transforming Education Summit in September in New York to rally world leaders and put education at the top of the political agenda. Youth advocates were involved throughout the process leading to the Summit and adopted the Youth Declaration  on their common vision for transforming education.

At the Summit, more than 130 countries committed to rebooting their education systems and accelerating action to end the learning crisis. To build momentum for the Summit , UNESCO hosted a Pre-Summit in June that was attended by 154 education ministers and vice-ministers and 1,800 participants. It provided a forum for countries to present preliminary outcomes of national consultations and to have multilateral discussions on new commitments.

Connected, inclusive and green: How UNESCO wants to transform education

UNESCO has been mobilizing and consulting all stakeholders and partners to galvanize the transformation of every aspect of learning, including an urgent call to increase education funding. An estimated US$200 billion additional education finance is required annually to get low- and lower-middle-income countries on track to achieve SDG 4.

Recent UNESCO findings reveal that around half of the 100 countries reviewed had no mention of climate change in their national curriculum. And nearly one-third of school-age children - 463 million - are without access to distance learning. That is why at the Transforming Education Summit, UNESCO put the spotlight on key initiatives to accelerate action:  

• Getting every learner climate-ready : Building on the knowledge and practice accumulated in Education for Sustainable Development, a new Greening Education Partnership aims to deliver strong, coordinated and comprehensive action that will prepare every learner to acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to tackle climate change and to promote sustainable development.
• Expanding public digital learning : A Global Initiative on Public Digital Learning will map and analyze existing public platforms and content; help countries create and strengthen national platforms; identify and share best practices; and establish international norms and standards to guide the development of platforms. The initiative aims to ensure that every learner, teacher, and family can easily access, find, and use high-quality and curriculum-aligned digital education content to advance their learning.
• Fast-tracking gender equality in education : UNESCO and partners launched a Call to Action to catalyze cooperation and transformative action on gender equality in and through education , together with a Global Platform to drive leadership and accountability.
• Improving access for crisis-affected children and youth : UNESCO together with partners presented a Commitment to Action to improve access and learning outcomes for children and youth affected by crises ; to support teachers and to increase financing across humanitarian and development instruments. It stresses a holistic approach across health and social sectors.

Why early childhood care and education matters

The right to education begins at birth. But new UNESCO data shows that 1 out of 4 children aged 5 have never had any form of pre-primary education. This represents 35 million out of 137 million 5-year-old children worldwide. Despite research that proves the benefits of early childhood care and education , only half of all countries guarantee free pre-primary education around the world. UNESCO’s World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in November. With the adoption of the Tashkent Declaration, countries committed to invest at least 10% of total education spending on pre-primary education and to ensure that salaries and working condition of pre-school personnel are at least at par with those of primary education teachers.  

Higher education: How to unleash the talent of the next generation

Higher education is evolving at a very rapid pace around the world. The number of students in universities and higher education institutions has more than doubled globally in the last two decades to 235 million. And it’s expected to double again in the next decade, along with international student mobility. With our planet’s growing sustainability challenges, large scale digitization and increasing inequalities, it’s clear that new knowledge and skills are needed today. That is why higher education must be transformed in order unleash the talent of the next generation. The UNESCO World Conference Higher Education that took place in Barcelona, Spain last May presented a roadmap that outlines key principles and transitions to reorient higher education in the decade ahead.

The right to lifelong learning: Why adult education matters

There are 771 million illiterate adults globally today and many more do not have the adequate skills and knowledge needed to navigate through our increasingly digital 21st century demands. While participation in adult education is improving in some places, access to learning opportunities remains profoundly unequal. To advance the world’s commitment to the right to lifelong learning , UNESCO convened the International Conference on Adult Education in Marrakech, Morocco in June. With the adoption of the Marrakech Framework for Action, over 140 countries committed to translating the vision of a right to lifelong learning into reality. The Framework will guide the development of adult learning and education over the coming decade.

Looking ahead

To ensure commitments are translated into concrete plans, the SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee has set up new indicators measuring green and digital education at the national level, and calls on countries to build on the Sustainable Development Goal benchmarking process by setting national targets for both. These benchmarks will measure the progress that each country intends to achieve by 2025 and 2030.

In 2023, UNESCO calls for maintaining strong political mobilization around education and chart the way to translate commitments and global initiatives into action. The International Day for Education , celebrated worldwide on 24 January, will be the year’s first event to ensure that education is at the top of governments’ agendas in a context of a global recession, growing inequalities and the climate crisis.

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Digital Technologies in Education

The use of information and communication technologies in education can play a crucial role in providing new and innovative forms of support to teachers, students, and the learning process more broadly.

The World Bank Group is the largest financier of education in the developing world, working on education programs in more than 80 countries to provide quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The WBG works in partnership with governments and organizations worldwide to support innovative projects, timely research, and knowledge sharing activities about the effective and appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education systems -- "EdTech" -- to strengthen learning and contribute to poverty reduction around the world, as part of its larger work related to education .

The World Bank estimated the levels of “Learning Poverty” across the globe by measuring the number of 10-year old children who cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school. In low- and middle-income countries “learning poverty” stands at 53%, while for the poorest countries, this is 80% on average.  With the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 180+ countries mandated temporary school closures, leaving ~1.6 billion children and youth out of school at its height and affecting approximately 85% of children world-wide. While most countries are working towards re-opening schools, there are still intermittent closures and use of hybrid learning. 

Reflecting on COVID Response and Remote Learning

Technology played and continues to play an essential role to deliver education to the students outside of school. Commendably, all countries were able to deploy remote learning technologies using a combination of TV, Radio, Online and Mobile Platforms. However, many children in low income countries did not participate in remote learning with about a third of low income countries reporting that 50% of children had not been reached in a joint UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank survey . The pandemic has also led to significant losses in learning. School closures and limited access to remote learning means that Learning Poverty is likely to worsen from 53% to 63% especially in low-income countries if no remediation interventions are taken.  

The crisis has starkly highlighted the inequalities in digital access and that ‘business as usual’ will not work for delivery of education to all children. To close the digital divides in Education and leverage the power of technology to accelerate learning, reduce learning poverty, and support skills development a focus must be placed in bridging the gaps in: i) digital infrastructure (connectivity, devices and software); ii) human infrastructure (teacher capacity, student skills and parental support); and iii) logistical and administrative systems to deploy and maintain tech architecture.

Education systems must adapt. It is against this backdrop that the EdTech team at the World Bank has identified five key questions to address in the short to medium term. These questions touch on the need to re-imagine education, to provide an equitable, engaging and fun learning experience for all children.

How can countries leverage EdTech investments to develop resilient hybrid learning systems?   This question requires both reflecting on the lessons from implementation of remote learning during COVID and addressing the new digital infrastructure access divide.  The World Bank is working with countries to identify how to address issues of affordable connectivity, device procurement, cloud solutions and multi-modal delivery of education.  Moreover, the investments that countries have made in remote learning could be leveraged address existing challenges in education. Many countries are now thinking about a dual role for remote learning: as an insurance policy against future calamites especially in a world experiencing climate change as well as a way to reach out of school children and provide a lifelong education to all citizens.  

How can countries recover learning loss, more effectively harness data and personalize learning with technology? The World Bank is deepening its work on adaptive learning systems, remote assessment and how education systems can more effectively use learning analytics to personalize education.  A major part of this work will be developing a new strategy for Education Management Information Systems (EMIS 2.0) to support more effective use of data.  

What are the changing roles and new skills for teachers in hybrid learning systems and how can additional human connections be leveraged through technology? The World Bank is exploring teacher competency frameworks, teacher networks, and communities of innovative teachers to support countries to empower teachers.  Teachers are still central to learning even, or rather, especially in an environment rich with technology. Evidence is growing that bypassing Teachers and not engaging them with technology does not lead to student learning improvement.

How can countries leverage open technology ecosystems to expand access to quality content and learning experiences? The World Bank will collaborate with partners developing open global public goods and strategies to engage the large ecosystem of innovators in client countries to support the design and development of new educational content and curriculum.  The team will develop communities of practice around EdTech innovation hubs and creative talent to develop new open educational libraries.  A key content area of focus will be climate change.

How can technology support the development, measurement and accreditation of future skills? The World Bank will support countries to define 21st century competencies in students and teachers; explore ways to more effectively measure these skills and accredit these skills in collaboration with external partners sharing knowledge and experience in communities of practice on hard to measure skills and blockchain for education.  

Education technology by itself is not a panacea

Though investment in EdTech has been increasing, learning and outcomes as a result have not changed considerably in many countries. An OECD report found that, when it comes to impact of computer usage in schools as measured through PISA, “impact on student performance is mixed, at best."  COVID however has changed the debate on EdTech from a question of if to a question of how.  Experience to date highlights that teaching and learning remotely is not the same as face-to-face pedagogy.  Many teachers with access to e-content, for instance, use it like any another textbook to read from in class.  Some adjustments include shorter and more modular content, more engaging content such as edutainment, continuous feedback, smaller group on-line discussions on more open-ended questions. Education at its heart is about human connections and relationships.  While we can never replace the magic that happens between great teachers and students in an in-person environment, we should focus on the social aspects of technology to enhance connections from a distance. Much more attention must be directed on how technology will enhance teaching and learning in a blended learning environment reaching students, both in school and at home.

World Bank EdTech Strategy

As education systems invest in EdTech, the World Bank advocates these five principles for how to design and implement technology to re-imagine education:

1. ASK WHY:   EdTech policies need to be developed with a clear purpose, strategy and vision of the intended education change to address the learning crisis.

If technology is the answer, what is the question? Education technology should be focused on the “education” and not just on the “technology”. Before investing in and deploying EdTech, policymakers must ask what education challenges need to be addressed and what resulting change is desired.  Policies must be holistic to account for teacher capacity and incentives, appropriate digital learning resources linked to the curriculum, and formative assessments that capture learning.  Education at its core is a human-centered socially intensive endeavor. Technology is a means to these goals.

