projects for quality education

Innovations for Quality Education: from Management to the Classroom

The technical cooperation project on Innovations for quality education and Innovative technologies in education and digital communication is a partnership from the São Paulo Municipal Secretariat of Education ( Secretaria Municipal de Educação de São Paulo - SME-SP ) and UNESCO Brasilia. Its objective is to strengthen the educational governance in São Paulo city through innovative actions for quality education and democratic management. Since 2014 the activities developed within the context of the technical cooperation has resulted in rich knowledge production with various publications issued as Open Educational Resources (OER) and innovations in the fields of pedagogy, academy, technology, school management, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) , contributing to the provision of equitable and inclusive quality education in one of the largest school systems in Latin America.

Today, the school system in São Paulo has around 1.37 million students registered from pre-school to upper secondary education level, including adult and youth education and indigenous education. It also covers a rich diversity of migrant students and the ones with deficiencies. 

São Paulo city is a pioneer in the world in relating the learning objectives in its municipal curriculum to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .

The Project is developed based on three main themes:

Curriculum and SDGs

• Educacional Management

Technological Innovations

Features of education in são paulo city.

The City of São Paulo Curriculum ( Currículo da Cidade de São Paulo ) integrates the SDGs in all areas of knowledge in the following modalities and has as Guiding Principles: 

• Inclusive Education
• Equity and Comprehensive Education 

In addition, the materials also present a Matrix of Knowledge that includes ethical, political, and aesthetic principles oriented towards the exercise of responsible citizenship to enable the construction of a more egalitarian, fair, democratic, and solidary society related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The São Paulo City Curriculum initiative has integrated the SDGs in all knowledge areas of: 

• Early Childhood Education 
• Special Needs Education
• Indigenous Education
• Youth and Adult Education 
• Primary and Lower Secondary Education

Currículo da Cidade de São Paulo website

Its objective is to support São Paulo City through the Municipal Education Secretariat (SME) in the innovative initiative of integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Significant research studies were carried out within the scope of this cooperation project, aiming to connect the SME-SP with the academic field, proposing real issues to guide the research agenda and contribute to public education policies in the municipality. To incorporate technical knowledge, promote the circulation of knowledge and encourage the development of research on fundamental themes for educational management aligned to  open science principles . 

These studies have resulted in webinars: 

• A avaliação do aprendizado no cotidiano das escolas municipais
• A frequência na recuperação paralela e seus impactos na permanência escolar e na aprendizagem dos estudantes     
• As políticas de valorização profissional e de enfrentamento à evasão e ao absenteísmo docente na RME
• A ampliação da jornada e a educação integral na Rede Municipal de Ensino – RME:  Módulo 1 de 4 ,  Módulo 2 de 4 ,  Módulo 3 de 4 ,  Módulo 4 de 4

Educational Management Impacts

Some examples of educational resources.

The Pátio Digital (Digital Yard) initiative has the objective of strengthening transparency, social participation, and development of new technologies. It has made different groups of the civil society to get closer together to reach a common major goal: to improve education in the city of São Paulo. The structure of the initiative is based on three axes: 

• Transparency and Open Data
• Government-Society Collaboration
• Technology Innovation

Platform on Education of Ethnic and Racial Relations

The online platform for discussing the issues related to the education of ethnic and racial relations is currently in the implementation phase. It intends to:

• Exchanging experiences and sharing pedagogical resources (forums, teaching material, multimedia libraries, photo galleries, exchanging messages, publishing experiences and reports, etc.).
• Monitoring/following the actions and projects of the school network, which comprises 62,306 educators and school managers
• Two capacity-building sessions for the ERER Working Group

SME-SP Cooperation Programme on Educational Research

Through partnerships to build a research agenda that responds to the challenges of municipal education, the Educational Research Cooperation Programme is currently developing 4 qualitative/quantitative studies with educational institutions on the following themes:

• Parallel Recovery
• Teacher Evasion and Absenteeism
• Integral Education
• Learning Assessment

It involves all segments of the municipal network comprised of 62 thousand of education professionals.  

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) and SDGs in Basic Education Curriculum

Sdg mediating students.

Through Imprensa Jovem (Youth Press), a news agency designed and developed by the students, activities include creating newspapers, radio programs, comic books, fanzines, blogs and research, followed by practical actions on cinema, photojournalism and television journalism. Teaching new platforms, such as podcasts, is also part of the school journey.

In 2020, during school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, within the scope of the Imprensa Jovem , with the support of UNESCO, SME-SP created the SDG Mediating Students pilot initiative. 

The SDG Mediating Students has developed an online course on SDGs, health education, combating disinformation on social platforms and networks, and developing socio-emotional skills. The training has been expanded to another phase involving teachers. The online course session has been certified by SME-SP and UNESCO in Brazil.

SDG Mediating Students pilot initiative

elementary school students and teachers benefited

Missing School

In this video, students from the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) Mediators initiative read a text from the excerpt from the chronicle “Saudade da Escola” (Missing School), made collaboratively by students from the Coronel Romão Gomes Municipal School, in São Paulo-SP, in 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education for Migrants

Related items.

• Programme implementation
• Sharing knowledge
• Educational quality
• Educational management
• 2030 Agenda
• Educational innovations
• Education for sustainable development
• Country page: Brazil
• Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
• UNESCO Office in Brasilia
• SDG: SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• See more add

This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals .

More on this subject

Other recent projects

UNICEF Data : Monitoring the situation of children and women

GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.  This goal supports the reduction of disparities and inequities in education, both in terms of access and quality. It recognizes the need to provide quality education for all, and most especially vulnerable populations, including poor children, children living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, indigenous people and refugee children.

This goal is of critical importance because of its transformative effects on the other SDGs. Sustainable development hinges on every child receiving a quality education. When children are offered the tools to develop to their full potential, they become productive adults ready to give back to their communities and break the cycle of poverty. Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility.

Significant progress was achieved during the last decade in increasing access to education and school enrolment rates at all levels, particularly for girls. Despite these gains, about 260 million children were out of school in 2018, nearly one fifth of the global population in that age group. Furthermore, more than half of all children and adolescents worldwide are failing to meet minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics.

UNICEF’s contribution towards reaching this goal centres on equity and inclusion to provide all children with quality learning opportunities and skills development programmes, from early childhood through adolescence. UNICEF works with governments worldwide to raise the quality and inclusiveness of schools.  

UNICEF is custodian for global monitoring of Indicator 4.2.1 Percentage of children (aged 24–59 months) developmentally on track in at least 3 of the 4 following domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, socio-emotional and learning.

Child-related SDG indicators

Target 4.1 by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

Proportion of children and young people: (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex

• Indicator definition
• Computation method
• Comments & limitations

Explore the data

The indicator aims to measure the percentage of children and young people who have achieved the minimum learning outcomes in reading and mathematics during or at the end of the relevant stages of education.

The higher the figure, the higher the proportion of children and/or young people reaching at least minimum proficiency in the respective domain (reading or mathematic) with the limitations indicated under the “Comments and limitations” section.

The indicator is also a direct measure of the learning outcomes achieved in the two subject areas at the end of the relevant stages of education. The three measurement points will have their own established minimum standard. There is only one threshold that divides students into above and below minimum:

Below minimum refers to the proportion or percentage of students who do not achieve a minimum standard as set up by countries according to the globally-defined minimum competencies.

Above minimum refers to the proportion or percentage of students who have achieved the minimum standards. Due to heterogeneity of performance levels set by national and cross-national assessments, these performance levels will have to be mapped to the globally-defined minimum performance levels. Once the performance levels are mapped, the global education community will be able to identify for each country the proportion or percentage of children who achieved minimum standards.

(a) Minimum proficiency level (MPL) is the benchmark of basic knowledge in a domain (mathematics, reading, etc.) measured through learning assessments. In September 2018, an agreement was reached on a verbal definition of the global minimum proficiency level of reference for each of the areas and domains of Indicator 4.1.1 as described in the document entitled: Minimum Proficiency Levels (MPLs): Outcomes of the consensus building meeting ( http://gaml.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/MPLs_revised_doc_20190204.docx ).

Minimum proficiency levels (MPLs) defined by each learning assessment to ensure comparability across learning assessments; a verbal definition of MPL for each domain and levels between cross-national assessments (CNAs) were established by conducting an analysis of the performance level descriptors, the descriptions of the performance levels to express the knowledge and skills required to achieve each performance level by domain, of cross-national, regional and community-led tests in reading and mathematics. The analysis was led and completed by the UIS and a consensus among experts on the proposed methodology was deemed adequate and pragmatic.

The global MPL definitions for the domains of reading and mathematics are presented here (insert link)

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reading test has six proficiency levels, of which Level 2 is described as the minimum proficiency level. In Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), there are four proficiency levels: Low, Intermediate, High and Advanced. Students reaching the Intermediate benchmark are able to apply basic knowledge in a variety of situations, similar to the idea of minimum proficiency. Currently, there are no common standards validated by the international community or countries. The indicator shows data published by each of the agencies and organizations specialised in cross-national learning assessments.

