How Private Capital in Education Is Increasing Access, Inspiring Innovation and Improving Outcomes
The face of education is changing. A generation ago, education delivery was dominated by the public sector across geographies, and publishers dominated private sector education. Technology played a minimal role, and few investors were engaged. For too many people in too many countries, education was a privilege rather than a right. The consequence? Unrealized human […]
Mobile Learning is the Only Viable Way to Preserve the Planet
Since the 1970s, the Earth has not been able to regenerate for itself the resources that humanity uses. Currently it takes a year and a half for the planet to regenerate what we use in a year and if the whole planet lived the lifestyle of the average Western nation, we would need five planets […]
If Only I Get the Chance
Ann Cotton is the 2014 WISE Prize for Education Laureate. We made an unusual tableau that 1991 November morning against the backdrop of a vast Zimbabwe sky. There was the farmer, tall and barefoot, his child in a worn school blazer, the headmaster in his dark suit, and me. The child was the reason for our […]
What Should Public Education Systems For the 21st Century Look Like?
World Teachers’ Day – an annual celebration of the great craft that is teaching. But is this most noble of professions struggling with an identity crisis? And what does this say about the nature of education systems across the world? Working in education, it sometimes feels that no news is good news. There are steady […]
Are There Really Skills Gaps Everywhere?
Virtually everywhere we turn there are discussions about what to do to solve the skills gap problem, both in the press and in public policy forums. The skills gap notion started in the US, surprisingly, in the middle of The Great Recession when we would have thought there was never a greater glut of talent. […]
How Are Corporations Making a Difference in Providing Middle Skills?
This article is part of a series on innovative solutions to tackle the main challenges of Latin American education (part 3 of 6). Demand for skills is rising fast in Latin America—much faster than the region’s education systems can handle. Latin American businesses are struggling to fill their open positions even as youth unemployment remains high. The private sector […]
Filling the Right Gaps with the Right People
The Gap(s) For all the recent discussion around the skills gap, the numerous reports indicate that there are gaps, not a gap. A broad survey of the research divides skill gaps into two broad areas: the lack of technical skills, and the lack of transferable or ‘soft’ skills. On the technical skills plane, economists such […]
Skills Gap or Communication Gap?
Globally, 73 million young people are looking for work. Yet, millions of vacancies remain unfilled. In May 2015, five million posts were vacant in the US while more than eight million were looking for jobs there. In countries recently surveyed by the OECD, 39 million young people are not in education or employment (NEET). The figures offer a […]
Closing the Skills Gap with Cross-Sector Collaboration
In an era where the only certainty is uncertainty, talent is the key for success. Nevertheless, we face a great paradox. On one side, there are people searching for jobs; and on the other side, companies cannot find the right candidates with the right skills. According to the ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey 2015, globally, 38% of […]
Many College Graduates Are Not Equipped for Workplace Success. Why?
Most employers hiring college graduates take it for granted that these candidates are more qualified than other potential employees who don’t have a degree. Many job postings emphasize a college degree as a requirement for a position. And there is long-standing evidence that people with college degrees make more money over their lifetime than those […]