2. DESIGN FOR SCALE: EdTech design should be flexible and user-centered with equity and inclusion at its heart in order to realize scale and sustainability for all.

Design for scale begins with proactive engagement and empathy for all possible end-users -- students, teachers, administrators, parents, etc. Engagement with different users will reveal different needs. Understanding these needs will lead to inclusive and flexible designs that will be equitable and hence scalable.  Today, the use of EdTech has demonstrated and is exacerbating inequities in education systems.  This need not be the case.  Beginning the design process with how technology can be utilized for all will lead to initiatives that are equitable and adaptable to specific contexts and thereby sustainable at scale.

3. EMPOWER TEACHERS: Technology should enhance teacher engagement with students through access to content, data and networks allowing them to focus on personalized student learning.EdTech cannot replace teachers, it can only augment teaching.

Evidence from around the world shows that, over time, the role of teachers become more central, and not peripheral, as the result of the effective use of EdTech.  Technology will replace some of what teachers currently do, while at the same time supporting teachers as they take on new, often more sophisticated duties and responsibilities as a result of technological change. Teachers can be facilitators of learning, part of a learning team, a collaborator with outside expert mentors, a team leader on a project-based learning activity, etc. At the same time, in those circumstances where there is a scarcity of teachers or low-capacity teachers, technology can play an important role in assisting learners to, in part, overcome this absence. Where teachers lack content or pedagogical knowledge, technology can support structured lesson plans or text-based nudges to build this capacity. Teachers’ use of technology will empower them to leverage an array of resources to provide more focused, personalized learning to students.

4. ENGAGE THE ECOSYSTEM: Education systems should take a whole of government and multi-stakeholder approach to engage and incorporate the most innovative ideas to support student learning.Ministries of Education should leverage all stakeholders in the education system when developing and implementing EdTech programs and policies. The best content, software, applications, algorithms and edutainment will be spread across many innovators in the country and around the world.

Ministries of Education should actively identify ways to find, incentive, integrate and sustain the creators in their country. This content can be delivered over the most appropriate channel – radio, TV, mobile, web – and bundled with data on learning and feedback to support continuous learning.  This ecosystem includes key stakeholders such as students, teachers, school leaders, parents, NGOs, donors and the private sector including app developers, publishers, equipment manufacturers, telecommunication companies and cloud service providers. Clearly, EdTech requires that all these actors work in concert to a common goal taking a “whole of government approach.” Successful EdTech policies and deployments requires that Ministries of Education leverage all stakeholders – inside and outside the education system.

5. DATA DRIVEN: Transparent standards and interoperable data architecture supports evidence-based decision making and a culture of learning and experimentation.

Technology can and should be used to easily collect data from educational institutions, analyze this data and support decision making. Technology is currently available to measure outcomes, track student performance, manage student retention, track book distribution, manage teacher recruitment, track education system spending, etc. Without these, countries will not be as efficient in supporting schools, students and teachers. This data however is diffused through various systems in Ministries of Education and other parts of government. Countries must have flexible, scalable systems that avoid data silos that don’t talk to one another and vendor-lock in (where future decisions on the use of EdTech are constrained by technology choices made in the past). To operationalize this principle, Ministries of Education should promote transparent standards that facilitate interoperability of systems, data and content and remove barriers to competition in order to promote a data-driven decision-making culture.  Many times, learnings from this data is not fed back into the system.  A culture of gathering rigorous data about the ‘impact of EdTech’ must be priority. With the pace of technological change, evidence quickly becomes stale. Hence, constant learning through iteration, controlled experimentation, and nimble evaluations is critical to separate ‘hope’ from 'hype' surrounding different technologies and informing all further EdTech decisions. The culture of data-driven decision making must be strengthened.

In order to operationalize these principles, the World Bank focuses on the discovery, diffusion and deployment of new technologies.  

Discover, document, generate and analyze evidence-based technology solutions in education attuned to developing countries. 

The World Bank supports the EdTech community across countries to discover new innovations, build the evidence base and facilitate the transformation of ministries of education into learning organizations. In some sense, policy makers are supported to think like a system, but act like entrepreneurs. This is achieved through institutional support for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) into projects that use EdTech; the inclusion of partnerships with like-minded organizations and the development of global public goods that can be used across multiple countries.

Diffuse this knowledge widely across policy makers in our client countries and support capacity development to better use this new knowledge. The World Bank promotes multi-stakeholder approaches, including partnerships beyond the traditional education sector, to support the effective, appropriate and impactful use of EdTech.

The World Bank works in partnership with governments, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, private companies, civil society and communities worldwide to support innovative projects, timely research, and knowledge-sharing about EdTech with the ultimate goal of improving teaching and learning. To do this, it invests in the capabilities of its staff to identify and lead partnerships, drawing on relevant experience and expertise. The World Bank also recognizes the role played by the private sector and seeks to harness its innovation and ingenuity to strengthen efficiencies in the public sector.  This approach of networking expertise is critical to ensure that EdTech experiences are effectively shared across regions and that last-mile support to educational institutions supports implementation of government programs.

Deploy solutions, at the pilot level and at scale, tackling adoption barriers (including in procurement) and in ways informed by evidence, and which allow for efficient course correction. The World Bank supports countries as they seek to strengthen and expand existing educational practices and approaches through the use of new technologies, as well as to transform them. The World Bank works with partners to develop digital global public goods that adhere to its 5 EdTech principles. These digital global public goods are digitized knowledge and ideas that countries can build upon and adapt to their contexts.

To execute this strategy the World Bank will provide support to countries through lending operations, partnership networks, and development of digital global public goods in support of the overall World Bank education approach.

Reimagining Human Connections: Technology and Innovation in Education at the World Bank

Current and Past Projects

Notable recent projects include:

• In Burundi, the Burundi Skills for Jobs: Women and Youth aims at supporting job creation for women and youth, with a focus on digital skills and support the creation of a new Institute of Computer Science/Computer Engineering and Digital Transformation, anchored at the University of Burundi in partnership with world class universities.
• In Nigeria, the Edo Basic Education Sector and Skills Transformation Operation leverages technology to improve  teaching  and  learning  processes  in  basic  education  and has institutionalized remote learning EdoBEST@Home program to provide access to all students outside school.
• In Pakistan, the Higher Education Development Project  includes support to equip Students and Higher Education Institutions with Modern Technology and to leverage technology to improve the teaching, learning and research environment in Pakistan including upgrading Pakistan’s National Research and Education Network (NREN)).
• In Morocco, the pandemic created an electroshock on the education system that motivated the country to come up with a new system that prepares the schools for the new realities and for the future of education. Classrooms are kept smaller and new methods of teaching have been developed to enable teachers to animate classes in a way that students understand better. In addition, the schools are more connected than ever. System of evaluation of the new way of teaching and learning is being developed. Complementing, but not replacing in-person teaching by online classes. Developing pedagogical models that support the return to school and provide different learning formats for different situations/students. Morocco is introducing a hybrid-model for families to choose.
• In Turkey, an COVID emergency response Project – Safe Schooling and Distance Education Project aims to build future resilience in the education system by creating a new hybrid learning model to support access to digital resources, improve connectivity and access to education data. The Project will also build out the national ecosystem of innovators to support the development of new learning resources and build capacity of teachers to effectively use these digital resources to support hybrid learning.  
• EVOKE, an online alternate reality game supporting social innovation among young people around the world including a latest iteration on use of Blockchain for conditional cash transfer in Colombia. Also support for FabLabs in higher education institutions in countries like Bangladesh, research into the use of e-readers in schools in Lagos, and pilots of the Khan Academy in Nigeria and Guyana.
• Join Upcoming Events (Twitter Announcements)
• Learn about Past Events (Events Archive)

Resources 

We release a number of publications each year on specific projects and themes related to technology and innovation in education.  See attached a sample of some of these resources linked to the critical questions we will address in the coming year:

1. How can countries leverage EdTech investments to develop resilient hybrid learning systems?  

• What is Hybrid Learning?
• Exploring the potential of Digital Infrastructure
• Understanding the perceived effectiveness of remote learning – lessons from 18 countries
• How can countries implement low tech remote learning?
• Remote Learning During COVID-19 – how to implement multi-channel delivery

2. How can countries recover learning loss, more effectively harness data and personalize learning with technology? 

• Mitigating learning losses and accelerating learning through Adaptive Learning
• Considering an adaptive learning system – a roadmap for policy makers
• Remote Assessment – Potential of phone-based formative assessments to support learning continuity

3. What are the changing roles and new skills for teachers in hybrid learning systems and how can additional human connections be leveraged through technology?  

• Supporting teachers in the age of the pandemic
• The Changing Role of Teachers and Technologies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic  
• Transforming how teachers use technology
• How to use technology to help teacher be better

4. How can countries leverage open technology ecosystems to expand access to quality content and learning experiences?  

• Open Learning Management Systems – How to select and evaluate
• Open Educational Resources are free but you still need to invest to use them

5. How can technology support the development, measurement and accreditation of future skills?   

• Reimagining Youth Skills
• Leveraging Blockchain
• Digital Learning and Skills part I

Comprehensive list of past publications (Archive)

Download Knowledge Packs

Knowledge Packs are resources developed by the World Bank’s EdTech team to serve as short, practical guides on individual topics within education technology. 

• Virtual and XR Laboratories for Workforce Development (pdf, last version September 2023)
• Education TV Knowledge Pack  – (pdf, last version June 2020)
• EdTech Knowledge Pack on Remote Learning response to COVID-19 (pdf, last draft 8 April 2020). 
• EduRadio knowledge pack
• Mobile Distance & Hybrid Education Solutions knowledge pack
• More COVID-19-specific resources

Founded in 2019, the EdTech Hub was established to accelerate progress toward ending the global learning crisis by increasing the use of evidence to inform decision-making about education technology. Technology has the potential to help address the global learning crisis. But that potential is not yet being realised. Some reasons for this include:

• incomplete understanding of what works and what does not
• many under-researched issues
• intervention designs are often not evidence-based
• policy decisions are often not evidence-based
• stakeholders are disconnected
• the evidence that does exist is not easily accessible

The EdTech Hub aims to address these gaps. The EdTech Hub will synthesize existing evidence, conduct new research, support innovations to scale, and provide advisory support to governments and other country partners.