(a) The number of children and/or young people at the relevant stage of education n in year t achieving at least the pre-defined proficiency level in subject s expressed as a percentage of the number of children and/or young people at stage of education n, in year t, in any proficiency level in subjects.

Harmonize various data sources To address the challenges posed by the limited capacity of some countries to implement cross- national, regional and national assessments, actions have been taken by the UIS and its partners. The strategies are used according to its level of precision and following a reporting protocol ( http://gaml.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/GAML6-WD-2-Protocol-for-reporting-4.1.1_v1.pdf ) that includes the national assessments under specific circumstances.

Out-of-school children In 2016, 263 million children, adolescents and youth were out of school, representing nearly one-fifth of the global population of this age group. 63 million, or 24% of the total, are children of primary school age (typically 6 to 11 years old); 61 million, or 23% of the total, are adolescents of lower secondary school age (typically 12 to 14 years old); and 139 million, or 53% of the total, are youth of upper secondary school age (about 15 to 17 years old). Not all these kids will be permanently outside school, some will re-join the educational system and, eventually, complete late, while some of them will enter late. The quantity varies per country and region and demands some adjustment in the estimate of Indicator 4.1.1. There is currently a discussion on how to implement these adjustments to reflect all the population. In 2017, the UIS proposed to make adjustments using the out-of-school children and the completion rates.( http://uis.unesco.org/en/blog/helping-countries-improve-their-data-out-school-children ) and the completion rates.

Learning outcomes from cross-national learning assessment are directly comparable for all countries which participated in the same cross-national learning assessments. However, these outcomes are not comparable across different cross-national learning assessments or with national learning assessments. A level of comparability of learning outcomes across assessments could be achieved by using different methodologies, each with varying standard errors. The period of 2020-2021 will shed light on the standard errors’ size for these methodologies.

The comparability of learning outcomes over time has additional complications, which require, ideally, to design and implement a set of comparable items as anchors in advance. Methodological developments are underway to address comparability of assessments outcomes over time.

While data from many national assessments are available now, every country sets its own standards so the performance levels might not be comparable. One option is to link existing regional assessments based on a common framework. Furthermore, assessments are typically administered within school systems, the current indicators cover only those in school and the proportion of in-school target populations might vary from country to country due to varied out-of-school children populations. Assessing competencies of children and young people who are out of school would require household-based surveys. Assessing children in households is under consideration but may be very costly and difficult to administer and unlikely to be available on the scale needed within the next 3-5 years. Finally, the calculation of this indicator requires specific information on the ages of children participating in assessments to create globally-comparable data. The ages of children reported by the head of the household might not be consistent and reliable so the calculation of the indicator may be even more challenging. Due to the complication in assessing out-of-school children and the main focus on improving education system, the UIS is taking a stepping stone approach. It will concentrate on assessing children in school in the medium term, where much data are available, then develop more coherent implementation plan to assess out-of-school children in the longer term.

Click on the button below to explore the data behind this indicator.

Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

A completion rate of 100% indicates that all children and adolescents have completed a level of education by the time they are 3 to 5 years older than the official age of entry into the last grade of that level of education. A low completion rate indicates low or delayed entry into a given level of education, high drop-out, high repetition, late completion, or a combination of these factors.

Percentage of a cohort of children or young people aged 3-5 years above the intended age for the last grade of each level of education who have completed that grade.

The intended age for the last grade of each level of education is the age at which pupils would enter the grade if they had started school at the official primary entrance age, had studied full-time and had progressed without repeating or skipping a grade.

For example, if the official age of entry into primary education is 6 years, and if primary education has 6 grades, the intended age for the last grade of primary education is 11 years. In this case, 14-16 years (11 + 3 = 14 and 11 + 5 = 16) would be the reference age group for calculation of the primary completion rate.

The number of persons in the relevant age group who have completed the last grade of a given level of education is divided by the total population (in the survey sample) of the same age group.

The age group 3-5 years above the official age of entry into the last grade for a given level of education was selected for the calculation of the completion rate to allow for some delayed entry or repetition. In countries where entry can occur very late or where repetition is common, some children or adolescents in the age group examined may still attend school and the eventual rate of completion may therefore be underestimated.

The indicator is calculated from household survey data and is subject to time lag in the availability of data. When multiple surveys are available, they may provide conflicting information due to the possible presence of sampling and non-sampling errors in survey data. The Technical Cooperation Group on the Indicators for SDG 4 – Education 2030 (TCG) has requested a refinement of the methodology to model completion rate estimates, following an approach similar to that used for the estimation of child mortality rates. The model would ensure that common challenges with household survey data, such as timeliness and sampling or non-sampling errors are addressed to provide up-to-date and more robust data.

TARGET 4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

Proportion of children aged 24-59 months of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex.

Early childhood development (ECD) sets the stage for life-long thriving. Investing in ECD is one of the most critical and cost-effective investments a country can make to improve adult health, education and productivity in order to build human capital and promote sustainable development. ECD is equity from the start and provides a good indication of national development. Efforts to improve ECD can bring about human, social and economic improvements for both individuals and societies.

The recommended measure for SDG 4.2.1 is the Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) which is a 20-item instrument to measure developmental outcomes among children aged 24 to 59 months in population-based surveys. The indicator derived from the ECDI2030 is the proportion of children aged 24 to 59 months who have achieved the minimum number of milestones expected for their age group, defined as follows:

– Children age 24 to 29 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 7 milestones – Children age 30 to 35 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 9 milestones – Children age 36 to 41 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 11 milestones – Children age 42 to 47 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 13 milestones – Children age 48 to 59 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 15 milestones

SDG indicator 4.2.1 is intended to capture the multidimensional and holistic nature of early childhood development. For this reason, the indicator is not intended to be disaggregated by domains since development in all areas (health, learning and psychosocial wellbeing) are interconnected and overlapping, particularly among young children. The indicator is intended to produce a single summary score to indicate the proportion of children considered to be developmentally on track.

The domains included in the indicator for SDG indicator 4.2.1 include the following concepts:

Health: gross motor development, fine motor development and self-care Learning: expressive language, literacy, numeracy, pre-writing, and executive functioning Psychosocial well-being: emotional skills, social skills, internalizing behavior, and externalizing behavior

The number of children aged 24 to 59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being divided by the total number of children aged 24 to 59 months in the population multiplied by 100.

SDG 4.2.1 was initially classified as Tier 3 and was upgraded to Tier 2 in 2019; additionally, changes to the indicator were made during the 2020 comprehensive review. In light of this and given that the ECDI2030 was officially released in March 2020, it will take some time for country uptake and implementation of the new measure and for data to become available from a sufficiently large enough number of countries. Therefore, in the meantime, a proxy indicator (children aged 36-59 months who are developmentally ontrack in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, social-emotional and learning) will be used to report on 4.2.1, when relevant. This proxy indicator has been used for global SDG reporting since 2015 but is not fully aligned with the definition and age group covered by the SDG indicator formulation. When the proxy indicator is used for SDG reporting on 4.2.1 for a country, it will be footnoted as such in the global SDG database.

Click on the button below to explore the data behind this indicator’s proxy; Children aged 36-59 months who are developmentally ontrack in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, social-emotional and learning . For more information about this proxy indicator, please see “Comments and Limitations”

Adjusted net attendance rate, one year before the official primary entry age

The indicator measures children’s exposure to organized learning activities in the year prior to the official age to start of primary school as a representation of access to quality early childhood care and pre-primary education. One year prior to the start of primary school is selected for international comparison. A high value of the indicator shows a high degree of participation in organized learning immediately before the official entrance age to primary education.

The participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex as defined as the percentage of children in the given age range who participate in one or more organized learning programme, including programmes which offer a combination of education and care. Participation in early childhood and in primary education are both included. The age range will vary by country depending on the official age for entry to primary education.

An organized learning programme is one which consists of a coherent set or sequence of educational activities designed with the intention of achieving pre-determined learning outcomes or the accomplishment of a specific set of educational tasks. Early childhood and primary education programmes are examples of organized learning programmes.

Early childhood and primary education are defined in the 2011 revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). Early childhood education is typically designed with a holistic approach to support children’s early cognitive, physical, social and emotional development and to introduce young children to organized instruction outside the family context. Primary education offers learning and educational activities designed to provide students with fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics and establish a solid foundation for learning and understanding core areas of knowledge and personal development. It focuses on learning at a basic level of complexity with little, if any, specialisation.

The official primary entry age is the age at which children are obliged to start primary education according to national legislation or policies. Where more than one age is specified, for example, in different parts of a country, the most common official entry age (i.e. the age at which most children in the country are expected to start primary) is used for the calculation of this indicator at the global level.

The number of children in the relevant age group who participate in an organized learning programme is expressed as a percentage of the total population in the same age range. From household surveys, both enrolments and population are collected at the same time.

Participation in learning programmes in the early years is not full time for many children, meaning that exposure to learning environments outside of the home will vary in intensity. The indicator measures the percentage of children who are exposed to organized learning but not the intensity of the programme, which limits the ability to draw conclusions on the extent to which this target is being achieved. More work is needed to ensure that the definition of learning programmes is consistent across various surveys and defined in a manner that is easily understood by survey respondents, ideally with complementary information collected on the amount of time children spend in learning programmes.

