Placing Communities at the Heart of Transforming Education
by Whitney Warren and Emmanuel Kizaale, Building Tomorrow Community Education Volunteers: A Grassroots Approach to Learning Building Tomorrow’s Community Education Teams have reached over half a million learners across rural Uganda with our signature Roots to Rise (R2R) foundational literacy and numeracy camps, cutting learning poverty for more than three-quarters of our learners. A vital […]
Better collaborations to support children’s learning and development: how do we recognise learning teams?
By Dr Alison Buckler and Freda Wolfenden How can the expertise of diverse actors be harnessed to ensure all children can access productive learning opportunities that support their aspirations? Over the past seven years we have been exploring this question with our partners at the Learning Generation Initiative (LGI). We have researched over one hundred […]
Learning Teams for Foundational Learning: Gender Considerations for Inclusive Learning Teams
LGI’s recent research note on Learning Teams for Foundational Learning offers a fresh perspective on ways to address educational challenges. It lays out examples of learning team approaches from different country contexts that have successfully improved foundational learning outcomes, sets an agenda for further research in this arena, and provides policy recommendations for governments on […]
Nurturing Learning Teams Across the Education Workforce: Kenya’s Ustadi Toolkit Co-Creation and Testing
By Ng’ang’a Kibandi, Dignitas Today’s education ecosystems are increasingly embracing teamwork and collaboration to achieve a shared vision of teaching and learning. This shift is transforming the way teachers, school leaders, and field education officers work together, fostering more supportive and constructive relationships. While there was a time when field education officers were seen as […]
Building Learning Teams to Support Foundational Learning for the Most Marginalized
Grassroots Nest for Innovation and Change (GRiC) believes that education is at the heart of social justice, and in their effort to transform communities for the most marginalized, education must be centered. In the words of founder Wangui Nyaga, “Education is a game changer, it transforms lives”. Collaborative Learning Teams: The Heart of GRiC’s Approach […]
EAC Inaugural Regional conference on Education
by Deborah Kimathi As a representative of the Learning Generation Initiative (LGI), I had the privilege of attending the EAC Inaugural Regional Conference on Education LGI HYPERLINK “https://learninggeneration.org/our-champions/” High-Level Champions Baela Raza Jamil and Teopista Birungi Mayanja. The conference, convened by RELI Africa in collaboration with Learning Generation Initiative partner ADEA, African Union, PAL Network […]
Learning Teams for Foundational
by Deborah Kimathi The Learning Generation Initiative (LGI) exists to empower the people within and connected to education systems to enable all children to be learning within a generation. We achieve this by working with policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders to analyze critical issues for the education sector to generate evidence that informs action […]
Enhancing Education Delivery: Insights from DeliverEd’s Final Report
Education plays a vital role in societal progress, but the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the existing learning crisis and imposed financial constraints on education systems worldwide. To address this, governments have adopted various education delivery approaches, but their effectiveness and achievements have lacked evidence-based evaluation. In response, DeliverEd collaborated with the Blavatnik School of Government (BSG) […]
Walking the Talk for the Right to Education – A field note on Gilgit Baltistan and its Delivery Lab!
The DeliverEd Initiative funded by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office and lead by the The Education Commission explores the effectiveness of ‘delivery approaches’ that combine functions, such as prioritization and target setting, monitoring, accountability and problem-solving to rapidly improve bureaucrats’ performance and service delivery. DeliverEd studies ‘how’ high stakes reforms in education can be led […]
Looking back and looking forward
“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” by Liesbet Steer I’m writing this on my final day as Executive Director of the Education Commission after seven very happy and productive years. A good moment to reflect on our journey, our achievements, and our plans for the future. Where it all […]
The Innovative Pedagogies Project in Ghana: Expectations vs. reality
by the Institute for Education Planning and Administration, University of Cape Coast, Ghana Building upon the Save Our Future White Paper’s recommendation to make education more inclusive, engaging, and adaptive (IEA), the Innovative Pedagogies Project (IPP) was launched to create greater awareness, political will, and action toward adopting IEA and playful pedagogies at the primary […]
Sweden contributes to the largest global investment ever for the education of poor children with US$200 million guarantee commitment to the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd)
30 Dec 2022/STOCKHOLM – Half of the world’s children live in countries where the quality of education is so poor that large numbers of 10-year-olds cannot read an entire sentence – despite having attended school for several years. The quality of education in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) must be raised substantially, but there is […]
Save the planet, transform education
By Liesbet Steer Since the closing of this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP27), many have reflected on the achievements and disappointments of the climate summit. The Loss and Damage Fund and strong calls for reform of the international financial architecture were seen as good outcomes of COP27, but the negotiations were broadly assessed as […]