The EdTech Hub is collaboratively run by a partnership of organisations: Overseas Development Institute, Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, Results for Development, Open Development and Education, Brink, Jigsaw Consult, BRAC, Afrilabs and eLearning Africa. The EdTech Hub is funded by the UK Department for International Development, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Education Continuity Partnership under COVID-19 with OECD, Harvard & HundrED

In the wake of COVID-19, the Harvard Global Education Innovation Initiative , HundrED , the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills and the World Bank Group Education Global Practice is gathering information from around the world on the education response to the crisis. This includes a series of webinar conversations and a series of education stories.

Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund ( SIEF )

The World Bank’s Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF) supports scientifically rigorous research that measures the impact of programs and policies to improve education, health, access to quality water and sanitation, and early childhood development in low and middle income countries. The majority of the evaluations are randomized control trials (RCTs) and they were chosen through a competitive process open to researchers worldwide.

On July 29, 2020, SIEF announced six evaluation teams that will receive funding through SIEF’s COVID-19 emergency window . These evaluations will rapidly generate evidence on how to keep students engaged with learning and remote education at home and how to prepare them for the return to school. Each evaluation will also collect detailed cost data that can help shed light on the resources required for scale and sustained implementation. Teams include: Bangladesh, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Pakistan, Sierra Leone.

Global EdTech Readiness Index Partnership

The Global Edtech Readiness Index is part of the Global Education Policy Dashboard (GEPD) funded by a partnership between the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.K.'s Department for International Development and government of Japan.

The World Bank, with support from Imaginable Futures has created the EdTech Readiness Index (ETRI). The tool will enable countries to: (a) identify good practices and areas where EdTech policies can be strengthened, and (b) monitor progress as countries take action. 

The ETRI goes beyond measuring the availability of devices and the level of connectivity to capture key elements of the larger education-technology ecosystem in a country, guiding efforts to increase learning opportunities and reduce inequalities. ETRI is organized around 6 pillars: School Management, Teachers, Students, Devices, Connectivity, and Digital Resources. For each pillar, the ETRI reports on a practice indicator (to capture the practices at the school level), a de jure policy indicator (to capture whether there is a policy to inform each practice), and a de facto policy indicator (to measure the extent to which the policy is implemented)

Continuity and Acceleration of Learning

The Continuous and Accelerated Learning (CAL) program aims to support multi-modal continuous learning by supporting the development, dissemination and delivery at scale of new and existing global public goods and regional learning continuity approaches, in the short term to offset the impacts of school closures, and in the medium to long term to ensure continuity and accelerate learning after schools re-open while building resilience into the education system. Support will be focused on improving foundational learning and lowering learning poverty by adapting to students’, teachers’ and parents’ needs, anywhere, anytime in a more inclusive, equitable, effective and resilient way than pre-COVID-19.

As part of the Continuous and Accelerated Learning (CAL) program “Teachers for a Changing World: Transforming Teacher Professional Development Spotlight” (T4T) in partnership with HundrED a created a global contest to identify and promote scalable and impactful solutions for teacher professional development using technology.

The CAL work is supported by GPE and other donors and involves partnerships with UNESCO and UNICEF.

Reimagine Education: Digital Learning for Every Child Everywhere with UNICEF

UNICEF and the World Bank are joining forces to support countries to use technology as an accelerator to address key global education challenges related to equitable access to quality and relevant learning.  This partnership will build on, extend, and complement existing global joint initiatives partnerships and programs that use digital technology to address the learning crisis. It also supports the improvement of teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom; student development of skills needed to succeed in school, work, and life; connecting all schools to the Internet; and research on technological innovations for education. This partnership is unique, representing the convergence and alignment of the World Bank and UNICEF’s global and country-level expertise, reach and ability to support implementation at scale. 

mEducation Alliance

The mEducation Alliance is a non-governmental organization focused on the evidence-driven and sustainable role of technology in education to  advance quality educational outcomes. Formed in 2010, the mEducation Alliance is a  unique, multi-stakeholder convening platform for government and donor policymakers, other investors, researchers, and practitioners to work together, particularly in lower-resource, developing country contexts.

The mEducation Alliance is dedicated to strengthening formal and non-formal educational systems by:

• Convening: connecting EdTech investors, policymakers, and practitioners;
• Communicating: sharing good practices within the global EdTech community; and,
• Catalyzing: accelerating EdTech investments and the scaling of promising interventions and initiatives.

Key mEducation Alliance Key Activities and Product Highlights

• Ecosystem building for and acceleration of EdTech interventions
• Dissemination of good practices via a variety of multimedia channels
• Annual Symposia and other networking events (virtual and in person)
• EdTech research profiles and research roundtables
• Landscape and literature reviews
• Investment consultations for donors and EdTech service providers
• Catalyzing education grand challenges and competition calls
• Working groups for donors and policymakers
• Launch and support of a range of signature EdTech initiatives (e.g, Math Attacks!, Young Digital Champions, EdTech Academy)

The World Bank is an alliance member, along with the British Council, EdTech Hub, GIZ, Gesci, Global Partnership for Education, GSMA, IAmLearn, IDRC CRDI, ISTE, ITU, KERIS, Norad, OAS, Peace Corps, SPRIDER, US State Department, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNESCO, DFID, USAID, World Vision, World Wide Web Foundation, Brookings, and ADEA.

Publications

Flyer: EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY OR ‘EDTECH’ – April 2022

Blog:  EdTech hope or hype? Insights from East Asia Pacific

EduTech Blog Series

STAY CONNECTED

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• Annual Edition
• Financial Fridays

The Evolution of Education: Past, Present and the Future

May 6, 2022, editor(s): jade chen, writer(s): hirushi muthukumarana, jana chalhoub, stanley chen.

Introduction

Education has evolved drastically over time. Humanity began storing and transmitting knowledge through word of mouth, passing down information about animals, plants and the land to each succeeding generation. Formal education is said to have begun in Greece at around 4 BCE. In fact, the word “school” comes from the Greek word “schole”, which means “leisure”. This provides insight into how education was perceived back then; as an enjoyable activity rather than a chore. Today, the likes of Elon Musk have criticised formal education, deeming college degrees as a means of “prove(ing) that you can do your chores, but they’re not for learning” (Aratani, 2020). Educational tools have advanced. Wax tablets were amongst the earliest learning instruments used by the Romans. Today, digital tablets and an electric stylus fill our classrooms and have almost completely replaced pen and paper. Digital technology, comprising computers and the internet, represents the second main wave of disruptive technology since the printing press. Such technology has completely revolutionised the potential for learning and teaching in more engaging and accessible ways, paving the way for “leisurely learning” as the Greeks intended it to be. Journey with us as we travel through time to uncover the evolution of education and glimpse into the exciting future of pedagogy.  

A Brief History of Education

As humankind settled down from nomadic life, our ancestors began to specialise. Rather than performing generalist roles, hunter-gatherers adapted to occupations that went beyond meeting food requirements (National Geographic Society, n.d.). To manage a society growing in complexity and scale, the Egyptians began a form of education similar to that observed in modern-day society, teaching typically wealthy, elite children mathematics, language and other subjects (Facts and Details, n.d.). This naturally transpired at a social centre rather than at home, though royalty may have received private tuition to prepare them for their roles in society. These early, rudimentary forms of education also served as a barrier to the lower classes. Only the elite would be granted access to the prestigious roles requiring education.

While schooling served a very functional purpose in Egypt, Greek education had a different aim. Maintaining traditional pathways for specialised careers, tutoring occurred individually, with students being provided with the care of a mentor (Zaphir, 2019). The consequence of this was Greek philosophy; thinkers used education to inform their values and principles to help them understand the world (Mark, 2020). For those able to join the ranks of thinkers, education served to advance the collective knowledge of Greece.

Source: Greek Philosophy Tours

Nonetheless, such advanced tutor-tutee forms of education were still reserved for the wealthy of Greece. Education for those fulfilling other societal roles would have been far more general and practical. So why was education made so much more available and abundant in the West? The answer lies in the advancement of human society. Occupations continued to grow more and more labour intensive. Biddulph (2004) notes that this trend led to children spending more and more time away from their families, going into life without the social structures that made them good citizens. The cynic viewed schooling as a way to repress the resulting rising crime rates, with education becoming developed to favour the interests of the church, the business owner, and the national leader. In particular, to keep children occupied on task, draconian measures like corporal punishment were transferred from the work children were once expected to do and on into schools (Gray, 2008). Nonetheless, idealists also supported education as a means of improving social mobility.

In Australia, post-settlement education was imported from the British schooling system. Education ostensibly served as a method to broaden opportunities for the public. At the time, however, it consisted of private imported British tutors for the wealthy and ex-Convict teachers for the poor or rural (Heffernan, 2021). Such rural schools were believed to be substandard compared to urban schools or tutoring.

Source: Australian Education Research Organisation

Over time, the Australian schooling system became more formalised. As it transitioned away from a fully privatised system, the government established a relationship with various churches to facilitate more modern schooling. The later creation of non-secular teaching divided education in Australia into two classes: public schools and private schools. This remains a contemporary issue of contention in Australia, with private, religiously affiliated schools remaining popular for their perceived more superb standard (Caldwell, 2010). Specifically, the inequality between rural and urban areas has carried on, with many perceived better quality private schools placed in urban areas. Concurrently, information gathered by Caldwell (2010) indicates how this may have exacerbated class divisions in education, with economic hardship anticipating lower-income families migrating to areas with lower educational opportunities to meet other basic necessities. Nonetheless, Heffernan (2021) depicts that schooling allowed the middle class in Australia to grow as students took advantage of different pathways that education can provide.