TARGET 4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service.

This indicator measures the presence of basic services and facilities in school that are necessary to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for all students. A high value indicates that schools have good access to the relevant services and facilities. Ideally each school should have access to all these services and facilities.

The percentage of schools by level of education (primary education) with access to the given facility or service

Electricity: Regularly and readily available sources of power (e.g. grid/mains connection, wind, water, solar and fuel-powered generator, etc.) that enable the adequate and sustainable use of ICT infrastructure for educational purposes.

Internet for pedagogical purposes: Internet that is available for enhancing teaching and learning and is accessible by pupils. Internet is defined as a worldwide interconnected computer network, which provides pupils access to a number of communication services including the World Wide Web and carries e-mail, news, entertainment and data files, irrespective of the device used (i.e. not assumed to be only via a computer) and thus can also be accessed by mobile telephone, tablet, PDA, games machine, digital TV etc.). Access can be via a fixed narrowband, fixed broadband, or via mobile network.

Computers for pedagogical use: Use of computers to support course delivery or independent teaching and learning needs. This may include activities using computers or the Internet to meet information needs for research purposes; develop presentations; perform hands-on exercises and experiments; share information; and participate in online discussion forums for educational purposes. A computer is a programmable electronic device that can store, retrieve and process data, as well as share information in a highly-structured manner. It performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations according to a set of instructions or algorithms.

Computers include the following types: -A desktop computer usually remains fixed in one place; normally the user is placed in front of it, behind the keyboard; – A laptop computer is small enough to carry and usually enables the same tasks as a desktop computer; it includes notebooks and netbooks but does not include tablets and similar handheld devices; and – A tablet (or similar handheld computer) is a computer that is integrated into a flat touch screen, operated by touching the screen rather than using a physical keyboard.

Adapted infrastructure is defined as any built environment related to education facilities that are accessible to all users, including those with different types of disability, to be able to gain access to use and exit from them. Accessibility includes ease of independent approach, entry, evacuation and/or use of a building and its services and facilities (such as water and sanitation), by all of the building’s potential users with an assurance of individual health, safety and welfare during the course of those activities.

Adapted materials include learning materials and assistive products that enable students and teachers with disabilities/functioning limitations to access learning and to participate fully in the school environment.

Accessible learning materials include textbooks, instructional materials, assessments and other materials that are available and provided in appropriate formats such as audio, braille, sign language and simplified formats that can be used by students and teachers with disabilities/functioning limitations.

Basic drinking water is defined as a functional drinking water source (MDG ‘improved’ categories) on or near the premises and water points accessible to all users during school hours.

Basic sanitation facilities are defined as functional sanitation facilities (MDG ‘improved’ categories) separated for males and females on or near the premises.

Basic handwashing facilities are defined as functional handwashing facilities, with soap and water available to all girls and boys.

The number of schools in a given level of education with access to the relevant facilities is expressed as a percentage of all schools at that level of education.

The indicator measures the existence in schools of the given service or facility but not its quality or operational state.

For every child to learn, UNICEF has eight key asks of governments:

• A demonstration of how the SDG 4 global ambitions are being nationalized into plans, policies, budgets, data collection efforts and reports.
• A renewed commitment to education to recover learning losses and manage impacts of COVID-19.
• The implementation and scaling of digital learning solutions and innovations to reimagine education.
• Attention to skills development should be a core component to education.
• Focus to provide quality education to the most vulnerable – including girls, children affected by conflict and crisis, children with disabilities, refugees and displaced children.
• A continued commitment to improving access to pre-primary, primary and secondary education for all, including for children from minority groups and those with disabilities.
• A renewed focus on learning outcomes and their enablers, including learning in safe and adequate environments, support by well-trained teachers and structured content.
• The implementation of SDG-focused learning throughout schools to raise awareness and inspire positive action.

Learn more about  UNICEF’s key asks for implementing Goal 4

See more Sustainable Development Goals

ZERO HUNGER

GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

QUALITY EDUCATION

GENDER EQUALITY

CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

REDUCED INEQUALITIES

CLIMATE ACTION

PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS

PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

• Our Mission

Big Ideas for Better Schools: Ten Ways to Improve Education

Ideas for students, teachers, schools, and communities.

Fourteen years ago The George Lucas Educational Foundation was created to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. Since then we have discovered many creative educators, business leaders, parents, and others who were making positive changes not only from the top down but also from the bottom up. Since that time we have been telling their stories through our Web site, our documentary films, and Edutopia magazine.

Along the way, we listened and learned. Nothing is simple when strengthening and invigorating such a vast and complex institution as our educational system, but common ideas for improvement emerged. We've distilled those into this ten-point credo.

In the coming year, we will publish a series of essays that further explores each aspect of this agenda, with the hope that those on the frontlines of education can make them a part of their schools.

1. Engage : Project-Based Learning Students go beyond the textbook to study complex topics based on real-world issues, such as the water quality in their communities or the history of their town, analyzing information from multiple sources, including the Internet and interviews with experts. Project-based classwork is more demanding than traditional book-based instruction, where students may just memorize facts from a single source. Instead, students utilize original documents and data, mastering principles covered in traditional courses but learning them in more meaningful ways. Projects can last weeks; multiple projects can cover entire courses. Student work is presented to audiences beyond the teacher, including parents and community groups.

Reality Check : At the Clear View Charter School, in Chula Vista, California, fourth- and fifth-grade students collected insect specimens, studied them under an electron microscope via a fiber-optic link to a nearby university, used Internet resources for their reports, and discussed their findings with university entomologists.

2. Connect : Integrated Studies Studies should enable students to reach across traditional disciplines and explore their relationships, like James Burke described in his book Connections. History, literature, and art can be interwoven and studied together. Integrated studies enable subjects to be investigated using many forms of knowledge and expression, as literacy skills are expanded beyond the traditional focus on words and numbers to include graphics, color, music, and motion.

Reality Check : Through a national project called Nature Mapping, fourth-grade students in rural Washington learn reading, writing, mathematics, science, and technology use while searching for rare lizards.

3. Share : Cooperative Learning Working together on project teams and guided by trained teachers, students learn the skills of collaborating, managing emotions, and resolving conflicts in groups. Each member of the team is responsible for learning the subject matter as well as helping teammates to learn. Cooperative learning develops social and emotional skills, providing a valuable foundation for their lives as workers, family members, and citizens.

Reality Check : In Eeva Reeder's tenth-grade geometry class at Mountlake Terrace High School, near Seattle, student teams design "schools of the future" while mentoring with local architects. They manage deadlines and resolve differences to produce models, budgets, and reports far beyond what an individual student could accomplish.

4. Expand : Comprehensive Assessment Assessment should be expanded beyond simple test scores to instead provide a detailed, continuous profile of student strengths and weaknesses. Teachers, parents, and individual students can closely monitor academic progress and use the assessment to focus on areas that need improvement. Tests should be an opportunity for students to learn from their mistakes, retake the test, and improve their scores.

Reality Check: At the Key Learning Community, in Indianapolis, teachers employ written rubrics to assess students' strengths and weaknesses using categories based on Howard Gardner's concept of multiple intelligences, including spatial, musical, and interpersonal skills.

5. Coach : Intellectual and Emotional Guide The most important role for teachers is to coach and guide students through the learning process, giving special attention to nurturing a student's interests and self-confidence. As technology provides more curricula, teachers can spend less time lecturing entire classes and more time mentoring students as individuals and tutoring them in areas in which they need help or seek additional challenges.

Reality Check : Brooklyn fifth-grade teacher Sarah Button uses exercises and simulations from the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program with her students, helping them learn empathy, cooperation, positive expression of feelings, and appreciation of diversity.

6. Learn : Teaching as Apprenticeship Preparation for a teaching career should follow the model of apprenticeships, in which novices learn from experienced masters. Student teachers should spend less time in lecture halls learning educational theory and more time in classrooms, working directly with students and master teachers. Teaching skills should be continually sharpened, with time to take courses, attend conferences, and share lessons and tips with other teachers, online and in person.

Reality Check : Online communities such as Middle Web, the Teacher Leaders Network, and the Teachers Network bring novice and expert educators together in a Web-based professional community. The online mentorship gives novice teachers access to accomplished practitioners eager to strengthen the profession at its roots.

7. Adopt : Technology The intelligent use of technology can transform and improve almost every aspect of school, modernizing the nature of curriculum, student assignments, parental connections, and administration. Online curricula now include lesson plans, simulations, and demonstrations for classroom use and review. With online connections, students can share their work and communicate more productively and creatively. Teachers can maintain records and assessments using software tools and stay in close touch with students and families via email and voicemail. Schools can reduce administrative costs by using technology tools, as other fields have done, and provide more funds for the classroom.

Reality Check : Students in Geoff Ruth's high school chemistry class at Leadership High School, in San Francisco, have abandoned their textbooks. Instead, they plan, research, and implement their experiments using material gathered online from reliable chemistry resources.

8. Reorganize : Resources Resources of time, money, and facilities must be restructured. The school day should allow for more in-depth project work beyond the 45-minute period, including block scheduling of classes two hours or longer. Schools should not close for a three-month summer vacation, but should remain open for student activities, teacher development, and community use. Through the practice of looping, elementary school teachers stay with a class for two or more years, deepening their relationships with students. More money in school districts should be directed to the classroom rather than the bureaucracy.