Dr. Liesbet Steer’s remarks at Add Today Multiply Tomorrow: Building an Investment Case for Early Childhood Education report launch
Education Commission Executive Director Dr. Liesbet Steer delivered closing remarks at the launch of our latest report produced in partnership with UNICEF and the LEGO Foundation, Add Today Multiply Tomorrow: Building an Investment Case for Early Childhood Education, on November 15, 2022. This following is the transcript of Dr. Steer’s remarks (watch video above). Greetings […]
Commission Chair Gordon Brown and ED Liesbet Steer address first ministerial meeting of the School Meals Coalition in Helsinki
Listen to Dr. Liesbet Steer’s remarks for the closing of School Meals Coalition week on October 14, 2022 Education Commission ED Dr. Liesbet Steer participated in the first ministerial meeting of the School Meals Coalition (SMC) on October 14, hosted by the Government of Finland in Helsinki. The meeting followed the successful School Meals Coalition […]
Enabling teachers to design and adapt their own learning solutions
Engaged teachers inspire engaged learners | Photo credit: Lucas Cuervo Moura Every classroom requires a few basic things to function: a teacher, learning materials, and a safe environment for students to learn. All classrooms exist in different contexts and all learners build their knowledge and skills in different ways. Teachers must be able to adapt […]
School leaders are critical for collaborative teacher learning in Sierra Leone
Katie Godwin, Research Lead for the Education Workforce Initiative Miriam Mason, Country Director, EducAid Sierra Leone Anne-Fleur Lurvink, Analyst, Open Development and Education Teacher professional development (TPD) in Sierra Leone In Sierra Leone, teachers in rural areas struggle to access meaningful opportunities for professional development due to their distance from teacher training colleges, limited understanding […]
School Meals Programmes and the Education Crisis
by Kevin Watkins Millions of children are falling behind in their education as a result of the pandemic, malnutrition, and poverty. But with well-designed and properly financed school meals programs, governments could help to ameliorate this trend, sparing millions from a lifelong cycle of deprivation. Read the new working paper prepared for the Commission’s Sustainable […]
Creating inclusive and playful classrooms through values-based teaching
Children learn best when they have opportunities to play and develop their individual personalities Photo credit: Kevin Oloo (Aga Khan Foundation Kenya) For every child to learn, they must feel welcome in their classroom, no matter their ability, background, culture, or religion. It is a teacher’s responsibility to create inclusive and engaging learning environments, but […]
Quality education for all – now or never
World leaders, policymakers, development partners, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) among others gathered at the UN Headquarters last week for the Transforming Education Summit (TES), in response to a global crisis in education; the need for equity and inclusion, and quality and relevance. There is no better time than this for such an important gathering of […]
Historic first-ever International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) launched at United Nations Transforming Education Summit
UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown presents the founding statutes of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to mark IFFEd’s launch at the Transforming Education Summit. Watch the video here. 17 Sept 2022/NEW YORK – Today at the United Nations Transforming Education Summit, world leaders backed the […]
Rewiring Education for People and Planet report calls for cross-sectoral collaboration
The piece below is the foreword by Dr. Liesbet Steer and Dr. Tariq Al Gurg from Rewiring Education for People and Planet, a new report launched at the UN Transforming Education Summit by the Education Commission and Dubai Cares. We are at a pivotal moment with no time to waste. We have less than eight […]
Transforming Education Summit: Our expectations and hopes
Held in Rio de Janeiro in December 2019, the main outcome of the inaugural World Non-Formal Education Forum was the Rio Declaration on Non-Formal Education which calls for more recognition, innovation, and investment in non-formal education. By Alice Mukashyaka and Thaís Queiroz, Next Generation Fellows for Education Following several years of design and development with […]
Innovative Pedagogies: The what, why, and how of Universal Design for Learning and Social Emotional Learning
By Kate Brolley, Inclusive Development Partners (a partner of the Innovative Pedagogies Project) Education cannot wait. Build back better. All means all. It is difficult to argue with powerful and catchy messages like these about the importance and urgency of quality and inclusive education. We’ve seen these taglines, and so many others, put forward in […]
On the road to the Transforming Education Summit and beyond
The UN Secretary-General is convening the Transforming Education Summit (TES) on September 19, 2022. The Summit aims to rekindle political commitment, mobilize action on solutions to recover from COVID-19, reimagine education, and revitalize efforts to achieve SDG 4. Summit inputs are being gathered through national consultations, thematic action tracks, and public mobilization. We are working […]
School leadership event in Sierra Leone draws experts across Africa
The Education Development Trust (EDT) and the Education Commission co-hosted a knowledge exchange event last month, bringing together key stakeholders and policymakers from Sierra Leone’s education sector. School leadership experts from our programmes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe all took part, sharing practical insights and lessons learnt from their experiences. They shared how they […]
Around 3 in 4 youth lack skills needed for employment, new report says