Issues in Present Day Education

Nowadays, education is perceived as a fundamental human right and a duty for governments to ensure access to basic education for all children regardless of background or financial well-being. Furthermore, global literacy rates have climbed steadily over the last two centuries (Roser, 2016). The international average length of schooling is now drastically higher than it was a hundred years ago as more students obtain their secondary and even tertiary education. Considering Australia, the nation’s education system is regarded as one of the finest in the world by many, with a comprehensive curriculum and highly qualified teachers catering equally for domestic and international students (Australian Education System, 2021). Indeed, it is the third-largest provider globally of education for international students. 

Source: Medium

Although the above discussion portrays a relatively positive view of education both globally and locally,  there are two sides to each coin, and the opposite is rather bleak. Often obscured behind the wealth-fueled curtain of thousands of students flocking to prestigious, expensive universities and private schools in first-world nations, the truth is that even today, education remains inaccessible to millions of children in less privileged parts of the world. More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school whilst the staggering statistic of 759 million adults are illiterate (Right to Education, 2018). Their illiteracy also separates them from the awareness necessary to improve their living conditions or send their children to school so the future generation may improve theirs.

The most substantially affected regions in the world are Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Asia, and the Pacific. With uneducated children, the additional problem of extreme poverty patterns perpetuates in families, causing stagnation and no hope of improvement unless drastic measures are taken (Hillman & Jenker, 2004). In Australia, too, regional inequities in educational rights have been discovered, with students in remote access or rural areas struggling to attain the same level of secondary school education as their peers in metropolitan areas (Jenkins, 2020). Moreover, a lack of education creates a repetitive and vicious cycle of being denied the most basic rights and conditions within a ruthless modern economy. Hence, these alarming statistics must be investigated further to distinguish causes, and policies must be examined to mitigate these issues.

Currently, the two main problems causing the widespread shortage of education are poverty and marginalisation. Poverty is a crippling hindrance to education because many emerging countries cannot grant the financial resources necessary to create schools, provide schooling materials or recruit and pay teachers’ wages (Right to Education, 2018). Similarly, another significant issue is the lack of political will in developing countries to fund education, perhaps due to corruption or other motives. Moreover, as schools in developing nations cannot pay or train teachers properly, any education students receive may often be inadequate or of poor quality because of poorly trained, underpaid teachers and overcrowded classrooms.

Furthermore, the marginalisation of students is very troubling, especially when it comes to gender inequality. The continually low statistics of female children receiving adequate education robs economies severely because education for girls renders striking social benefits. Notably, higher incomes, lower maternal and infant mortality rates and educated women also have more personal autonomy for decision-making. However, according to UNESCO, an estimated 130 million girls between the ages of 6 and 17 are currently out of school. Those from the poorest families are more likely to be out of the classroom than more affluent peers. Alarmingly, even in Australia, many indigenous girls from remote rural areas do not attend school; one reason is the shame and outdated social stigmas of acquiring pads/tampons and the lack of fundamental health education ( Wahlquist, 2017) . The lack of infrastructure, poverty, overcrowding and segregation also impact the education of aboriginal children, both girls and boys (Korff, 2021).

Source: Australian Institute of International Affairs

Additionally, more problems include irregular school safety, harsh disciplinary policies enacted on students who are black or from ethnic backgrounds and even the burgeoning distraction of technology on the learning experience (Major Issues in Education, 2021). In the wake of these rampant issues, there must be policies enacted by governments to mitigate these faults. Ideally, states should bear the cost of education, especially for children from poorer backgrounds. More affluent nations or institutions should provide economically challenged countries with funds and aid for this endeavour because it develops human capital. Communities must be made aware of the importance of educating girls and boys. In particular, awareness workshops and government programs must be catered to especially in rural areas to help uplift education for women. Moreover, minorities must not be neglected; states should pay attention to these regions as only equality in education will guarantee a sustainable future.

The Future of Education

Thankfully, with the onset of “edtech” (educational technology), the future of educational equality is looking optimistic and less location-dependent. Schools in third world countries are working around infrastructure constraints by leveraging free online Youtube videos, like that of Khan Academy. The African School of Excellence (ASE) is one such example and is building a reputation as one of the most affordable schools globally (Khan Academy Blog, 2011). For regions that lack a quality internet connection, wireless technology and offline apps are promoting accessibility (World Economic Forum, 2022). Furthermore, technology such as dictation software, text to speech, electronic magnifiers and even software that converts musical scores into braille has revolutionised the ease with which students with a disability can access education. 

Additionally, edtech has made education more interactive. Augmented and virtual reality are adding gaming elements to text-book material. For example, “Virtuali–tee” is an app that enables users to learn about the human body by wearing a unique t-shirt which allows them to explore inside the body via an Augmented Reality app (World Economic Forum, 2022). Artificial Intelligence is making homework more interactive and providing virtual feedback, thereby tailoring material to suit the individual to work at their own pace. Finally, 3D printing is looking to further fuel the creative process and drive engagement in the classroom. Future scientists, mathematicians and engineers will be able to hold the actual model they built in their hands. 

There is a general misconception that technology reduces face to face engagement between teachers and students. Nevertheless, edtech aims to do the complete opposite. The “flipped classroom model” utilises technology to ensure that passive learning is done at home via videos and other digital resources, while homework is done at school, with the teacher available to assist those who need it. Classroom time is also dedicated to hands-on activities and interactive, personalised learning and discussions. In one study, students reported a significant difference in their higher-order thinking skills and perception of the importance of the contribution of their teachers when learning through flipped classroom model (Polat & Karabatak, 2022).

The collective knowledge of humanity has always been transferred from one generation to the next. As education gradually formalised into the classroom, we instinctively recognise that the system’s biases and flaws were passed down alongside an increasingly standard curriculum. This has split the world into those privileged enough to effectively supply their students with high-quality teaching, and those who cannot afford or cannot do so for various reasons. The emergence of edtech offers the opportunity to provide a high-quality education for those who traditionally would not have been able to access it. While still a developing system that has yet to be formally integrated into a widespread fashion, edtech’s ability to overcome wealth gaps and even connectivity issues places it as the pathway opener education itself is intended to be.

Bibliography:

Aratani, L. (2020, March 10). Elon Musk says college is ‘basically for fun and not for learning’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/10/elon-musk-college-for-fun-not-learning

Biddulph, S. (2004). Manhood . Vermilion.

Caldwell, B. J. (2010). Is Private Schooling Becoming the Preferred Model of School Choice in Australia? Journal of School Choice, 4 (4). https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2010.526840

Economic Issues No. 33 – Educating Children in Poor Countries . (2004). International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues33/

Facts and Details. (n.d.). Ancient Egyptian Education. Retrieved April 24, 2022. https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub404/item1929.html

FutureLearn. (2021, November 14). Explore: The Australian education system . FutureLearn. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/futurelearn-international/australia-education-system

Gray, P. (2008). A Brief History of Education. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/freedom-learn/200808/brief-history-education

Heffernan, T. (2021). The History of Education in Australia. Oxford Research Encyclopedia. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1459

Jenkins, S. (2020, November 12). Government must address barriers to education in rural and remote areas, inquiry finds . The Mandarin. https://www.themandarin.com.au/144887-barriers-to-education-in-rural-and-remote-areas/

Khan Academy Blog. (2011, December 13). Making education more accessible around the world . Khanacademy.org. https://blog.khanacademy.org/making-education-more-accessible-around-the-world/  

Korff, J. C. S. (2021, August 19). Barriers to Aboriginal education . Creative Spirits. https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/barriers-to-aboriginal-education

Mark, J. J. (2020). Greek Philosophy. https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Philosophy/

National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Civilisations . Retrieved April 24, 2022. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/civilizations/

Polat, H., & Karabatak, S. (2022). Effect of flipped classroom model on academic achievement, academic satisfaction and general belongingness. Learning Environments Research, 25(1), 159–182.

Publisher. (2021, November 11). Major Issues in Education: 20 Hot Topics (Covering Every Level) . Trade-Schools.Net. https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/issues-in-education

Right to Education : Situation around the world . (2018, February 22). Humanium. https://www.humanium.org/en/right-to-education/#:%7E:text=Today%2C%20education%20remains%20an%20inaccessible,and%20those%20of%20their%20children .

Roser, M. (2016, August 31). Global Education . Our World in Data.   https://ourworldindata.org/global-education

Wahlquist, C. (2017, September 20). Indigenous girls in remote areas skip school because they lack pads and tampons . The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/03/indigenous-girls-in-remote-areas-skip-school-because-they-lack-pads-and-tampons

World Economic Forum. (2022, May 3). Education technologies are making learning more accessible. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/education-technology-accessibility-learning/#:~:text=AR%2C%20VR%20and%20AI%20technologies  

Zaphir, L. (2019). What’s the point of education? It’s no longer just about getting a job. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/whats-the-point-of-education-its-no-longer-just-about-getting-a-job-117897#:~:text=For%20much%20of%20human%20history,forced%20to%20change%20with%20it .   

The CAINZ Digest is published by CAINZ, a student society affiliated with the Faculty of Business at the University of Melbourne. Opinions published are not necessarily those of the publishers, printers or editors. CAINZ and the University of Melbourne do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of information contained in the publication.

Meet our authors:

I am a Third Year Commerce student majoring in Accounting and Finance. I am extremely keen to expand my knowledge beyond these disciplines at CAINZ and thus, report on contemporary issues in the current economic climate to make a contribution to society!

Jade Chen's Articles

Australia’s energy sector and its fluctuations due to recent impacts, rethinking the australian dream, women in stem and the gender pay gap, hirushi muthukumarana.