New school construction and renovation should emphasize school design that supports students and teachers collaborating in teams, with pervasive access to technology. Schools can be redesigned to also serve as community centers that provide health and social services for families, as well as counseling and parenting classes.

Reality Check : The school year at the Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center, in Fort Worth, Texas, consists of four blocks of about nine weeks each. Intersession workshops allow its K-5 students time for hands-on arts, science, and computer projects or sports in addition to language arts and math enrichment.

Communities

9. Involve : Parents When schoolwork involves parents, students learn more. Parents and other caregivers are a child's first teachers and can instill values that encourage school learning. Schools should build strong alliances with parents and welcome their active participation in the classroom. Educators should inform parents of the school's educational goals, the importance of high expectations for each child, and ways of assisting with homework and classroom lessons.

Reality Check : In the Sacramento Unified School District, teachers make home visits to students' families. Teachers gain a better understanding of their students' home environment, and parents see that teachers are committed to forging closer home-school bonds. If English is not spoken in the home, translators accompany the teachers.

10. Include : Community Partners Partnerships with a wide range of community organizations, including business, higher education, museums, and government agencies, provide critically needed materials, technology, and experiences for students and teachers. These groups expose students and teachers to the world of work through school-to-career programs and internships. Schools should enlist professionals to act as instructors and mentors for students.

Reality Check : At the Minnesota Business Academy, in St. Paul, businesses ranging from a newspaper to a stock brokerage to an engineering firm provide internships for three to four hours per day, twice each week. BestPrep, a philanthropic state business group, spearheaded an effort that renovated an old science building for school use.

Adapting approaches to deliver quality education in response to COVID-19

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, patrick hannahan patrick hannahan former project director, millions learning project - the brookings institution.

April 23, 2020

The world is adjusting to a new reality that was unimaginable three months ago. COVID-19 has altered every aspect of our lives, introducing abrupt changes to the way governments, businesses, and communities operate. A recent virtual summit of G-20 leaders underscored the changing times. The pandemic has impacted education systems around the world , forcing more than 1.5 billion students out of schools and universities. The crisis offers an important reflection point for education leaders to question the status quo and explore new approaches for delivering quality education to millions of children. How can the global education community use this moment as an opportunity to ” build back better ” to meet the demands of the future?

At the Center for Universal Education (CUE), we are driven to better understand how education initiatives scale and spread across communities and countries. Similar to the multistakeholder approach required to address a global pandemic, scaling an education initiative requires strong leaders from diverse sectors working toward a common goal. How does the scaling process play out in real time, and how can lessons learned be captured and shared to inform related efforts? CUE is investigating this through Real-time Scaling Labs , an action research approach of Millions Learning undertaken with government and civil society partners in Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Tanzania.

The Real-time Scaling Lab approach is guided by the notion of adaptive learning. This means understanding local contexts, being flexible when plans change, and systematically learning along the way. A number of key actions underpin an adaptive learning approach, such as experimenting with new approaches, leveraging deep roots within communities, sharing knowledge, and embracing windows of opportunity. CUE’s scaling lab partners are indeed taking these actions to ensure children and young people continue to receive an education, particularly in response to COVID-19. While the safety of staff is the top priority, it is inspiring to observe how partners remain committed to their mission of supporting beneficiaries by using an adaptive learning approach during this challenging time.

Experimenting with new approaches . Young 1ove is a youth-driven NGO in Botswana that identifies, adapts, and scales evidence-based health and education initiatives, such as the Zones and Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) programs. The first COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Botswana on March 31 . When the government closed schools, Young 1ove rapidly mobilized to collect 10,000 students’ mobile numbers to provide text-message based instruction, and established hotlines to answer questions from parents and students. Young 1ove is also working with television and radio programs to deliver proven life-saving messages. A trusted government partner, Young 1ove is sourcing educational content and developing strategies to support nationwide distance learning, and working with government officials to plan for scaling these approaches. Distance learning has significant potential in a large but sparsely populated country such as Botswana where 2.3 million people inhabit a space roughly the size of Texas.

Leveraging deep roots within communities . Marginalized communities are most at risk of suffering from the pandemic. In these areas, schools provide not only instruction but also additional life-saving needs, such as food and psycho-social support. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Tanzania on March 16, and, when schools quickly shuttered, this school-based support disappeared. CUE’s scaling lab partner, CAMFED , is a nongovernmental organization that supports marginalized girls to complete secondary school and empowers them to become independent women through leadership training and membership in the CAMFED Association . A key component is Learner Guides , female secondary-school graduates who volunteer for 18 months to serve as mentors at local schools delivering a life-skills curriculum to complement academic teaching. They come from the places they serve, and have a deep understanding of the unique challenges marginalized communities face. Learner Guides have expanded their roles to meet these challenges during the pandemic, working with families in their communities, sharing official World Health Organization and government guidance, and improvising learning opportunities for students while schools remain closed. When schools eventually reopen, Learner Guides will play a critical role in ensuring girls who are most vulnerable to child marriage and dropout return to their classrooms. CAMFED’s work reinforces the importance of community-driven responses to the crisis; similar grassroots mobilization helped Sierra Leone confront the Ebola pandemic in 2014.

Sharing knowledge. Global crises such as COVID-19 have a unique ability to bring the world together. Every country is facing a common threat, and there is much we can learn from each other about how to minimize negative impact on education systems. Several promising resources have already emerged; UNESCO curated a robust list of distance-learning solutions for parents and educators, the World Bank shared practical tips and guidance , and the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) created an online repository of blogs, webinars, and other helpful resources to support its 16,000 members. The network of Real-time Scaling Labs has remained in close virtual touch over the past weeks, using Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp to share stories and learn from each other about how to move forward despite the new challenges. Though the virus continues to uniquely impact every country, it has emphasized that education actors have much to learn from each other as they collectively weather the storm.

Embracing windows of opportunity . The Jordanian government closed schools to curb the spread of the virus after cases increased in late March. CUE has partnered with INJAZ , a social enterprise that builds youth competencies in financial education and entrepreneurship. These skills will be critical to stabilizing Jordan’s economy and creating jobs in the wake of the pandemic. INJAZ and the Ministry of Education had been planning to introduce online delivery of financial education in the coming years, but have seized the unanticipated opportunity presented by the pandemic to pilot online classes for grades 11 and 12 immediately. The Jordan Real-time Scaling Lab is documenting this pilot process so that the ministry of education has practical guidance and recommendations about how to deliver e-learning at a larger scale in the future.

The world faces significant challenges in addressing the immediate and longer term effects of the pandemic on education systems. But the commitment of global education actors, including CUE’s scaling lab partners, in finding new and innovative ways to deliver quality education should provide us all with a sense of hope. Crises showcase leadership. If the international education community can come together and learn from each other about new ways of providing quality education, it will emerge better equipped to help students thrive in a rapidly changing world.

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School Education Quality Assessment Project

Center for international cooperation in education development ( government ), #sdgaction33384.

• Description
• SDGs & Targets
• SDG 14 targets covered
• Deliverables & timeline
• Resources mobilized
• Progress reports

School Education Quality Assessment Project is a development aid projects and targets at aiding countries that have deficient capacity of professionals to grasp the modern assessment methodologies and approaches through development and localization of tools. The new adapted tools and methodologies become country’s own. They get applied by local educational authorities and school administrations for evaluation of education quality in the situation where large-scale international comparative monitoring don’t accrue. The project also promotes more intensive application of modern assessments by teachers in their everyday practice.

The project is carried out through annual meetings, training, scientific seminars and other educational events. Communication is organized through the online platform. All assessment methodologies originally created in Russian language underwent the international validity review. Participating countries and Russia have a lot in common in approaches to education which is determined by the common historical past and close traditions. The comparison of the monitoring results between countries participating in the project is also common requirement of project partners. To assist conducting of cross-cultural studies the partners created guidelines and recommendations “Localization and adaptation framework” based on American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education (AERA/APA/NCME) standards. Methodology of adaptation includes following steps: 1. Determination of target population and comparison analysis of the educational programs. This is done by the local specialists that receive special training to perform these tasks. 2. Translation and adaptation of test items. This part is done through “learning by doing” approach by local specialists, usually test developers who know 2 languages well enough and under supervision of the test developers. 3. Development of new test items. This part is done through “learning by doing” approach by local specialists, usually test developers. 4. Expert review done by test developers. 5. Small pilot and clinical approbation. This research organized by the team of local specialists that underwent training. 6. Psychometric validity research. 7. Discussion of results, development of dissemination strategy and presenting to public. 8. Country ownership of the adapted tool.

Quantitative results of the project include conducting educational testing and training of the specialists participated. Since the start of the project over 30000 schoolchildren in 7 countries were tested. Results of the testing were used for further interventions and improvement of education quality in schools. They were also discussed at national level with educational authorities at specially organized events. That included strategic seminars on localization of SDG 4 into local policies. National teams wrote reports that accumulated results of educational monitoring and possible interventions for quality improvement. They also produced publications and has local seminars on the results of the project with participation of wide range of stakeholders. More than 250 specialists were trained in the project on the use of modern assessment and monitoring methodologies. Training was provided during “learning by doing exercise” and through distant learning which contributes to SDG 17th.