Ahead of World Youth Skills Day, UNICEF and the Education Commission call for urgent investment to address the global learning and skills crisis NEW YORK, 13 July 2022 – Nearly three quarters of young people aged 15 to 24 in 92 countries with available data are off-track to acquire the skills needed for employment, according […]
Deputy Secretary-General echoes call to operationalize International Finance Facility for Education to drive education transformation
The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s delivered the following remarks at the Innovative Financing for Lower-Middle-Income Countries side event at the Transforming Education Pre-Summit in Paris on June 29, 2022. As you know, I have regrettably joined Gordon Brown and many others on the list of those who would have wanted nothing more than to […]
UN Special Envoy Gordon Brown’s remarks at the Transforming Education Pre-Summit
UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Education Commission Chair Gordon Brown delivered the following remarks at the Transforming Financing for Education session during the Transforming Education Pre-Summit in Paris on June 29, 2022. This high-level panel examined the urgent shift in domestic and international financing needed to drive education transformation. Let me first of […]
A new mapping of tools to examine the education workforce
A new joint report with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) maps existing tools and frameworks on teachers and the broader education workforce. by Katy Bullard, GPE Secretariat, Ramya Vivekanandan, GPE Secretariat, Gabriele Goettelmann, Katie Godwin, Education Commission, and Amy Bellinger, Education Commission (this blog was originally published on the GPE site) As education access […]
Innovative Pedagogies Project: Encouraging inclusive, engaging, adaptative, and playful ways of teaching
In partnership with country partners in Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, we are excited to announce the launch of our Innovative Pedagogies Project (IPP), thanks to funding from the LEGO Foundation. We are collaborating with the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Cape Coast, Aga Khan Foundation, A Partner in Education, and […]
Greater Share: A new fund investing in learning teams for learning transformation
The newly launched Greater Share fund is an exciting new philanthropic investment model that harnesses the expertise of the world’s top-performing private equity funds and highest impact NGOs to transform education for children in underserved communities across the world. This leadership by the philanthropic community could not come at a better time. Education is in […]
The World Skills Clock: A new real-time data and advocacy tool for SDG 4
At the RewirEd Summit in Dubai last December, the Education Commission, Generation Unlimited, UNICEF, and the World Data Lab launched the prototype of a powerful new data and advocacy tool: the World Skills Clock monitors learning and skills trajectories globally and at the country level using a real-time data model. As an interactive webtool, the […]
High Touch High Tech for All: Harnessing AI and personalized learning to tackle the education crisis
At the recent Philanthropy Asia Summit spearheaded by the Temasek Foundation, the Commission’s High Touch High Tech for All (HTHT) initiative was showcased as a key call to action to harness AI and personalized learning to tackle the education crisis. The summit was attended virtually and in-person by more than 300 philanthropists, business leaders, academics, […]
DeliverEd policy brief: Delivery Approaches in Crisis or Conflict Situations
Natural disasters, violent conflicts, epidemics, and pandemics all have the potential to disrupt and permanently damage the course of human development – including education. We have unfortunately seen these crises emerge locally, regionally, and globally with increasing frequency and lead to migration, destruction of infrastructure, and disuse of existing infrastructure. In the education sector, these […]
Que el origen no sea destino mejora en la calidad de las escuelas de puebla
por Bernardo Naranjo Este blog es parte de la serie de artículos de la Iniciativa DeliverEd por parte de implementadores de política y líderes de alrededor del mundo quienes comparten sus desafíos en implementar reformas y reflexionan sobre los distintos enfoques utilizados para resolver esos retos en sus países. DeliverEd busca crear la base de […]
RewirEd: Rewiring global education to jumpstart positive change
Commission Chair Gordon Brown’s keynote for the Education Financing Day of the RewirEd Summit in December 2021 in Dubai The Education Commission was proud to be a strategic partner of the RewirEd Summit held in Dubai from December 12-14, 2021. Led by Dubai Cares, in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai and in close coordination with […]
DeliverEd policy brief: Design Choices for Delivery Approaches in Education
As delivery approaches bring together management functions in new ways to shift attention from inputs and processes to outputs and outcomes, they are heavily influenced by their context and the goals and inputs which feed into them. There are many different ways to design delivery approaches and integrate them into the broader education system. As […]
Origin shall not be destiny: Quality improvement in Puebla schools
by Bernardo Naranjo This blog is part of a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges in their countries. DeliverEd aims to build the evidence base for how governments in low- and middle-income […]
DeliverEd’s 3rd African Policymaker Forum on Delivery Approaches and COVID-19 Response
by Charry Lee This blog is part of the Africa Policymaker Forum blog series. The Africa Policymaker Forum is a joint community of practice launched by the Education Commission and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) to discuss delivery challenges and strategies for addressing them to improve education service delivery across […]
COP26: A turning point for education as a key solution for climate challenges?