Hello! I’m a second year Bachelor of Commerce student majoring in economics and finance. At Cainz, I aim to link my writing skills with my interest in the business world to create deeply informative and interesting articles with my team.

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The economics of the superstar phenomenon, from psychological impacts on youth to imbalanced markets: new-age impacts of social media, chip supremacy: tech wars, ai and international policy, redefining healthcare: cutting edge technologies and the future of big pharma, jana chalhoub.

I am a final year STEM student passionate about the intersection between data and Economics/Finance.

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I am a second year Bachelor of Arts student majoring in English and Economics. When I’m not deep diving into the structure of the education sector or the way the share market works, you’re likely to find me on top of a mountain peak somewhere else in Victoria.

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• Education /

Modern Education: A Significant Leap Forward

• Updated on  
• Nov 25, 2022

The advancement of human civilization is significantly influenced by education . Since the beginning of time, the way that people learn has changed significantly over time and continues to do so as a result of developing technology. However, thanks to the internet and other digital technology, online learning environments are becoming more popular than traditional classrooms. The spatial restriction of a physical classroom has been entirely eliminated by the current educational system, benefiting a wide variety of pupils simultaneously throughout the world. We shall shed some light and talk about Modern Education in this blog.

This Blog Includes:

What is modern education, traditional education vs. modern education, which one is better, need for modern education, what is the purpose of modern education, modern education in india, traditional education and modern education, traditional education: tried and tested, modern education: a welcome change, the wheel of modern education, smart education: the advent of online learning, grading & assessment in modern education, the three main ingredients for effective modern education, modern education: a sample study, why finland’s schools outperform most others across the developed world, benefits of modern education, disadvantages of the modern education system, challenges faced by modern education system, modern education speech.

Modern Education is the latest and contemporary version of education that is taught in schools and learning institutions in the 21st century. Modern education doesn’t just only focus on prominent academic disciplines of Commerce, Science and Arts but also aims to foster critical thinking, life skills, value education, analytical skills and decision-making skills in students. Modern Education also makes use of the latest technology such as mobile applications, audio and video platforms like YouTube, Podcasts, E-books, Movies, etc. to educate learners and make the learning process more engaging and interesting.

We have all been educated in a teacher-centric classroom, a system where the teacher is in upfront and the students are seated in nice neat rows, listening to the lecture and taking notes. This system has been, and to some extent, still forms the core of our education system. Schools have relied on it for decades, and have only recently undergone major changes. Living in the 21st century, technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. None of us can deny that it has brought about nothing short of an overhaul of our world, and more importantly of our educational system. From chalkboards to whiteboards and now to smart boards, technology has become our main source of research, knowledge, and teaching. This blog is going to shed some light on the modern education system and how it is replacing traditional methods of teaching.

Both traditional and contemporary education is connected to and distinct from one another. There was a point in our nation’s early history when there were no schools. The education or information is passed down to the children from their ancestors. At the time, this expertise was primarily concerned with survival abilities. The people who lived in jungles received their education from their predecessors, who demonstrated to them how to build tools, use animal skins for various uses, and hunt for sustenance. They received instruction on their rites and practices. Their respective beliefs were discussed in class.

They imparted moral lessons to them through the tales of their gods and monarchs. In India, the monarchs used to send their sons to institutions known as gurukuls. They learned how to wield various weapons, how to defend themselves, and how to assault their adversaries at these gurukuls. Additionally, they learned the fundamentals of governing an empire . These kinds of schools weren’t intended for the community. The royal families were the only ones who had access to it. The expertise that their parents possessed was passed on to the other children in the empire by them. The value of education grew across the nation as the democratic government was created in the next years. Schools were opened where any kind of student could come and learn. Modern education was established at this time.

Both types of education have their own place and importance in society. We cannot categorise education as good or bad. Traditional education was good in its time, and modern education is good in its time. Actually, it depends on the individual. It all depends on what the individual wishes to learn. Traditional education is unquestionably better for learning about one’s customs and religion. Modern education, on the other hand, is beneficial to those who wish to learn about science or mathematics. Both types of education are equally important. Our culture is frequently associated with traditional education. And it is beneficial, if not essential, to learn about one’s own culture. Everyone should know their religion’s stories and beliefs, as well as their traditions and culture. Similarly, it is critical to keep up with the world in terms of modern developments that are taking place today. This expresses the significance of modern education. Modern education is required to keep in touch with the rest of the world and to understand what is going on.

The academic curriculum needs to be modernised not simply to keep up with the times, but also to better educate students about the rapid breakthroughs in technology. Becoming flexible to changing times, helps students become skilled at employing both conventional abilities and technical competence with equal ease.

The existing educational system does ordinary people an injustice by limiting their potential, making it impossible for them to handle the intricacies of both private and public life. Since there are many different issues facing mankind in today’s competitive world, the educational system must be made adaptable enough to educate pupils for this dynamic environment .

Here are the key purposes of modern education:

• To foster essential life skills, critical thinking, decision-making skills and analytical competencies in its learners.
• To facilitate a positive approach towards diversity, inclusion, compassion and a sense of responsibility in students.
• To create a fun and engaging learning process.
• To incorporate educational technology to make the learning environment more experiential with a key focus on real-world applications of concepts.
• To ensure that learning and education reach every corner of the world whether through physical classrooms or online learning.
• To build an equal relationship between the teacher and learner and foster the curiosity of students and teach them to inquire and ask questions rather than the passive traditional approach.

The Indian education system has its deep roots in ancient oral learning as well as the Gurukul education system which later was transformed into formal education by the British. Here are the salient features of modern education in India:

• Modern education in India was brought by the British colonisers in the 1830s along with the English language which is credited to have been introduced in India by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay.
• While metaphysics and philosophy were earlier studied at Nalanda University, the new modern education system brought by the British focused on academic disciplines like Science and Mathematics.
• As India became free from the British, basic education was made compulsory, especially for 6-14 years of age with schools constructed all across the country.
• The modern-age education system of India in the 21st century is constituted of a new approach to learning from online education to skill-development courses, digital learning platforms, a grading system as well as the use of educational technology in the classrooms and a newly introduced New Education Policy !

Notes on Modern Education

Want to study the importance of modern education and how it is different from traditional education? Here are some important study notes on Modern Education:

Teaching styles have changed significantly over the years. The traditional way of imparting education primarily employs recitation and memorization techniques whereas modern education involves interactive methods for effective learning. The following paragraphs elaborate more on both approaches.

The conventional education method focuses more on teaching and passing on information and knowledge to learners. It focuses more on recitation than on anything else. For example, students are made to sit in silence while one student after another would take turns reciting a lesson until each one had been called upon. The teacher will listen to each student’s recitation who is expected to learn and memorise the assignments to the word. Traditional education methods rely heavily on replication-based assessment in practical and written exams as well. However, how traditional teaching methods were utilized more than ensured that students were rewarded for their efforts, used class periods efficiently and exercised clear rules to manage student behaviour. Traditional methods are based on established customs that had been used successfully in schools over many years.

Why is modern education important? Modern education significantly differs from the traditional methods of teaching and is widely practised in schools today emphasising more on science and technology. Progressive modern education focuses more on the student’s needs rather than assuming that all students are at the same level of understanding. It is activity-based comprising of questioning, explaining, demonstration and collaboration techniques. Embodied in the BEd Syllabus , this form of education teaches imaginative, creative thinking and visualization. 

Amongst the core features of Modern Education, Online Education has become a quintessential part of the learning process and pedagogy in the contemporary age. Offering an immense scope of learning anything, anytime and anywhere, the Internet has become a vast pool of knowledge welcoming people of all ages to furnish their skills and expand their expertise in different fields of study. Further, online learning is just a constituent of Smart Education which utilised technology to facilitate an interactive process of teaching and learning. The importance of technology in education is imperative today and you can learn anything and anywhere just with the help of a functioning network connection and a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Apart from the approach to teaching and learning, another unique aspect of modern education is the introduction of a grading system that focuses on providing students with certain grades rather than marks to eliminate the quantification of a student’s knowledge about a subject. While marks were the major element of assessment in traditional education, modern education has brought forward a grading system which is a better way to provide students with an overview of their knowledge and understanding of different subjects. With this advanced marking pattern, students are relieved from the scoring pressure and teachers are also able to highlight the areas where a student needs to work more on and where they can focus on helping the student perform better.

Modern education comprises various learning and teaching methods including the popular ‘space learning’ wherein students are encouraged to quickly switch through activities. It is a learning method in which the condensed learning content is provided with a 10-minutes break for physical activities. For example, students would be provided with 15 minutes of PowerPoint presentation and then allotted 10 minutes of sport. This method aims to improve their learning abilities. It is claimed that physical exercises help brain cells to create a connection that they need to remember the course. Furthermore, it has the additional benefit of allowing people to relax.

Modern education is aided by a variety of computer technologies, the internet, and projector presentations to make studies interesting and interactive for students. It encourages students to engage with the real world, and analyse everything that happens in different life spheres. Students are taken to respective sectors and industries where they witness the practical application of concepts they learned theoretically. These methods help improve the quality of education and improve the engagement of students effectively. 

Also Read: Importance of Value Education

In particular, the advantages of modern education can be summarised as:

• Modern education is a dynamic way of learning enabling students to learn a lot faster. The interaction between students and teachers helps students understand better.
• Enabling students to participate in physical activities to improve their efficiency is another advantage. Modern education allows students to do a lot more than just learn and helps them become more social and interactive. 
• Cocurricular activities, recreational activities, drama and art in education help students to become creative, industrious as well as the patient. This is one of the factors that make students look forward to schooling. 
• Modern education comprises screening classes and lectures which are scheduled at specific timings, this helps to make students punctual and consistent. 

Lack of interpersonal interaction: Courses taken online are self-paced. It is challenging for the students to build relationships with their peers. little to no face-to-face interaction and little social engagement.

The likelihood of becoming distracted: The likelihood of becoming distracted is quite high for students who are less focused and lack motivation. The students wander off course and end up doing something different.