Enabling factors include multiple needs related to practical implementation of national strategies that include integrated SDG 4th in the context of absence of testing tools, methods for education quality assessment and trained specialists. Project provides tools and training on a free basis in form of development aid for countries with similar educational approaches and issues. The main constraints is absence of needed infrastructure, underdeveloped informational technologies, administrative restrictions. Constrains overcome by close cooperation with local authorities with support from national managerial bodies (ministries where needed).

Project is financed sustainably in frames of the READ Program. Participating countries also provide their financial and other kinds of support (logistics, volunteering, informational, workspaces, dedicated specialists, and their paid work time). We constantly receive request for training for the specialists in application of tools and assessment methodologies used for the project which reflects constant growing interest. The methodology of testing is universal and can be applied in any cultural and economic context. Application of these methodologies will support assessment of SDG 4 progress in frames of longitudinal research and has a proven potential to predict human capital development. At this stage developers explore possibilities of its scaling up to the next levels of education (and for other study subjects), including higher education. This work is done through partnership with leading universities and educational authorities in Russia and CIS countries.

http://www.ciced.org/seqap/ http://www.ciced.org/wp-content/uploads//2020/03/SEQAP-Description.pdf http://sam.ciced.ru/en/ https://nfida.ru/school-education-quality-assessment-project/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292007405_SAM-_Toolkit_to_assess_primary_school_students_'_academic_achievements https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Event/education/Marina%20V.pdf http://www.readprogram.org/projects/#1541630695695-719b09af-99ec

This project introduces online testing that is very actual in frames of distant learning used during pandemic. It provides information of performance of students way before the final summative testing and helps teachers to see gaps in students understanding of study materials when its not too late for additional support. Distant technologies are widely used within the project because of its cross-country nature. So it was very easy to operate during the lockdowns in countries. The online assessment methodologies are universal can be utilized in frames of similar projects.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

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Other beneficiaries

Project is a partnership between Center for International Cooperation in Education Development, National Center for Assessment and Testing under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, National Assessment Center under the President of Tajikistan, National Center for Education Quality and Information Technologies under Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, National Institute of Education of the Republic of Belarus.

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Artem Stepanenko

The Six A’s of Quality Education

Harry a. patrinos, eduardo velez bustillo, catherine yan wang.

Education systems reforms are needed in many countries to turn the tide. In a recent article , we propose the following as six necessary components (referred to as the 6A’s ) to achieve such reforms:

•  Assessment . Benchmarks and benchmark-based assessments are the cornerstone of education planning and reform aiming to improve quality. Countries that are unable to determine where their education system stands currently will find it difficult to make improvements or to reach their goals. One example of success in this area can be found in Jordan, where use of international tests for benchmarking and the use of feedback loops led to impressive gains.    
• Autonomy . Empowering schools will determine quality improvements. This includes giving them ownership, resources, and voice while enhancing school competitiveness. Across Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan and Korea – the five OECD countries with both an above-average student performance in science and a below-average impact of socio-economic background on student performance – 80% of 15-year-olds are in schools which report competing with one or more other schools in the area for students. Students in districts with 85% of schools competing with other schools tend to perform better. Autonomy’s potential for transforming education systems depends on whether increased autonomy is accompanied by enhanced accountability mechanisms.  
•  Accountability . As mentioned, autonomy and accountability are closely related. Accountability increases time on task and academic achievement. As decision-making power is redistributed, local authorities, school principals, teachers, and students are given new responsibilities for resource deployment and school activities. In an autonomy-based structure, school principals are held accountable to municipal authorities for (efficient) use of financial resources. Likewise, school principals are held accountable to both parents and local authorities for improving the learning environment and outcomes. An accountability-based system usually entails a shift of decision-making authority from the government to the community, which is represented by school governing boards and integrated by teachers, parents, and community members. In the United Kingdom in 1988, the government gave public secondary schools the option of removing local education authority control and becoming autonomous grant-maintained (GM) schools. GM schools were funded by a new agency but were owned and managed by the school governing body, a new 10-15 member entity composed of the head teacher, as well as teacher and parent representatives. Research finds large achievement gains at schools that voted for GM.  
• Attention to teachers . Studies across the world show that a good teacher–one that adds value to the learning process– can be effective in helping students to improve their learning outcomes. The top-performing school systems recruit their teachers from the top third of each graduate cohort: top 5% in South Korea, top 10% in Finland, and top 30% in Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, China. This screening helps to ensure that teachers possess the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective educators. Additionally, in-service training helps teachers to maintain those skills.   
• Attention to early childhood development . Early childhood development (ECD) may be the most cost-effective educational investment. Empirical evidence demonstrates that quality ECD interventions increase educational success and adult productivity, and decrease public expenditures later on. A study in Jamaica found that children in a treatment group, whose mothers were taught ways in which to promote cognitive, physical, and emotional development during their child’s early years, earned on average 42% more as young adults than children in the control group who did not receive these benefits.  
• Attention to culture . Culture is important and often neglected. The use of the mother tongue as the language of instruction is one cultural area frequently disputed in many countries. For some, the topic has political overtones, for others it can be associated with religious values, and still for others costs are used as an excuse for opposition. In many countries, a significant number of students do not speak the national language in the home, which has practical implications for education. We, and others, have found that schools using mother tongues as the language of instruction have higher attendance and promotion rates, and lower repetition and dropout rates. This trend has specifically been noted in the case of indigenous peoples in Guatemala . Students also better learn their national language by the end of basic education if they first become literate in their mother tongue.

  Follow the World Bank education team on Twitter: @WBG_Education  

Senior Adviser, Education

Consultant, Education Sector, World Bank

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5 steps to ensure a quality education for all

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Stay up to date:.

The 2015 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges – will be launched at the World Bank in Washington today, bringing together international leaders in the fields of education, development and aid to take stock of major achievements and setbacks and discuss recommendations to support the ambitious post-2015 education agenda.

All children and youth, no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, family income, citizenship, disability status or where they live, should be enrolled in school and learning. But as we reach the target year for achieving Education for All (EFA), it is clear that this is not the case. About 121 million children and adolescents are still being denied their right to learning opportunities through education.

And it is not just the young who continue to miss out on education. At least 781 million adults – two- thirds women — lack minimal literacy skills. In sub-Saharan Africa, half of all women are denied their right to literacy.

But while significant challenges remain, clear progress has occurred. Since 1999, global enrollment in pre-primary education has increased by two-thirds. The number of children and adolescents out of school has declined by 84 million. Twelve million more teachers have been recruited and deployed in primary and secondary education. By our estimate, 34 million more children went to school and 20 million more children completed primary school than would have otherwise been the case if trends from the 1990s had persisted.

However, this progress is simply not good enough. By failing to live up to their commitments, countries have left behind many of the most marginalized children and adults. The poorest children are four times more likely to be out of school and five times more likely not to complete primary education than the richest children. Gender parity in primary education has still not been achieved in one third of countries. And the proportion of out-of-school children living in conflict-affected areas has grown from 30 percent in 2000 to 36 percent today.

In his keynote speech at the global launch of the 2015 Report on April 9th, Jeffrey Sachs said: “ It is completely crazy that in the 21 st Century, we have this type of lack of access to school. It’s dangerous. It condemns these countries to instability and makes it impossible to reach sustainable development.”  Or as Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel Peace Laureate, emphasized the same day in New Delhi, “ One child out of school is one child too many .”

I could not agree more.

After 15 years of monitoring progress towards the EFA goals, we have gained many insights into which policies have worked and where governments and international partners need to target their resources and finances. It is vital that we draw on this pool of evidence-based knowledge if we are to achieve the education vision of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Global Monitoring Report 2015 puts forward these key recommendations:

• Countries must ensure that all children and adolescents complete at least one year of pre-primary education, and a full cycle of primary and lower secondary education by 2030.
• Primary and lower secondary education must be truly free. Fees should be abolished and all related costs, including those for textbooks, transport and school uniforms, should be covered.
• Programs and funding at all levels should be targeted to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged children, youth and adults. Learning environments should be safe and gender sensitive. Governments must close critical data gaps in order to direct resources to marginalized groups most in need.
• Governments should significantly expand adult learning and education opportunities within a lifelong learning approach, especially among those who had been denied access to school in the past.
• Countries must ensure that 15-20 percent of national budgets are spent on education. Governments, in partnership with the international community, must find the means to bridge the US$22 billion annual finance gap for quality pre-primary and basic education for all by 2030.

In his message for the Global launch, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon stated that when we work together and invest in the future, the sky is the limit. “Let us harness the power of education to build a better future for all.”

This article is published in collaboration with The World Bank’s Education for Global Development Blog . Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda  subscribe to our weekly newsletter .

Author: Aaron Benevot joined UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report (GMR) team as Director in June 2014

Image: Children read textbooks. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins. 

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What Are Some of the Current Challenges in Quality Education?