by Liesbet Steer Expectations were very high for the climate negotiations in Glasgow. COP26, six years after the Paris Agreement, was the first big meeting for countries to step up their ambitions. For many, it was a litmus test for whether the basic idea of the Paris Deal – to ratchet up ambition every five […]
Rethinking the education workforce: Making the invisible visible
This blog originally appeared on the UKFIET website and was written by Katie Godwin (the Commission’s Education Workforce Initiative Research Lead) and Claire Hedges (Open University’s International Development Office Senior Program Manager) who co-convened the 2021 UKFIET conference theme on Rethinking the Education Workforce. The ‘Rethinking the Education Workforce’ theme of this year’s conference explored […]
DeliverEd’s 2nd African Policymaker Forum on Delivery Approaches and COVID-19 Response
by Charry Lee In mid-July, the DeliverEd initiative hosted the second session of the bi-monthly African Policymaker Forum on Delivery Approaches and COVID-19 Response. During the inaugural session, representatives from education ministries across Africa shared key challenges they were facing including delivering education remotely, sacrificing longer-term priorities to focus on immediate needs, and prioritizing with […]
In search of a fresh approach to improve education in Malaysia
By Idris Jala This blog is part of a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges in their countries. The opinions contained in these blogs are those of the authors and do not […]
Using digital learning to close the skills gap
By Motunrayo Fatoke To celebrate International Youth Day on August 12 and International Humanitarian Day on August 19, the Education Commission is hosting a weeklong “youth takeover” to share the voices of the incredible youth working in education right now. Follow our social media @educommission to learn more and check out the pages of our […]
Delivering an ambitious reform agenda for Argentina: How one leadership team shifted the culture towards focusing on learning and investing in human capacity
By Mercedes Miguel This blog is part of a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges in their countries. DeliverEd aims to build the evidence base for how governments in low- and middle-income […]
HTHT Summit 2021: Leveraging AIEd to narrow the achievement gap in education
The High Touch High Tech Summit 2021 (HTHT 2021) , Education Commission Asia’s inaugural global conference on artificial intelligence in education, was held online globally and in person in Seoul, Korea from June 29-July 2, 2021. Education Commission Asia, in partnership with TV Chosun and Riiid, hosted this four-day international conference on “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence […]
Five ways geospatial analysis can help visualize and solve some of education’s biggest challenges
As the education community continues to mobilize efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), stakeholders at all levels of the system are grappling with questions on how to deliver inclusive quality education. What communities will benefit most from school construction or improved transport networks? Where are the biggest shortages of well-qualified teachers? Which […]
The UK Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU): Delivering transformational change for England’s National Health Service
By Gwyn Bevan This blog is part of a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges in their countries. The opinions contained in these blogs are those of the authors and do not […]
Close encounters with delivering education: Is it adding up?
Commissioner Baela Raza Jamil leads an Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) training of trainers session in Pakistan (photo: ITA) by Baela Raza Jamil This blog is part of a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges […]
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) – the case for investing in intrinsic motivation
by Girish Menon, CEO of STiR Education The upcoming Global Education Summit for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), co-hosted by Kenya and the UK, has an ambitious target of raising USD $5 billion to transform education systems in up to 90 countries, so that all children can get a quality education. This is a […]
Five key insights from DeliverEd’s global mapping of delivery approaches
by Charry Lee and Jessica Bergmann Since 2010, there has been an accelerating trend in the adoption of delivery approaches[1] which seek to improve policy implementation and service delivery. However, little empirical evidence – especially from low- and middle-income countries – exists on the effectiveness of delivery approaches and what design choices and contextual factors […]
DeliverEd launches inaugural African Policymaker Forum on Delivery Approaches and COVID-19 Response
African policymakers from nine countries discuss the largest delivery challenges in education posed by COVID-19 By Albert Nsengiyumva, Executive Secretary of ADEA, and Kate Anderson, DeliverEd At the start of 2020, African policymakers knew this would be a defining decade for delivering quality education to the more than 550 million children across Africa, 100 million […]
Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition launches to support Coalition for School Feeding
On May 27, 2021, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in partnership with donors including the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Dubai Cares launched the Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition – a ten-year collaboration of academic, research, and development partners that will address and share strategic research […]
Delivering reforms for tourism in Tunisia: Amel Karboul reflects on key lessons for policymakers
by Dr. Amel Karboul This blog is the first in a DeliverEd Initiative series by policymakers and leaders from around the world who will share their challenges in delivering reforms and reflect on the various approaches used to solve these challenges in their countries. The opinions contained in these blogs are those of the authors […]
Identifying “education deserts”: How GIS tools can bring us closer to universal school enrollment
By Dan Rodriguez-Segura and Brian Heseung Kim The rise of fine-grain geospatial data has the potential to change education policy planning and increase educational equity and efficiency across the globe. In our paper published in the academic journal Development Engineering, we make available a data-driven, open-source framework that uses freely-available population data from WorldPop to […]
The global architecture for climate action: Lessons for the education sector?