Learners get isolated: since they don’t engage with the outside world, which increases the likelihood that they may feel lonely and alone.

1. Conformity:

Employees are required to abide by a set of rules to accomplish corporate goals or targets, which may limit their freedom and creativity.

2. Loss of Responsibility:

The people feel less accountable for the general expansion of the business as a result of the development in the specialisation. Even though their employees are not receiving the required training and development, it has been observed that firms frequently blame “ globalisation ” for all of their problems.

3. Lack Of Proper Communication:

There is frequently poor communication between various sectors

and teams as a result of overcomplication and shortened deadlines, which has a detrimental effect on the company’s overall performance.

Good morning to everyone in this assembly. I will discuss my opinions regarding the Indian educational system in my speech. People with more education may be easier to drive but harder to lead. Additionally, it makes governing simple but enslaving difficult. It is true that a man is just marginally better than an animal without education. Therefore, true education is the development of the mind, and it is necessary for living a happy life.

Education in India at the Present Time It is true that the Indian educational system is not the greatest. It is fairly monotonous and ineffective due to the lack of revisions and upgrades. Students are not very interested in their education. The issue of student’s lack of enthusiasm for learning is caused by a variety of issues.

People hold the traditional educational system responsible. The system has created a very reflecting image of education and study. Education is more about inquiry than it is about working hard to pass exams and assessments. But it seems like the existing educational system is a hardship.

Lack of computer-based education Only concentrating on books and paperwork is the part of our educational system that is the most onerous. I just want to know why schools don’t eliminate paper from the educational process! In the modern world, computer-assisted methods should be used to provide education. The entire educational system should be automated for all tasks.

Indian Education System Improvement By imposing unnecessary constraints and rules, schools and instructors risk distorting the joyous pursuit of education. Teachers need to entice students with the allures of education, learning, and acquiring information.

Teachers must explain to the students the excitement involved in the process of transmitting knowledge. Classroom instruction must be more entertaining than dull.

Our administration has implemented a number of programmes to address the flaws in our educational system. Consequently, it is a fantastic start. Although education has advanced significantly, much more work needs to be done in the near future.

Conclusion Therefore, if we want to protect our independence, it is absolutely necessary. Our nation has seen how a small number of Englishmen governed this area for more than a century. This resulted from the absence of a real educational system. This should never happen again, and the only way to prevent it is to have an ideal school system. The real education system would enable us to control our fate.

Thus, we hope that this blog on modern education helped you gain some modern perspectives on new methods of learning and teaching. We at Leverage Edu , believe in pushing your potential and bringing out the best in you. If you’re planning to pursue higher education and need assistance, get in touch with our experts and start your career today! 

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Very well explained the modern education system how it will change and how it will work in a positive manner. You can also go for interactive training rooms. If you want your employees to enjoy the initial on-borading days, then head on to automation services provided by lightomated to build interactive training rooms. They use best quality and standardized products like hi tech audio sytems, speakers, remote controlling, etc

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Modern Education: Meaning, Purpose and Benefits

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the contemporary world, education has experienced a profound evolution. The transition from conventional to modern education represents a paradigm shift in pedagogy, altering not only our instructional methods but also the fundamental philosophy of education. Within the confines of this blog, we embark on an exploration of the intricate dimensions of modern education.In this article, we will delve into its conceptualization, elucidate its importance, and dissect its overarching purpose. As we navigate this journey, we’ll unearth the profound influence it wields on students and society as a whole, shedding light on the transformative power of education in today’s dynamic and ever-changing environment.

Table of contents

Evolution from traditional to modern education, the importance of modern education, embracing technological advancements, adaptation to changing societal needs, preparing students for the digital age, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills, benefits of modern education, the need for modern education, challenges in modern education, modern education technologies, the role of teachers in modern education, the future of modern education, frequently asked questions (faqs), defining modern education.

Modern education stands as a departure from the age-old, traditional methods of imparting knowledge. It boldly embraces contemporary pedagogical approaches, which, in essence, encapsulate its very identity. At its core, modern education intertwines seamlessly with technology, leveraging its potential to elevate the learning experience. This synergy catalyzes an environment that is not static but adapts fluidly to the ever-evolving needs of society. Through this metamorphosis, it equips students with the skills and acumen necessary to navigate the intricate landscape of the digital age, where challenges and opportunities are intertwined in a tapestry of constant transformation.

Modern education incorporates cutting-edge insights into child development , creating more effective and child-centered learning environments.

The evolution of education is a profound journey, distancing itself from its conventional origins characterized by classroom lectures, textbooks, and standardized assessments. In stark contrast, modern education emerges as a beacon of innovation, customization, and adaptability. It shatters the confines of the one-size-fits-all approach that once dominated, acknowledging the rich tapestry of individual learning needs and styles. Modern education champions the belief that each student is unique, and as such, it tailors its methods to cater to this diversity. 

When selecting educational gifts for kids in the context of modern education, consider interactive STEM kits, coding toys, or educational apps that promote hands-on learning and critical thinking.

Modern education is far more than a fleeting trend; it is an imperative in our contemporary, knowledge-driven society. Its significance becomes glaringly evident when we consider its role in preparing learners to flourish in a world that is in perpetual flux. In this era of rapid change and global interconnectedness, the traditional modes of education fall short in adequately equipping students. Modern education, however, serves as a catalyst, endowing learners with the vital skills, knowledge, and adaptability required to navigate this ever-evolving global landscape successfully.

The Meaning of Modern Education

Undoubtedly, one of the pivotal pillars of modern education is its seamless amalgamation with technology. Gone are the days when learning was confined to dusty textbooks and classroom lectures alone. In the present educational landscape, technology reigns supreme, ushering in an era of unprecedented accessibility and interactivity. Interactive online platforms and virtual classrooms have taken center stage, reshaping the very essence of learning.

Through these technological marvels, information is no longer bound by geographical or temporal limitations. Learners can embark on a virtual journey, exploring a world of knowledge at their fingertips. 

Modern education’s dynamic nature stands as a testament to its adaptability in response to the shifting sands of society’s needs. It serves as a proactive agent in addressing pressing contemporary issues, including sustainability, diversity, and the ever-deepening web of global interconnectedness. By incorporating these vital topics into the curriculum, modern education equips students with the knowledge and perspectives required to understand and contribute meaningfully to our complex world.

The Purpose of Modern Education

In the digital age, technological literacy isn’t a mere option; it’s an absolute necessity. Modern education recognizes this fundamental truth and assumes the role of a beacon, guiding students through the labyrinth of technology. It equips them with the indispensable digital skills that serve as the key not only to unlocking educational opportunities but also to thriving in the competitive landscape of the modern workforce. This digital proficiency transcends the mere ability to operate devices; it encompasses critical thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability in the face of ever-evolving technologies. 

Modern education heralds a paradigm shift from rote memorization to the cultivation of critical thinking and problem-solving prowess. It champions an educational ethos that inspires students to be active, inquisitive thinkers who dissect, question, and tackle real-world challenges with creativity and independence. This approach empowers learners to not merely regurgitate information but to actively engage with knowledge, forging a path towards innovative solutions and a deeper understanding of the complexities of our world.

Modern education breaks down geographical barriers, allowing students to access global resources and collaborate with peers worldwide, enriching their learning journey. Diverse learning tools such as digital resources, multimedia materials, and interactive simulations cater to different learning styles, acknowledging each student’s uniqueness. Personalized learning paths and adaptive technologies tailor the educational experience to individual strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, interactive and immersive learning environments heighten student engagement, rendering the learning process both enjoyable and highly effective. This holistic approach to modern education empowers learners to thrive in an interconnected world.

In an era where knowledge is the currency of the economy, the capacity for critical thinking and adaptability holds immense value. Modern education plays a pivotal role in arming individuals with the essential skill set needed to thrive in such an environment. Moreover, it serves as a bridge across the educational divide, guaranteeing access to high-quality education irrespective of one’s socioeconomic status. Recognizing the uniqueness of every learner, modern education offers flexible teaching approaches and varied materials to accommodate diverse learning styles, reinforcing the notion that education should be inclusive and tailored to the needs of each student.

Disparities in educational opportunities arise due to unequal access to technology and the internet, underscoring the digital divide. Sustaining the quality of online education remains an enduring challenge, requiring continuous efforts.

The rapid evolution of technology presents persistent hurdles for both educators and students, demanding constant adaptation. Modern education’s heavy reliance on screens prompts concerns about excessive screen time, and its potential consequences on physical and mental well-being warrant careful consideration. Addressing these issues is crucial to ensuring equitable, high-quality education in the digital age.

1. Role of Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education through tailored learning experiences, adapting to individual needs. Moreover, AI streamlines administrative duties, saving educators valuable time and resources. This technological advancement not only enhances the educational process but also improves efficiency within educational institutions.

Artificial intelligence education is revolutionizing the way students learn, providing personalized insights and tailored content to enhance their educational experience.

2. Virtual and Augmented Reality in Learning: Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are reshaping the educational landscape by immersing learners in interactive, dynamic experiences. These technologies offer a profound enhancement to traditional teaching methods, fostering engagement and deeper understanding through immersive simulations and real-world applications

3. Big Data and Learning Analytics: Leveraging data-driven insights empowers educators to customize their teaching methods, catering to individual learning needs. These valuable analytics also illuminate areas where improvements are needed, enabling a targeted approach to enhancing the educational experience. 

Modern education utilizes advanced tools and data analytics to tracking child’s progress more effectively, allowing educators and parents to provide targeted support and adapt learning strategies to individual needs.

Educators are the linchpin in the successful integration of modern educational methods and technologies. They play a proactive role in fostering vibrant virtual classrooms and providing crucial assistance within digital learning environments. Continuous professional development is not merely an option but a vital necessity, ensuring that teachers remain current with the latest tools and pedagogical approaches. This ongoing training empowers them to navigate the ever-shifting educational landscape adeptly, equipping them with the skills and knowledge required to effectively guide students. 