Around the world, millions of children face significant barriers to receiving the quality education they deserve — from overcrowded classrooms to undertrained teachers; from lack of access for students with disabilities to gender inequity; from the massive impact of pandemic-related school closures to lack of family support for education .

Time in School Doesn’t Equal Time Spent Learning

In Rwanda, where these obstacles are the reality for many children, a student can expect to complete roughly 6.9 years of school by the time they turn 18. However, when this figure is adjusted to factor in what they have learned, this actually only equates to 3.9 years (Source: Human Capital Index 2020 ). This is why Wellspring focuses not only on ensuring that children have access to school — an area in which great progress has been made in Rwanda — but on building the capacity of teachers and leaders to provide children with a quality education .

Ill-Equipped Teachers

There is a great need for teachers to be equipped with skills that improve the quality of students’ learning, and this is particularly true in this season of mass teacher recruitment. Alongside the building of thousands of new classrooms across Rwanda, over 20,000+ new teachers have been recruited, many of whom have no background as educators. Wellspring has had a key role to play in developing resources and providing support that will set these new educators up for success.

Language Barriers in Teaching and Learning

Another challenge faced by teachers and students alike is the requirement that lessons are taught in English, rather than in Kinywarwanda — the native tongue of most teachers and students in Rwanda . This presents a significant obstacle to teaching and learning, and a great deal of support is needed to ensure that lessons are being absorbed and understood.  

Prioritizing Pre-Primary

There is an increasing awareness too of the importance of quality education at the pre-primary level, and this is leading Wellspring to engage more intentionally and strategically in early childhood education. The challenge is that access to, and enrolment in, pre-primary education remains low in Rwanda. The Rwandan government is proactively promoting greater enrolment to ensure that young children are as ready as they can be for their formal primary and secondary education. 

The Road Ahead

This pursuit of quality education for every child —which is also the focus of UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 —and work towards removing the obstacles children face in accessing this kind of education is worth our investment and will make a difference for generations to come. This takes capacity-building work at the grassroots level and advocacy work at the systemic level, and Wellspring is privileged to play a part in both.

Other Foundational Pieces

We are sharing these Foundational Pieces to help you learn more about who we are and what we do.

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What are Barriers to Girls’ Education?

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Top 67 Organizations Leading SDG 4 Quality Education Globally

June 14, 2023

Here is a list of 67 organizations that are using technology to promote and support SDG 4 quality education, and are making a positive impact on society.

The Omdena “ Impact Tech Leaders Series ” comprises game-changing startups, stories, and thought-leadership pieces from leading impact ventures solving real-world problems.

In today’s fast-paced and interconnected world, quality education has become increasingly important in shaping our future. The United Nations recognizes this significance by including Quality Education as Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the joint efforts of governments, international organizations, NGOs, and private sectors, progress is being made towards achieving this goal. This article aims to highlight  organizations that are spearheading SDG 4 Quality Education on a global scale, showcasing their remarkable contributions to this critical cause.

Introduction to SDG 4 Quality Education

In September 2015, United Nations member countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which set out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at addressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and social injustice. One of these goals is SDG 4 – Quality Education. This goal seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

As we strive toward achieving this important goal, numerous organizations have emerged as leaders in promoting quality education worldwide. In this blog post, we will introduce you to 67 of these educational pioneers that are making a significant impact on SDG 4.

Why is SDG 4 so important?

Education is not only a fundamental human right but also an essential tool for breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering sustainable development. It empowers individuals with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to create positive change in their lives and communities. Furthermore, investing in quality education has been shown to have lasting benefits both economically and socially.

By pursuing SDG 4 Quality Education globally, we can promote equality of opportunity and access to resources while simultaneously developing skilled workforces capable of driving economic growth and innovation.

What are the SDG 4 Quality Education targets?

There are ten targets under SDG 4 that focus on various aspects of education:

• Universal primary and secondary education
• Early childhood development and pre-primary education
• Equal access to technical/vocational/tertiary education
• Enhanced literacy & numeracy skills among youth/adults
• Gender equality & inclusion in education
• Quality education facilities & learning environments
• Scholarships for developing countries
• Improved capacities of teachers/educators
• Global citizenship education & sustainable development education
• Effective partnerships & resources for SDG 4 implementation

How can SDG 4 be achieved?

Achieving these targets requires a concerted effort from governments, international organizations, civil society , the private sector, and individuals to promote quality education worldwide through innovative solutions and partnerships.

Some strategies to achieve SDG 4 include:

• Investing in teacher training and professional development to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to provide quality education.
• Implementing inclusive curricula that value diversity, address gender disparities, and consider the needs of marginalized groups.
• Leveraging technology and digital platforms for increased access to educational opportunities.
• Strengthening national policy frameworks and legislation that prioritize quality education as a fundamental right.
• Encouraging public-private partnerships to enhance funding streams for educational initiatives.

How can the use of AI help us achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4?

The use of AI can significantly contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Below are some ways AI can help in attaining SDG 4:

• Personalized learning: AI algorithms can analyze students’ performance, learning styles, and preferences to create personalized learning plans, enabling students to learn at their own pace and reduce disparities in educational outcomes.
• Intelligent tutoring systems: AI-powered tutors can provide students with immediate feedback, guidance, and support in various subjects, supplementing teacher instruction and enhancing the overall learning experience.
• Inclusive education: AI technologies such as speech recognition, natural language processing , and computer vision can help create accessible educational materials for individuals with disabilities or those who speak different languages.
• Teacher support: AI tools like predictive analytics can assist educators in identifying at-risk students early on so that targeted interventions can be implemented. Additionally, the automation of routine administrative tasks allows teachers to focus on creating engaging content for their students while making class preparation more efficient.
• Global access to resources: Online platforms powered by AI enable learners from around the world to access high-quality educational content and courses regardless of geographic location or financial constraints.
• Adaptive assessments: AI-based assessment systems evaluate a student’s knowledge accurately by adapting questions based on previous responses, making it easier for educators to track progress over time.
• Enhancing creativity: By leveraging machine-learning algorithms , educational tools can encourage creative thinking through collaborative projects where learners combine ideas or build upon existing work facilitated by recommender systems.
• Skill development: AI-driven career guidance platforms identify skill gaps within the workforce and recommend relevant training programs that align with labor market demands.
• Data-driven policies: Governments and policymakers can utilize data generated by AI-powered education platforms to make informed decisions about resource allocation, curriculum design, and teacher recruitment to improve education systems.

In conclusion, AI has the potential to transform the education landscape by making it more personalized, inclusive, and accessible for all. It can empower teachers, learners, and stakeholders to work together towards achieving SDG 4.

What are the challenges and barriers to achieving SDG 4?

Despite progress made toward achieving SDG 4 Quality Education, several challenges remain:

• Inadequate financing: Insufficient funds allocated towards educational systems may lead to poor infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teacher training, and limited access to learning materials.
• Conflict and instability: War or political unrest can disrupt educational services or force children out of school due to displacement or insecurity.
• Gender discrimination: Societal norms may discourage girls from attending school or create barriers that prevent them from accessing quality education opportunities.
• Rural-urban divide: In many parts of the world, rural areas tend to have less developed educational infrastructure than urban centers, leading to disparities in access and quality.

67 Organizations Spearheading Quality Education on a Global Scale

The order does not follow a ranking.  

Labster is a company that provides virtual labs and science simulations for universities and high schools. Labster uses technology to enhance science education and inspire students to explore and learn science. Labster’s simulations are based on artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to create realistic and interactive scenarios that cover various topics in biology, chemistry, physics, and more

• Founder(s): Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde, Michael Bodekaer, Tobias Aabye Dam
• Funding years: 2011
• Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
• Funding: Series C

How do you measure impact?

Learning with Labster virtual lab simulations drives STEM knowledge, grades, pass rates, retention, and even STEM career readiness.

Here are some stats about Labster’s impact:

• Students who learn with Labster as a pre-lab assignment are 5.4 times more likely to say they plan to continue taking STEM courses
• Students who learn with Labster as a pre-lab assignment are 4 times more likely to say they plan a career in STEM
• Low-knowledge students increase their knowledge by 24% with Labster
• Low-performing students rate their self-efficacy 40% higher after using Labster than medium-performing students

“Labster’s guiding principle is to increase educational access and build the STEM pipeline by putting cutting-edge technology tools for modern pedagogy into the hands of teachers. Our new, generative simulations with personalized adaptive tutoring in 3D immersive worlds will now enable educators to go further to unlock the full potential of every student, everywhere.” – Michael Bodekaer Jensen, CEO and co-founder of Labster.

Eedi is a company that provides a data-driven platform for maths education for teachers, learners, and parents. Eedi uses technology to help students succeed in maths by identifying and resolving their misconceptions using best-in-class pedagogy and fully-qualified tutors. Eedi also uses artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to create personalized learning paths, adaptive quizzes, and actionable insights for teachers

• Founder(s): Craig Barton, Simon Walsh, and Ben Caulfield
• Funding years: 2015
• Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
• Funding: Seed

Udemy is a company that provides an online learning and teaching platform for various topics. The company’s platform features a marketplace of courses on topics such as development, business, lifestyle, IT and software, finance and accounting, and more. The platform also allows anyone to create and share their own courses with millions of learners.

