Education Revolution

Broader access to improved education acts as a major catalyst for empowerment, sustained economic growth, overcoming inequality and reducing conflict. We need an education system fit for the digital revolution.

In schools and institutions across the world questions are being asked about how to make education fit for purpose, from both a supply and a demand perspective. On the supply side the problem is around quality and quantity; there is a global shortage of qualified teachers and those who are in the profession are often obliged to deliver an inflexible curriculum with an over-dependency on exams not fit for purpose. On the demand side students are often under qualified in the core social skills required for later life and ill-prepared to adapt to a more flexible and analytical professional environment. The shift from factual learning to learning how to work on projects and better meet the future business environment is an issue frequently raised, providing both a challenge and an opportunity for change.

It is no surprise that getting every school, and ideally every child, connected to online resource is a high profile ambition for many. Whether via technology firms like Google and Facebook (using balloons and other solutions to provide connectivity to remote areas), or governments investing in fixed and mobile broadband infrastructures, the ability for every child to have access to the world’s information is a pivotal and potentially transformational shift. Yes, some will get left behind at first, but the digital divide will, it is argued, be reduced and sometime in the next decade every school should be connected.

While Internet connectivity has a major role to play, many are also focused on fixing some of the basics, believing that although technology can help improve education it is not a silver bullet. It should be integrated with traditional education techniques which allow young people to develop holistically and become responsible citizens. Moreover, in order to achieve widespread success all teaching approaches have to be sustainable, replicable and scalable.

Foremost in terms of global impact is tacking the access challenge. Improving quality and access to education seen as a common need in many countries and not just developing ones. In several Western countries the imperative to engage more students in better education is seen as pivotal in mitigating the risk of a disenfranchised next generation. Not surprisingly, the universal support of enhancing female education is growing and getting input from the UN and governments through to foundations and NGOs. The social, economic and political benefits of making sure girls get the same opportunities as boys is driving a host of initiatives. Some are addressing basic needs (making sure that girls make it through secondary education) and this means not just supporting the cultural shift of valuing daughters as much as sons but also in providing sanitation – the lack of toilets is still highlighted as a reason why so many girls stop going to school when they reach puberty. In other areas the net benefit of reducing population growth by delaying the age of having children is seen as a direct linkage from supporting girls in education for longer.