Educators are instrumental in bridging the gap between traditional and modern education, facilitating a seamless transition into innovative and dynamic learning paradigms. Their commitment to evolving with the times is pivotal in shaping the future of education.

The horizon of education holds the promise of deeper integration of AI, immersive technologies, and personalized learning experiences. These advancements are poised to reshape how knowledge is acquired, fostering more engaging and effective educational journeys. As we look ahead, the ability to anticipate and respond to the ever-evolving needs of both learners and society will be the compass guiding the future of education. This foresight is paramount in ensuring that education remains relevant, adaptable, and aligned with the dynamic demands of a rapidly changing world, ultimately preparing individuals for success in the years to come.

In summary, modern education represents a dynamic and ever-evolving entity that goes beyond the confines of conventional boundaries. Its essence lies in its adaptability, continually molding itself to meet the evolving needs of both learners and society at large. It stands as a beacon of empowerment, endowing students with indispensable skills, knowledge, and resilience to confront the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by the digital age.

As we cast our gaze into the future, the trajectory of education’s evolution remains unwavering, driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence. It is our collective duty to ensure that every individual, regardless of their background or circumstance, has unfettered access to a high-quality education. Embracing the principles of modern education is not merely a choice; it is an imperative in our pursuit of a brighter, more informed, and interconnected world, where every individual can contribute to the betterment of society and the advancement of humanity.

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A1. Modern education emphasizes active learning, personalized approaches, and the integration of technology, differing from traditional education which often relies on rote memorization and one-size-fits-all teaching methods.

A2. The primary benefits of modern education include fostering critical thinking skills, adaptability, and accessibility for both students and educators through online resources and collaborative tools.

A3. Modern education can address diverse learning needs by offering customizable learning paths, adaptive assessments, and inclusive teaching practices that accommodate various learning styles and abilities.

A4. Educational institutions face challenges when transitioning to modern education methods, such as resistance to change, the need for significant technology infrastructure, and ensuring equitable access for all students.

A5. Technology plays a central role in modern education, enabling remote learning, interactive content, and data-driven insights into student progress, fundamentally reshaping the way we acquire knowledge and skills.

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I visited Singapore to see why it is ranked as the top education system in the world. Here’s what I learned

Low pupil-teacher ratios, well-equipped classrooms and dedicated teachers contribute to positive learning atmosphere in modern schools.

Students at Singapore's environmentally progressive Commonwealth Secondary School. Photograph: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Last month I attended the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISPT) in Singapore. The over-arching theme of the three-day event was “reimagining education, realising potential”, and was attended by representatives from high-performing and rapidly improving education systems worldwide.

Since becoming an independent republic in 1965, Singapore has transformed from an impoverished island with no natural resources and a mostly illiterate population to a country of almost six million people whose living standards match those of the most highly developed industrial nations.

From the outset, a strong emphasis was put on the importance of an educated workforce to fulfilling ambitious economic goals. This has paid off and in recent years Singapore’s education system has been blazing a trail in the international rankings. It therefore came as no surprise to me to witness excellence in their primary schools.

Each day of the summit began with organised school visits to provide context for discussions in the afternoon. I was really impressed with the amazing infrastructure at all three schools, well-designed classrooms albeit much smaller than where Irish pupils typically learn, an abundance of flexible learning spaces, a suite of specialist rooms for music lessons, creative arts work, mother-tongue language learning and many rooms to support children with additional needs including those who needed behavioural support, school canteens, all-weather outdoor spaces, well-developed school gardens and energy efficient buildings.

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Singapore’s education system is known for its rigorous and comprehensive curriculum. Students are exposed to a wide range of subjects, including mathematics, science and languages from an early age. This broad-based education ensures that students develop a strong foundation in multiple disciplines.

[  Young people have outgrown our education system. How we respond is a conversation we need to have  ]

A crucial aspect of Singapore’s success is the quality of its educators. Teachers undergo rigorous training and professional development, ensuring they are well-equipped to deliver high-quality instruction. This commitment to teacher excellence directly benefits students. Every year, Singapore calculates the number of teachers it will need, and opens that many places on the teacher training programmes. If only we were doing this in Ireland. The selection process is competitive: teaching is a highly regarded profession in Singapore. Student teachers are paid the equivalent of 60 per cent of a starting teacher salary and their tuition fees are covered by the ministry of education.

In their third year of teaching, teachers can choose a leadership track and can advance to department head and vice principal. In this way, all principals start out as teachers and then serve in two administrative roles before advancing to school principalship.

Singaporean schools provide a conducive environment for learning. Low pupil-teacher ratios, well-equipped classrooms and dedicated teachers contribute to a positive learning atmosphere in state-of-the-art school buildings.

An online student learning space (SLS) provides a library of curriculum-aligned, digital resources for all grade levels and subjects. Using templates, teachers create lessons by compiling SLS resources or using a mix of online resources and their own materials. Students can also access SLS resources on their own, independent of assignments.

[  Moving from Singapore to Ireland: ‘I’m shocked by the inefficiency and complete lack of common sense’  ]

Parents in Singapore place a strong emphasis on education and are actively involved in their children’s learning journey. They provide unwavering support and create a conducive environment for studying, which motivates students to excel.

Singaporeans are known for their strong work ethic. This cultural trait extends to the classroom, where students are encouraged to work hard and strive for academic excellence. This dedication to their studies sets them apart.

Singaporean schools incorporate innovative teaching methods, such as problem-based learning, to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students. This approach prepares them to tackle complex challenges. Schools there also embrace technology as a valuable learning tool.

Currently, about 80 per cent of all students with special educational needs attend mainstream schools. Learning support specialists help students with conditions such as dyslexia or autism. Specialised training in special education is provided to a designated group of general education teachers within each mainstream school, to create a support system for students with special needs.

[  ‘Students are struggling in ways we haven’t seen before’  ]

For students who need more intensive or specialised assistance, there are government-funded special education schools similar to our own special schools. Extra funds are allocated for students with special needs at 150 per cent or 300 per cent of the base per student cost, depending on whether they attend mainstream or special schools.

Despite its success, Singapore’s education system faces criticisms, including concerns about high stress levels among students and overemphasis on exams. Additionally, it has been identified there is a need for a greater focus on creativity and critical thinking.

Singapore’s consistent top performance in the Pisa test can be attributed to a combination of factors, including a well-structured educational system, emphasis on maths and science, supportive learning environments, parental involvement, government policies, teacher quality and cultural attitudes towards education. Although there are challenges to address, Singapore’s approach to education continues to serve as a benchmark for excellence on the global stage.

Were Ireland to host the ISTP summit, there’s no doubt delegates would be impressed by many of the advancements we have made over the last six years since the gradual unwinding of the austerity era. There is much to be admired within Ireland’s primary and special education systems including the inclusive nature of our schools, a child-centred – albeit overcrowded – curriculum and the high quality of our teaching professionals.

The introduction of a redeveloped primary curriculum here next year should herald an exciting new era for Irish education, but unfortunately the spectre of overcrowded classrooms, the teacher-supply crisis, the dearth of psychological and therapeutic supports for children with additional needs, and the underfunding of our schools loom large and threaten our ambitions.

John Boyle is general secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation

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Young University Rankings 2024

The  Times Higher Education  Young University Rankings list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger.

The table is based on the same performance indicators as the flagship  THE  World University Rankings, but the weightings have been adjusted to give less weight to reputation. The 2024 editions of the rankings introduces significant updates to the original methodology.

The universities are judged across all their core missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook – to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available.

The 2024 ranking includes 673 universities, up from 605 in 2023. A further 499 institutions are listed with “reporter” status, meaning that they provided data but did not meet our eligibility criteria to receive a rank.

View the Young University Rankings 2024 methodology

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore tops the league table for the second year in a row.

Hong Kong continues to have a strong presence in the top 10, but it’s a mixed picture in terms of individual university performance. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has slipped from second to third place and Hong Kong Polytechnic University from fourth to seventh, but City University of Hong Kong has risen two places to fourth.

Meanwhile, France’s top institutions all improve. Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris, its top performer, is now second, up from third last year.

Turkey has the highest number of institutions ranked, at 58, followed by India with 55 and Iran with 46.

The number of territories featured in the table rises to 79, one more than in 2023. Ghana and Peru both make their debut.

Read our analysis of the Young University Rankings 2024 results

To raise your university’s global profile with  Times Higher Education , contact  [email protected]

To unlock the data behind  THE ’s rankings, and access a range of analytical and benchmarking tools, contact  [email protected] .

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Kids Ain't Cheap

11 Gender-Specific Lessons We Need to Stop Teaching Children in a Modern World

Posted: February 28, 2024 | Last updated: May 1, 2024

In a world that is increasingly embracing diversity and equality, traditional gender roles and stereotypes seem archaic and limiting. As we strive towards a society that values individuals for who they are rather than the gender they were assigned at birth, it’s crucial to re-evaluate the lessons we impart to children. Here are 11 gender-specific lessons that need to be rethought in our modern world.

1. Boys Don't Cry

We’ve often told boys that showing emotion is a sign of weakness, a lesson that stifles their emotional development. Telling boys not to cry teaches them to bottle up their feelings, leading to emotional repression and difficulty in forming healthy relationships.

Encouraging emotional expression in boys can foster empathy, resilience, and emotional intelligence. It’s essential to teach all children that emotions are a natural part of being human, regardless of gender. This shift can lead to a more emotionally healthy and empathetic generation.

2. Girls Must Always Be Polite and Passive

Traditionally, girls are taught to be compliant, polite, and not too outspoken, reinforcing a passive role in society. This can limit their ability to assert themselves, express their opinions, and lead.

Encouraging assertiveness and confidence in girls can empower them to pursue leadership roles and speak up for themselves.