This blog is based on a longer commentary which can be found here. By Liesbet Steer and Andrew Steer In virtually every country, education tops the list on surveys of what citizens want for a better future. Sadly, the global community has not prioritized education accordingly. As documented by the UN Secretary-General’s Policy Brief and […]
Broadband Commission deliberates building an inclusive post-COVID digital future
Education Commission Chair Gordon Brown’s remarks to the Broadband Commission Spring Session This press release was originally published on the ITU website. Calls for innovative mechanisms and impactful partnerships to make the best use of broadband Internet Geneva, March 23, 2021 – A year into the crucial Decade of Action intended to achieve 17 key […]
GIS for Education Working Group launches to promote data-driven decision-making
Around the world, individuals are using maps to power everyday decisions: how do I navigate from my home to the nearest hospital? How many supermarkets are in my community? What public transportation is available for me to take to work? But the use of geospatial data extends far beyond the day-to-day decisions of individuals. Geospatial […]
One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge of delivering for learning is greater than ever
How can delivery approaches support governments now and in the future? With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to create pressing challenges for education delivery and threatening to cut education sector budgets, understanding how governments can implement policies and interventions effectively and achieve results in education is more crucial than ever. The Save Our Future White Paper calls for action to address […]
The Roaring Twenties: Educating the COVID-19 generation
by Liesbet Steer, Director of the Education Commission Education will largely determine whether the radical change of the 2020s will reduce or increase the current inequality of opportunity and wealth that characterizes the world today. One hundred years ago the world was emerging from the last global pandemic, the Spanish flu. Politicians assumed that people […]
Reflections on 2020 and hopes for 2021
by Liesbet Steer Most of us were happy to see the end of 2020. It was challenging for all of us, and very difficult for some. They say the darkest hour sometimes comes just before the dawn. It is our hope that 2021 can indeed be the beginning of a new dawn, of new hope […]
Innovative analysis for the education workforce: Sierra Leone research and policy papers
The Education Workforce Initiative (EWI), funded by UK Aid, partnered with Fab Inc. and Sierra Leone’s Teaching Service Commission (TSC) to support strengthening the education workforce. The research and analysis applied a systemic lens across the workforce lifecycle, considering how to improve the supply and demand of teachers across Sierra Leone, but especially in the […]
A talk with the author: Change agents at the middle-tier of education systems
From Ontario (Canada) to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), there are untold stories behind many of the recent most impactful and sustainable education reforms. These include middle-tier professionals –school advisors, supervisors, pedagogical coaches, and teacher mentors – who are increasingly acting as the link between policy and practice. By working directly with schools and teachers, it […]
Creating learning teams to #SaveOurFuture: The Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) program in Sierra Leone
This former GATE program Learning Assistant is now a student teacher in Sierra Leone. The GATE program supports young women from rural communities in Sierra Leone to become teachers. COVID-19 and the education workforce The COVID-19 crisis has created extremely challenging circumstances for more than 63 million primary and secondary teachers globally due to massive […]
Commission Chair Gordon Brown launches High Touch High Tech for All global consortium at Global Leaders Forum
UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Commission Chair Gordon Brown delivered the keynote address for the 8th annual Global Leaders Forum 2020, an in-person and virtual gathering of international leaders and innovators hosted by TV Choson on November 16-17 in Seoul, Korea that attracted more than 3000 participants. “We are more aware than ever […]
Key lessons on effective leadership during COVID-19 and beyond
“This pandemic has highlighted that anyone can demonstrate leadership – so we need to empower everyone involved in education.” –Teopista Birungi Mayanja, Education Commissioner and the Uganda National Teachers’ Union founder and Board of Trustees Chair Leadership at every level – from school leaders to district offices to ministries of education – is a critical […]
#SaveOurFuture: Defend our learning
The Save Our Future campaign hosted an online, child- and youth-focused It Takes a Village global school rally on October 10th featuring the stories of children, teachers, health workers, community volunteers, and celebrities and their efforts to keep learning alive during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event culminated with this call to action from children to […]
Global movement calls for increased investment in education to avert catastrophe
PRESS RELEASE Education must be part of stimulus packages and education budgets must be protected. Paris, October 22, 2020 — An unprecedented global coalition of organizations called for urgent investment in education today to prevent a generational catastrophe. Launching a joint white paper at the Global Education Meeting hosted by UNESCO, the Save Our Future […]
EnlightED round table: Averting an education catastrophe for the world’s children
Commission Director Liesbet Steer and Commissioner Ju-Ho Lee spoke with Chief Learning Officer at IE University Nick Van Dam about the #SaveOurFuture campaign, the need to rethink the education workforce, and the opportunity to harness technology to personalize learning during a round table as part of the enlightED Virtual Edition 2020 conference on October 21, […]
Education Workforce Initiative country collaborations in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam
Over the past year, the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) has collaborated with Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam to catalyze new thinking to address each country’s specific education workforce challenges and propose concrete options for reform drawing on the evidence and visions outlined in the Transforming the Education Workforce report. EWI has produced a series of […]
#SaveOurFuture: Defend education
by Liesbet Steer Sometimes when you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted. –Christine Caine The COVID-19 crisis will be remembered for its overwhelming dimensions: the worst health and economic emergency in a century, a global reckoning of racial and social injustice, an escalating climate crisis, and the […]
International Common Assessment of Numeracy and COVID-19 Crisis
By Dr. Rajarshi Singh, Director of Programs, PAL Network ICAN stands for the ‘International Common Assessment for Numeracy’ and is a large-scale multi-country citizen-led assessment. Put in simple terms, it also stands for the resilience – for the promise, that one could proudly say: “I Can.” ICAN was conducted in 13 countries, reached over 20,000 […]
Saving Generation COVID