• Founder(s): Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar
• Funding years: 2010
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
• Funding: Series F

Udemy’s mission is to improve lives through learning by providing flexible, effective skills development to empower organizations and individuals. Through our platform, we’ve enabled more than 70,000 instructors to create over 210,000 courses across 75 languages, reaching more than 62 million learners worldwide. We also offer more than 22,000 free courses on our platform. Udemy supports over 14,400 organizations, including more than half of the Fortune 100.

We measure impact through a number of factors, ranging from course enrollments and hours learned, to individual, department- or organization-wide objectives met, such as engagement, retention, projects delivered, or certifications earned. Instructors and organizations have access to data and insights to measure the impact of their own teaching efforts or learning programs. 

Visit our ESG page to learn more about our ESG program, our commitment to SDGs, and how we’re making a positive impact on the world.

4. Mathspace

Mathspace is a company that provides an online maths program with adaptive learning for students, teachers, and parents. Mathspace uses technology to help students learn maths by providing them with immediate and personalized feedback at every step, giving them a one-to-one learning experience. Mathspace also uses artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to create personalized learning paths, adaptive quizzes, and diagnostic check-ins for teachers.

• Founder(s): Chris Velis, Tommy Mermelshtayn, Daniel Tu-Hoa, and Alvin Savoy
• Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
• Funding: Venture – Series Unknown

Udacity is an education technology company that provides online education courses in various high-demand fields, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. The company’s mission is to connect education to jobs and empower lifelong learners to achieve their career goals. The company’s flagship product, Udacity Nanodegree, is a credential that certifies the mastery of in-demand skills through project-based learning and mentorship.

• Founder(s): Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and Mike Sokolsky
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California

Udacity’s mission is to train the world’s workforce in the skills and careers of the future. Those skills and careers are evolving every day, even more so as Artificial Intelligence disrupts industries in ways we never could have predicted. When we measure our impact, we look at it from a few different angles, always coming back to the impact that job-ready skill development has on individuals, businesses, and nations.

For our individual learners, how many concrete skills have they learned, which can be applied on the job or in pursuit of a new job? And what are those career outcomes?

For our enterprise clients, what’s the cumulative RoI of our program–what productivity gains have employees seen? What growth and innovation have been unlocked thanks to having more employees with more advanced skill sets? How much did the company save by upskilling existing employees instead of hiring new ones?

And finally, for our government and societal impact partners, we look at the impact on a macro scale… how are our upskilling programs providing more skilled workers for the local and national economy? Are we diversifying the pool of tech talent available? Are we moving toward improving GDP, or opportunities for generational wealth-building?

In that vein, some more recent metrics that we’ve compiled to gauge our impact:

• 16.9+ million registered users in more than 240 countries
• 2.6+ million projects submitted
• 205K+ Nanodegree program certificates earned
• 73% of graduates reported a favorable career change in the first 12 months

6. AltSchool

AltSchool was a San Francisco-based company that operated a network of schools that used technology to provide personalized education for students. AltSchool used artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to create a platform that enabled teachers to customize curricula, track student progress and collaborate with parents and other educators. AltSchool also developed tools for students to set their own goals, manage their time and work on projects that matched their interests and abilities.

• Founder(s): Max Ventilla
• Funding years: 2013
• Headquarters: San Francisco, USA

7. Codecademy

Codecademy is an online learning platform that offers interactive courses and projects on various coding and programming topics, such as web development, data science, computer science, and machine learning. Codecademy also provides career paths and skill paths to help learners achieve their goals and certificates to showcase their achievements.

• Founder(s): Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski
• Headquarters: New York City, USA
• Funding: Series D

Codecademy, from Skillsoft, is a leading online learning platform that has helped over 40 million people worldwide build inspiring careers in technology. By creating an engaging, flexible, and accessible way to learn in-demand technology skills, Codecademy empowers individuals and companies to thrive in today’s tech-driven world.

Since 2011, learners from more than 150 countries have accessed Codecademy’s extensive course offerings on web development, data science, computer science, cybersecurity, and more, including programming languages like Python, CSS, and JavaScript.

To better serve learners throughout their entire careers, Codecademy recently launched a new product for upskilled and enhanced features for job-seekers, including skill-based assessments and certifications. Whether someone is looking to increase their tech literacy, move up in an existing role, or land their first job in technology, Codecademy aims to help people future-proof their careers. 

Brainly is a New York-based company that provides a web-based platform for students and experts to ask and answer homework questions. Brainly covers various subjects such as mathematics, history, biology, chemistry, physics, English, and more. Brainly uses artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to moderate content, personalize recommendations and enhance user experience.

• Founder(s): Michał Borkowski, Tomasz Kraus and Łukasz Haluch
• Funding years: 2009
• Headquarters: New York, USA

9. GoStudent

GoStudent is an online tutoring platform that offers live and interactive lessons for school students in various subjects, such as math, languages, science, and more. GoStudent connects students with qualified and experienced tutors who provide individualized and personalized instruction. GoStudent also provides homework help, exam preparation, and learning materials.

• Founder(s): Felix Ohswald and Gregor Müller
• Funding years: 2016
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria

At GoStudent, our goal is to unlock the potential of every student. Technology is key to realizing this vision, and we’re continually exploring how we bring the online and offline worlds together to create impactful learning experiences, personalized to the individual and accessible to all. 

AI is critical here – it has the potential to significantly improve the learning experience, democratize the learning process and improve the lives of students and teachers. From helping time-strapped teachers with lesson plans and marking to adapting the learning process around learners’ strengths and weaknesses – the benefits are innumerable. We also acknowledge that AI can make education more accessible. By creating expertly trained AI tutors, tailored tutoring can be offered at a far lower cost.

Our impact is measured by the 11 million students that GoStudent supports each month, but also by the steps we take to bring our goals to life: how we harness tech in the right way to open more doors. 

 10. PraxiLabs

PraxiLabs , an Amsterdam-based company, offers a virtual laboratory solution for science education that replicates real-world experiments in the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics. PraxiLabs has proven to be a valuable resource for students and educators worldwide, providing a seamless, secure, and cost-effective 3D simulation. The company has received numerous global awards, such as ABH, and has been recognized as a leading tech startup worldwide. PraxiLabs stands out as the first company to launch a native mobile app for both Android and IOS, enabling users to access the platform from anywhere and at any time.

• Founder(s): Khadija Elbedweihy, Essam El-Saadi, Safiya Elbedwihy
• Funding years: 2017
• Headquarters: Netherlands
• Funding: Bootstrapping

Kiddom is a San Francisco-based company that provides a web-based platform for K-12 education that combines high-quality curriculum with flexible technology. Kiddom enables teachers, students, and administrators to access, customize and collaborate on curriculum and lesson plans, assess student progress and growth, and gain actionable insights for data-driven instruction.

• Founder(s): Ahsan Rizvi and Abbas Manjee

Edmodo is a San Mateo-based company that provides a web-based platform for K-12 education that connects teachers, students, parents, and administrators. Edmodo enables users to share content, distribute quizzes and assignments, manage communication and collaboration, and access professional development resources. Edmodo does not use artificial intelligence, data science, or machine learning in its platform, but it does leverage technology to enhance learning outcomes and foster creativity. Edmodo also supports environmental sustainability by reducing the need for physical textbooks and paper materials that can have a negative impact on the environment. Edmodo was acquired by NetDragon in 2018 for $137.5 million.

• Founder(s): Nic Borg, Jeff O’Hara, and Crystal Hutter
• Funding years: 2008

13. Boddle Learning

Boddle Learning

Boddle Learning is a Kansas City-based company that provides a web-based platform for K-6 math education that combines 3D gaming with adaptive learning. Boddle Learning enables students to practice math skills, watch instructional videos and track their progress in a fun and engaging way. Boddle Learning also enables teachers and parents to create assignments, monitor performance and address learning gaps with real-time reports.

• Founder(s): Clarence Tan and Edna Martinson
• Funding years: 2018
• Headquarters: San Mateo, USA

14. Lingo Live

Lingo Live is a company that provides personal online language and communication coaching to employees of innovative tech companies anytime, anywhere. The company’s platform helps multilingual professionals to communicate with confidence and improve their communication and leadership skills through live, online lessons with native instructors over video conferences.

• Founder(s): Tyler Muse
• Funding years: 2012
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA

Chalk is a company that provides a cohesive, integrated, and aligned curriculum and instruction solution for K-12 schools and districts. The company’s platform enables educators to develop, manage, and assess standards-aligned curriculum and instruction, as well as to monitor student progress and achievement.

• Founder(s): William Zhou, Ryan McKay Fleming, and Suraj Srinivas
• Headquarters: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. 

Hapara is a company that develops tools to view, organize, and personalize digital learning for K-12 educators and learners. The company’s platform provides access and visibility into learner work across G Suite, data and analytics on learner engagement and performance, and a rich classroom learning ecosystem that integrates various apps and resources.