Teaching all children the value of politeness coupled with assertiveness is key to developing well-rounded individuals. It’s vital to encourage girls to be as bold and assertive as their male counterparts.

3. Boys Shouldn't Play with Dolls

The idea that boys should avoid playing with dolls limits their opportunity to learn nurturing and caregiving skills. Playing with dolls can be beneficial for children of any gender, as it teaches empathy, responsibility, and emotional intelligence.

Gender-neutral play encourages children to explore a wide range of interests and skills, unhindered by gender stereotypes.

Encouraging boys to engage in diverse forms of play can foster a more inclusive and empathetic mindset. This approach allows children to discover their true interests and talents freely.

4. Girls Aren't Good at Math and Science

This outdated stereotype undermines girls’ confidence and interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields.

Encouraging girls to engage in and excel at math and science is crucial for gender equality in these industries. Showcasing female role models in STEM can inspire girls and break down the stereotype.

It’s important to teach all children that intelligence and capability are not gender specific. Fostering an environment of equal opportunity in education can lead to more diverse and innovative STEM fields.

5. Boys Are Naturally Aggressive

Labeling boys as naturally aggressive can lead to excusing unhealthy behavior and discouraging emotional intelligence. It’s important to teach boys healthy ways to express emotions and resolve conflicts.

Encouraging empathy and communication skills in boys can reduce aggression and foster better relationships. Recognizing that aggression is not an inherently male trait is essential.

Teaching all children non-violent communication and emotional regulation is key to raising a more peaceful and empathetic generation.

6. Girls Should Focus on Their Appearance

Emphasizing physical appearance as a girl’s most valuable asset can lead to body image issues and superficiality. Teaching girls that their worth is not tied to their appearance fosters self-esteem and confidence.

Encouraging interests and skills beyond physical appearance allows girls to develop a well-rounded sense of self. It’s important to celebrate diverse forms of beauty and challenge narrow beauty standards.

Promoting the idea that intelligence, kindness, and creativity are as valuable as physical appearance can lead to a more inclusive and empowering society.

7. Boys Don't Do Household Chores

Assigning household chores based on gender reinforces traditional domestic roles and limits life skills development. Teaching boys to participate in domestic tasks prepares them for independent living and promotes gender equality in household responsibilities.

Sharing household chores among all family members, regardless of gender, models teamwork and equality.

It’s important to teach children that domestic responsibilities are a shared aspect of life, not gender-specific duties. This approach fosters a sense of responsibility and respect for domestic work in all individuals.

8. Girls Must Be Caretakers

The expectation that girls should naturally be more nurturing and responsible for caretaking can limit their personal and professional aspirations. Encouraging girls to explore a wide range of roles, including leadership and independence, is crucial for gender equality.

Teaching all children the value of empathy and care, regardless of gender, can lead to more compassionate and balanced relationships. It’s important to allow girls the freedom to choose their path without the burden of gendered expectations. Fostering a culture that values diverse roles and skills in all individuals can lead to a more equitable society.

9. Boys Are the Protectors

Labeling boys as protectors and defenders can create undue pressure and reinforce traditional power dynamics. Teaching boys that showing vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, but a strength can foster healthier relationships.

Encouraging mutual support and protection among all children, regardless of gender, can lead to a more balanced and respectful society. It’s important to challenge the notion that protection is solely a male responsibility. Promoting the idea that everyone has the right to feel safe and supported, without gendered expectations, is key to gender equality.

10. Girls Shouldn't Be Too Loud or Opinionated

Discouraging girls from being loud or opinionated can stifle their voices and limit their influence. Encouraging girls to express their opinions and speak up is crucial for developing self-confidence and leadership skills.

Teaching all children the value of respectful communication and active listening is important for balanced discourse.

It’s essential to create environments where girls feel safe and encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. Promoting the idea that all voices, regardless of gender, deserve to be heard and respected can lead to a more inclusive and diverse society.

11. Boys Must Always Be Strong and Independent

Teaching boys that they must always be strong and independent can lead to isolation and difficulty in seeking help. Encouraging boys to ask for help and collaborate with others fosters teamwork and community.

Teaching all children the value of interdependence and mutual support is key to a healthy society. It’s important to challenge the notion that needing help is a sign of weakness. Promoting the idea that strength can also be found in vulnerability and collaboration can lead to more supportive and resilient communities.

Rethinking Gender Norms

In the journey towards a more equitable and inclusive world, rethinking the gender-specific lessons we teach children is paramount.

By challenging these outdated notions and promoting values of empathy, equality, and emotional intelligence, we can raise a generation that respects and values diversity.

Embracing a future where individuals are not confined by gender stereotypes but are celebrated for their unique strengths and abilities is the key to a progressive and harmonious society.

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United States Institute of Peace

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A Conversation with Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi: Reflections on Diplomacy and Peace

Date:  Tuesday, May 21, 2024  /   Time:  5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

Amid escalating global tensions and humanitarian crises, the imperative for effective diplomacy has never been more pressing — and there are few with more experience as a diplomat and mediator than Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi. From his early days as an Algerian freedom fighter to his decades of service as a U.N. and Arab League diplomat, Ambassador Brahimi has navigated some of the world’s most complex conflicts and exemplified the power of diplomacy in shaping our shared future.

Join USIP for a conversation with Ambassador Brahimi that will explore his remarkable diplomatic career, the complexities of modern conflict resolution, and his thoughts on how nations can work together to build a more peaceful and prosperous world.

Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi Former Algerian Foreign Minister

Ambassador George Moose Acting President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace  

General Registration

Media registration.

For questions about accessibility please contact [email protected] . Kindly provide at least three business days advance notice of need for accommodations.

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The Middle East is entering a new phase after unprecedented attacks by Israel and Iran during the first two weeks of April. Robin Wright, a senior fellow at USIP and the Woodrow Wilson Center who has covered the region for a half century, explores what happened, the strategic implications, the political context and the divided world reaction.

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The Application of Short Dental Implants in Modern Dentistry

Explore how short dental implants can address significant anatomical challenges, reduce the need for complex surgeries, and improve long-term outcomes for patients.

Treatment of the atrophic maxilla and mandible can pose significant anatomical challenges when dental implant prostheses are desired. Guided bone regeneration procedures may be attempted to increase native ridge dimensions and overcome sinus pneumatization for future implant placement. However, variations in dental implant size and shape can minimize the need for traditional site development surgeries that may prove costly and unpredictable, as well as high risk for medically compromised patients.

The actual definition of short implants remains controversial in the literature. Based on known studies, this review will define short dental implants as ≤ 8 mm in length, and extra short will be considered ≤ 6 mm long. While both implant designs represent viable alternatives, they are not immune to biologic and prosthetic complications. 1,2  The ability to readily identify situations in which short implants are appropriate will set realistic clinical expectations and improve long-term surgical and prosthetic outcomes.

The design and application of short implants cannot be fully understood without first tracing their origin. The concept of replacing missing teeth goes back millennia and was revolutionized by implant dentistry. While the transition from subperiosteal to endosseous implants dramatically improved their survival rate, it was not until the introduction of titanium that surgeons could truly appreciate osseointegration. Titanium is bioinert and offers high corrosion resistance, lending to optimal bone apposition, chemical stability, and a low elastic modulus. The protective titanium oxide layer that forms around the implant surface is still vulnerable to pathogenic bacteria, micromotion and fretting. To counteract these factors, titanium has modifiable surface properties, which have become central to its evolution in recent years. 3

Commercially pure titanium implants placed and documented by Brånemark were originally used in the edentulous patient. Multiple parallel implants were placed interforaminally in the mandible and between the anterior walls of the maxillary sinuses. These implants had a machined surface with an external hex connection that were splinted by a metal framework in the definitive restoration because they lacked anti-rotational features. 4  The mean vertical bone loss in the first year after installation was 1.2 mm, with 0.2 mm bone loss every year thereafter. 5

• Lee SA, Lee CT, Fu MM, Elmisalati W, Chuang SK. Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials for the management of limited vertical height in the posterior region: short implants (5 to 8 mm) vs longer implants (> 8 mm) in vertically augmented sites.  Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants . 2014;29:1085–1097.
• Ravidà A, Barootchi S, Askar H, Suárez-López del Amo F, Tavelli L, Wang HL. Long-term effectiveness of extra-short (≤ 6 mm) dental implants: a systematic review.  Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants . 2019;34:68–84.
• Linkow LI, Rinaldi AW, Weiss W Jr, Smith GH. Factors influencing long-term implant success.  J Prosthet Dent . 1990;63:64–73.
• Adell R, Lekholm U, Rocker B, Brånemark PI. A 15-year study of osseointegrated implants in the treatment of the edentulous jaw.  Int J Oral Surg . 1981;10:387–416.
• Albrektsson T, Zarb G, Worthington P, Eriksson AR. The long-term efficacy of currently used dental implants: a review and proposed criteria of success.  Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants . 1986;1:11–25.

This information originally appeared in Botto AA, Saltz AE. Clinical utility of short dental implants. Decisions in Dentistry. 2021;7(6)36-39.

Antonella A. Botto, DDS, MS, FACP, is a periodontist and prosthodontist practicing in Oakbrook Terrace and Glenview, Illinois. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and the American Board of Prosthodontics. An active member of the American Academy of Periodontology, American College of Prosthodontists, and the International Academy of Gnathology, Botto can be reached at [email protected].

Adam E. Saltz, DMD, MS, MPH is the managing editor of Decisions in Dentistry . A practicing periodontist in the South Portland, Maine area, Saltz currently serves as faculty consultant at Kansas City University, where he developed its predoctoral periodontal curriculum. A diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, he focuses on minimally invasive surgery, perioprosthetics, and digitized implant workflows to deliver the highest quality interdisciplinary care. Saltz is currently president-elect of the Maine Dental Association, chairs multiple state and regional committees, and was recently appointed to the American Dental Association’s New Dentist Committee. He can be reached at [email protected].

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