A student completes a remote lesson by radio in 2015 during the Ebola crisis. By Abiy Ahmed and Gordon Brown This piece first appeared on Project Syndicate. During the COVID-19 crisis, lockdowns and other social-distancing rules have forced schools worldwide to shut their doors, locking out a peak of 1.6 billion children. Unless the international […]
Transforming learning during the COVID-19 crisis
As the global community struggles to adapt to a new normal, the scale and scope of the pandemic’s impact is only beginning to emerge. Aside from health concerns and the tragic loss of life, the looming economic impacts may potentially reverse years of progress on the 2030 Global Goals. COVID-19 is likely to cause the […]
Commission Chair Gordon Brown’s keynote at the Education Disrupted, Education Reimagined WISE Summit
Commission Chair Brown’s keynote starts at 16:05. The full transcript of his speech is below. It’s a real pleasure to speak to the WISE conference – to thank the Salzburg Global Seminar and WISE, particularly Sheikha Moza for organizing this, and to say that I thought that the initial remarks that we had from Asmaa […]
Educating the COVID recovery
Abut girl is studying at home, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In Côte d’Ivoire, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, started the “School at Home” project. Videos of teachers teaching were produced and will be broadcast on national television, during the period of isolation due to COVID-19. by Rob Jenkins & Liesbet Steer We […]
Build Back Better: Six considerations for national education responses to COVID-19
By Celeste Carano and Kate Anderson The COVID-19 crisis is forcing education decision-makers to address urgent implementation challenges rapidly and leverage their systems in new ways. In some cases, this means quickly identifying the most effective solutions for distance learning and implementing those solutions at national scale almost overnight. For some, the most important consideration […]
Responding to COVID-19: Harness the education workforce
As of April 24, 2020, schools in over 190 countries around the world have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting over 91 percent of enrolled learners and 63 million teachers worldwide. Although schools are closed, learning must not stop. The world’s teachers and the wider education workforce – school leaders, district education officers, policymakers, […]
IFFEd: An opportunity to mitigate COVID-19’s impact on learning
The world is in the midst of an unprecedented global catastrophe with devastating impacts that will be felt for generations. We cannot neglect education when taking steps to address the impacts of this crisis. More than 1.5 billion children and youth – over 90 percent of the world’s students – have been impacted by school […]
Brown urges G20 to co-operate on delivery of coronavirus medical essentials to avoid profiteering
Gordon Brown has issued a stark warning about “profiteering” over vital medical supplies after Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty spoke of a global bottleneck in securing testing kits and equipment. The former PM said to avoid “dog-eat-dog bidding wars” the G20 should step up efforts to co-ordinate and vastly increase production and procurement of key […]
DeliverEd: Gathering evidence to deliver real results
A decade left for delivery As we entered 2020, the UN Secretary-General called on the global community to commit to a decade of delivery. Indeed, we are just 10 years away from the 2030 deadline to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 of ensuring inclusive, equitable, quality education for all, but more than […]
2020 Update: the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd)
There is no better investment in our future than education. In today’s global economy and society, investments in human capital are essential and smart. Quality education is absolutely vital to lift people out of poverty, ensure healthier families, unlock job opportunities, increase security, and create more stable and peaceful societies; it is the keystone to […]
The 2030 Skills Scorecard: Projecting workforce readiness
Estimates indicate that by 2030, there will be 1.5 billion school-age children in low- and middle-income countries. If current trends continue, well over half of them — 880 million children — will not be on track to acquire the most basic skills they need to succeed in the workforce. The 2030 Skills Scorecard, produced by […]
Education at UNGA 2019
Last week, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) focused on the “Decade of Action for Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” With only 10 years until the 2030 deadline and 260 million children still out of school, a decade of action is truly needed for education! The good news: This year, UNGA produced a number […]
Rethinking the Education Workforce
The following blog is from the Foreword of the Education Commission’s new report: Transforming the Education Workforce: Learning Teams for a Learning Generation. We live in an age of unprecedented change and disruption. In some places, cars drive themselves, drones deliver packages, and refrigerators tell you when it’s time to buy milk – but over […]
Getting back on track at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum
Where are we with SDG 4? Recently, world leaders gathered at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to assess progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). According to UNESCO’s latest projections – which align with the Commission’s analysis – the world is off-track to achieve universal access to quality education and learning by […]
Promises, promises – and the true promise of the garden of education
When my kids were born, I moved to the suburbs. Along with that came a very grown up accessory: my very own garden to tend. ‘Garden’ was really stretching reality. It was more like an expanse of dry, barren, unloved earth. So I turned to a local gardener. “Don’t worry,” he told me, “I have […]
Delivering results: The Education Commission and progress towards SDG 4
The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity has inspired action and delivered results on the promise of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive and equitable quality education for all. In 2015, it was clear that business as usual was not delivering results for children. Projections demonstrated that on current trends by 2030 more than […]
April 12, 2019 | World leaders support establishment of one of the largest investments in global education
Recognizing the urgent need to tackle the learning crisis, world leaders expressed strong support for the establishment of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) at the World Bank spring meeting this year. The IFFEd proposal has the potential to be a truly innovative and efficient education financing mechanism. During an event co-hosted by the […]
Reimagining mid-level roles within the education workforce
In 2018, the Education Commission launched the Education Workforce Initiative to develop concrete options for policymakers to redesign, expand, and strengthen the education workforce to meet the changing demands of the 21st century and enable quality education for all. Dozens of experts and researchers are currently looking at ways people around the world are redefining […]
Countries near consensus on Facility’s final design
By Liesbet Steer, Director of the Education Commission During the UN General Assembly in September, the UK Secretary of State for International Development challenged countries participating in the Commission’s Make Impossible Possible event to develop a final design recommendation for the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) by the end of this month. The #UK […]
5 reasons why the International Finance Facility for Education is a smart answer
By Liesbet Steer and Pedro Alba In response to Owen Barder and Andrew Rogerson: The Center for Global Development (CGD) recently posted a blog that presented several misconceptions about the establishment of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd). The current working design of the Facility addresses many of the concerns raised by the two […]
Innovating to learn
We are in the midst of a global learning crisis. This is the clear message from recent major reports: According to the World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report on learning, “hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills.” And the Education Commission’s 2016 Learning Generation report estimates that […]
Support for the new International Finance Facility for Education featured in latest G20 review of global institutions
Led by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance has just published a comprehensive review of the global financial governance and new ways to deliver on the world’s important global economic and social objectives, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The newly released report […]
Investing in Knowledge Sharing to Advance SDG 4
Coauthored by the Center for Global Education at Asia Society, Results for Development, Teach For All, The Boston Consulting Group, and World Innovation Summit for Education “A new paradigm in global development is needed to sustain the progress of the last generation,” explains Larry Summers in the Foreword of this report. For global education, a […]
Make Impossible Possible: Unlocking Human Potential Through Education
At the United Nations General Assembly this year, world leaders pledged strong support for the establishment of the single largest investment in education history – the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd). During our #MakeImpossiblePossible event, co-hosted by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, leaders […]
Supporting teachers so they can teach
‘Number one she makes me listen. And two, you know her being there gives me more space and helps me to prepare… Let’s say if I talk children might not understand and she is able to give me them more feedback. The children are not just hearing one voice. I give priority to the subjects […]
Civil society feedback on the International Finance Facility for Education
Today the Education Commission is releasing a summary report on the recent consultation with more than 50 civil society organizations on the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd). The consultation provided civil society organizations the opportunity to contribute their ideas and feedback on a variety of topics related to the Facility. This consultation, which took […]
From refugee to social entrepreneur
My earliest memories are of war and atrocities all around me. I became a refugee from the Sudanese civil war and was one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” For 13 years I lived in refugee camps along the Sudanese and Ethiopian border. At age 17, I was brought to America where I learned English […]
South Asian education leaders explore delivery approach to solve education challenges at scale
When the Prime Minister of a country decides to open an education conference to tackle the learning crisis for South Asia – home to almost 2 billion people – it speaks volumes about the high priority the sector is receiving to support the democratization and development of the region. The message was clear when Nepal’s […]
Statement from Gordon Brown on the International Finance Facility for Education
PRESS STATEMENT Speaking at the United Nations, Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education said: “The International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), that the Secretary-General has endorsed today, has the support of the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Regional Development Banks. It is backed by the addition today of 1.5 million signatures […]
Live from the Education Workforce Initiative launch
Across the globe, countries are facing teacher shortages – especially in remote or conflict areas – and in certain subject areas such as science and mathematics. It’s time to rethink how we recruit, train, and support qualified teachers. That is why the Education Commission, along with support from the United Kingdom Department for International Development, […]
2018 delivers first win for global education financing
For the past two years, the Education Commission has called for an increase in global financing for education which has been declining for six consecutive years – leaving millions of children out of school and young adults failing to learn and adapt to the modern world. To help deliver on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4’s […]
Highlights from the live forum with Commissioner Julia Gillard
On January 24, the Education Commission’s Director Liesbet Steer and Senior Advisor Edith Asibey welcomed Commissioner Julia Gillard to discuss the future of global education financing. As Chair of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Julia Gillard gave an overview of the organization’s model and its Financing Conference happening in February 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. […]
Taking the case for education to Davos
By Justin van Fleet, Director of the Education Commission This week, I will travel up the mountains of Switzerland for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. The meeting provides a unique glimpse into the challenges world leaders find most urgent, and the solutions they find most promising. The theme of this year’s Davos […]
Commissioner Ju-Ho Lee: “Together we can deliver an education for all”
Education can transform individuals, societies, and economies. My experiences as a professor and a former Minister of Education, Science and Technology remind me of this truth – and I have seen it at work in my own country. In just two generations, South Korea transformed from a country with mass illiteracy to an economic powerhouse […]
5 reasons to be optimistic about global education
Education unlocks human potential, enabling children to become healthy, productive adults. It is the key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – from ending poverty to promoting peace. That’s why it’s more important than ever to ensure that all children have access to quality education. Building a Learning Generation will be hard work but we […]
Replenishing the Global Partnership for Education: A goal we must all stand behind
By Commission Directors Liesbet Steer and Justin van Fleet. This blog was originally published on the GPE Education for All blog. Nelson Mandela once said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” Society has a moral responsibility to invest in its children, and […]
New UK report calls for increase in global education financing
The UK House of Commons’ International Development Committee has just published its report ‘DFID’s work on education: Leaving no one behind?’ The report assesses the Department for International Development’s (DFID) work in global education and its important contributions towards achieving the education Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) of ensuring quality and inclusive education for all by […]
2017 Progress Report: Reflecting on a year’s work
Approximately one ago we launched the breakthrough Learning Generation report. Now we are proud to share an update highlighting our progress. The 2017 Progress Report brings the Commission’s Four Transformations – improve performance, unlock innovation, ensure inclusion and expand finance – to life. The Commission’s Progress Report: We also encourage you to check out:
Commissioner Baela Raza Jamil: “A call to action I cannot refuse”
Serving as a Commissioner on the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity is a privilege. In the short time since the Commission launched in 2015, we have created the Learning Generation vision – an achievable plan to ensure that all children are in school and learning within a generation. The Commission is a unique […]
Ideas Worth Sharing: Commissioner Amel Karboul at TED
In September 2017, Commissioner Amel Karboul presented at the TED@BCG event in Milan, and we’re thrilled that her talk is now featured on TED.com. In her talk, Dr. Karboul describes a dire education crisis: Today, more than a quarter of a billion children are out of school. Millions more are in school, but failing to […]
Outliers prove the Learning Generation is within reach
Last year, the Education Commission made an incredible discovery. While countries across the globe, as a whole, were headed down a concerning path – one where in 2030 more than half of young people worldwide will not have the skills needed for a job – others were bucking the trend. They were outliers: countries moving […]
If we want results, let’s focus on delivery
October, 23 2017 What is the delivery approach? Where does the term come from? The delivery approach is a methodology that supports problem-solving and systematic implementation of projects. The focus is on delivery and getting things done rather than just planning what needs to be done. The process is much more proactive than more traditional […]
The future role of teachers and education support professionals
Two weeks ago, I attended the United Kingdom Forum for International Education and Training (UKFIET) annual conference in Oxford. This gathering brought together a wealth of research on teachers, as well as new insights on how to support, develop and motivate the education workforce – recommendations guided by rigorously collected and very promising evidence. The […]
Education takes center stage during Global Goals Week
Commissioners Convene in New York City One year after the Learning Generation report launch, Commission leadership met in New York to review how recommendations have become action and discuss how to best accelerate progress across the four transformations called for in the report. There are important milestones to be celebrated, such as new funding for […]
Ensuring quality education for all: progressive universalism
In its Learning Generation report, the Education Commission says that successful education systems must reach everyone, including the most disadvantaged and marginalized children. We will not close the learning gap unless leaders take additional steps to include and support those at greatest risk of not learning – the poor, the discriminated against, girls, and those […]
These are the five lines in the G20 Leaders’ Declaration that will change the future of global education
NEW YORK, July 9, 2017/ — The G20, an annual meeting bringing together the leaders of the world’s 19 wealthiest countries and the European Union, acknowledged the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity’s (the Education Commission) game-changing proposal to finance global education. Leaders at this year’s Summit in Hamburg, Germany committed themselves to advancing […]
On the eve of the G20 Summit, Education Commission members call on world leaders to fund global education
NEW YORK, July 6, 2017/ — Addressing an energized audience of tens of thousands at the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, Education Commission Chair Gordon Brown and Commissioner Shakira Mebarak made an urgent appeal for world leaders to put education on the agenda at this year’s summit. Following a first-ever joint performance alongside Coldplay, Shakira […]
Five takeaways from June’s live forum
Today’s forum featured Commissioner Theo Sowa (CEO, African Women’s Development Fund) alongside Commission Director Justin W. van Fleet in a conversation moderated by Edith Asibey, the Commission’s Senior Advisor – Communication. In all, approximately two hundred participants from civil society, development banks, aid agencies, research partners and more dialed in to discuss achieving the Learning […]
Notes from the field: Uganda’s response to the refugee crisis
Arua, Northern Uganda — We are on Uganda’s northern border with South Sudan. A beautiful area with rolling green hills scattered with small villages comprised of mud huts, mango trees and compact cotton and tobacco fields. As Chief Adviser to the Education Commission, I am travelling with Save the Children UK’s team including the CEO, […]
Africa: from the Nairobi workshop, a newfound value for ‘ruthless prioritization’
The Ghanaian delegation at the Learning Generation Lab Workshop in Nairobi, from L to R: Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Special Assistant to the Minister of Education; Veronica Dzeagu, National Coordinator of Ghana National Education Campaign; Ernest Otoo, Head of Policy, Planning and Development Partners Coordination; and Enoch Hemans Cobbinah, Chief Director of the Ministry of Education […]
Back to Nairobi: Reflections on the Learning Generation Lab Workshop
Last week, I travelled to Nairobi to support our Learning Generation Lab Workshop. We brought together education leaders from twelve African countries to make real progress towards our shared education goals. This was an especially meaningful trip, as it was my first time back to Kenya since I lived there in the mid to late […]
Commissioner Shakira calls for breakthrough International Finance Facility for Education
In a call to action made live on Theirworld, Shakira Mebarak, a member of the Education Commission, is asking her millions of fans – and education advocates worldwide – to join her in calling upon leaders to take action and support a breakthrough International Finance Facility for Education. In the statement, Shakira acknowledges “a plan […]
Financing for the Learning Generation secures support at the 2017 Spring Meetings
The main take-away from the Education Commission’s participation in the 2017 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings: new and actionable solutions for the financing of the Learning Generation are gaining momentum and support. The message was loud and clear, coming from ministers of finance representing several African and Asian countries, civil society, business and philanthropy […]
“I want to be an engineer. I want to go back to rebuild my country.”
New York City, April 19 Promises made to children are sacred. Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, in a speech in the historic ECOSOC chamber at the UN, reminds us of the words of Nelson Mandela. The theme of Brown’s speech is global cooperation. There is urgency in his voice. He tells […]