• Founder(s): Jan Zawadzki
• Headquarters: Chicago, USA
• Funding: Series A

17. Brilliant.org

Brilliant.org

Brilliant.org is a company that provides digital interactive STEM learning experiences to students, professionals, and lifelong learners around the world. The company’s platform features problems and courses in mathematics, physics, quantitative finance, and computer science that offer an engaging and challenging way to learn and practice STEM skills.

• Founder(s): Sue Khim
• Headquarters: San Francisco, Califonia, USA

TED-Ed is a company that provides short video lessons worth sharing, aimed at educators and students. The company’s platform features carefully curated educational videos, many of which are collaborations between educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed platform. The company also offers interactive lessons, clubs, series, and events to support learning and teaching

• Founder(s): An Initiative of TED. TED was founded in 1984 by Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks

 19. Classtime

Classtime is a company that develops a platform for learning and feedback that helps teachers to engage and assess their students in real time. The company’s platform provides various question types, interactive features, and instant data and analytics that enable teachers to create and deliver effective formative and summative assessments.

• Founder(s): Jan Rihak
• Headquarters: Santa Barbara, California, USA

20. EdSurge

EdSurge is a company that provides news, research, and analysis on education technology and its impact on teaching and learning. The company’s platform features articles, podcasts, newsletters, events, and reports that cover topics such as online learning, digital equity, higher education, K-12 education, and workforce development. 

• Founder(s): Betsy Corcoran
• Headquarters: Arlington, Virginia, USA
• Funding: Series B

21. Thinkster Math

Thinkster Math

Thinkster Math is a company that provides online math tutoring to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The company’s platform combines a world-class curriculum, personalized instruction from experienced tutors, and AI-powered feedback that tracks and analyzes students’ work and progress. 

• Founder(s): Raj Valli and Kuman Thiagarajan
• Headquarters: Kendall Park, New Jersey, USA

22. MobyMax

MobyMax is a company that provides an online education program for K-8 students that covers 27 subjects, including math, reading, phonics, language, vocabulary, spelling, writing, science, social studies, and more. The company’s platform features an adaptive curriculum, personalized instruction, and interactive features that help students find and fix learning gaps.

• Founder(s): Glynn Willet and Wade Willet
• Headquarters: Pittsburgh, USA
• Funding: Venture – Series Unknown 

23. TeachBoost

TeachBoost is a company that provides an evaluation and feedback platform for educators that helps them engage in an ongoing dialogue that fosters their development and improves student outcomes. The company’s platform features a collaborative portal, a customizable observation framework, and a data dashboard that enable teachers and administrators to work and improve together.

• Founder(s): Andrew Gioia, Jason DeRoner, and Mike Gioia
• Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York, USA

24. Tinkergarten

Tinkergarten

Tinkergarten is a company that provides outdoor, play-based learning experiences for early childhood. The company’s platform matches families with leaders in their local community who offer activity-based kids classes that help them develop the skills that matter most, such as creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.

• Founder(s): Meghan Fitzgerald and Brian Fitzgerald
• Funding years: 2014
• Headquarters: Northampton, USA

25. BrainPOP

BrainPOP is a company that provides digital educational content that supports teachers and engages students. The company’s platform features short animated movies, games, quizzes, and activities that cover topics such as STEM, social studies, English, health, arts, and music for students from kindergarten to 12th grade.

• Founder(s): Avraham Kadar
• Funding years: 1999
• Funding: Series Unknown

26. AdmitHub (MainStay)

AdmitHub, now Mainstay is a company that develops a student engagement platform for higher education that uses artificial intelligence and mobile messaging to connect students with the support they need to reach colleges and businesses. The company’s platform features behaviorally intelligent chatbots that provide personalized guidance, feedback, and nudges to students throughout their educational journey.

• Founder(s): Andrew Magliozzi, Kirk Daulerio, and Toby Jackson
• Headquarters: Boston, USA

27. BrainCert

BrainCert is a company that develops cloud-native agile software solutions for e-learning. The company’s platform offers the essential building blocks to create a robust and cost-effective e-learning ecosystem in the cloud, such as a learning management system, virtual classroom, courses platform, assessment platform, and online shop.

• Founder(s): Fazil Rahim, Yasin R
• Headquarters: Herndon, Virginia, United States

Tynker is a company that provides a creative coding platform for K-12 students that teaches them computational learning and programming skills in a fun and imaginative way. The company’s platform features various courses, projects, games, and activities that cover topics such as animation, music, robotics, drones, smart devices, Minecraft, and more.

• Founder(s): Krishna Vedati, Kelvin Chong, and Srinivas Mandyam
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States

Remind is a company that provides a communication platform for education that reaches students and families where they are and supports learning wherever it happens. Remind uses technology to help educators, students, and parents connect with each other and with the resources they need. Remind’s platform offers features such as two-way text messaging, real-time notifications, automatic translation, personalized learning paths, adaptive quizzes, and actionable insights. Remind also uses artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning to create engaging and effective communication tools.

• Founder(s): Brett Kopf, David Kopf
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Funding: Series E

30. Participate

Participate

For nearly a decade, Participate has helped professionals across a variety of organizations better connect, collaborate, learn, and grow through a digital platform and expert services to foster engaging communities of practice.

Because whether you need to scale training programs like the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition , or connect and empower your community like Black Girl Ventures , or customize a digital learning solution for your clients like DoGoodery — the Participate community platform is built to inspire learning and propel your impact forward.

The newest community platform software is equipped with remarkable features such as digital badges and stackable micro-credentials, events, courses, and resource spaces. Designed to facilitate continuous learning and engagement, these features make competency-based education tangible, accessible, and rewarding.

This new Participate community of practice platform is more than just a tool — it’s a catalyst for transformation in your organization.

• Founder(s): Mark Otter
• Funding years: 2019
• Headquarters: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

31. Coursera

Coursera is an education company that partners with universities and organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects. The company aims to provide life-transforming learning experiences to learners around the world, regardless of their location, background, or goals.

• Founder(s): Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA

32. Nearpod

Nearpod is an educational technology company that provides video-based courses and digital learning solutions for students and teachers. The company helps educators create and deliver interactive and engaging lessons that can be accessed on any device. Nearpod also helps teachers monitor student progress, provide feedback, and generate reports.

• Founder(s): Felipe Sommer, Emiliano Abramzon, and Guido Kovalskys
• Headquarters: Dania Beach, Florida, USA
• Funding: Venture – Series B

33. Knewton

Knewton is an educational technology company that provides adaptive learning solutions for students and educators. The company develops a platform that allows users to offer digital courses that adapt to students’ needs and preferences. The company also provides Alta, a courseware solution that covers various subjects in higher education.

• Founder(s): Jose Ferreira

34. Empowerly

Empowerly is an education technology company that provides a platform for personalized college and career guidance. The company helps students achieve their academic and professional goals by connecting them with trained counselors, advisors, researchers, and editors. Empowerly also helps students access various resources, such as college matches, essay editing, startup internship matching program, etc.

• Founder(s): Hanmei Wu and Changxiao Xie
• Funding: Venture – Series A

35. Age of Learning

Age of Learning

Age of Learning is an education technology company that creates and develops online learning programs for children of various ages and stages. The company’s mission is to help children everywhere build a strong foundation for academic success and a lifelong love of learning. The company’s flagship product, ABCmouse.com, is the leading digital education brand for young children in the U.S.

• Founder(s): Doug Dohring
• Funding years: 2007
• Headquarters: Glendale, California, USA

36. Genius Plaza

Genius Plaza

Genius Plaza is an education technology company that provides a platform for multicultural and personalized online learning for children of various ages and stages. The company’s mission is to democratize education and provide access to information and opportunity for diverse communities. The company’s flagship product, Genius Plaza, is an online learning platform that covers various subjects, such as math, language arts, science, and social studies.

• Founder(s): Ana Roca Castro
• Headquarters: Clifton Park, New York, USA

 37. Makeblock

Makeblock is an education technology company that provides STEM education-based robot-building kits and software for children of various ages and stages. The company’s mission is to help children develop creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills through robotics and coding. The company’s flagship product, Makeblock, is a platform that allows users to create and control robots using various hardware components and software tools.

• Founder(s): Jasen Wang
• Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
• Funding: Venture – Series C

Cialfo is a Singapore-based company that provides a one-stop solution for students, counselors, parents, and universities to simplify college and career counseling workflows. Cialfo uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to help students find the right-fit colleges, apply to them, and get visa support. Cialfo also helps universities refine their international strategy, build relationships with prospective students and form a more diverse and inclusive class.

• Founder(s): Rohan Pasari and William Hund
• Headquarters: Singapore

39. Quipper

Quipper is an education technology company that provides online learning management systems (LMS) and video content for K-12 students and teachers in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mexico. The company’s mission is to make quality education accessible and engaging for everyone. The company’s flagship product, Quipper School, is an LMS that allows teachers to create and deliver lessons, quizzes, and assignments online. The company also provides Quipper Video, a service that streams videos featuring top teachers and covers various subjects and curricula.

• Founder(s): Masayuki Watanabe
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

40. Outschool

Outschool is an education technology company that provides a marketplace of live online classes for kids. The company’s mission is to connect motivated learners, parents, and teachers together to create great learning experiences. The company’s flagship product, Outschool, is a platform that allows users to find and book online classes on various topics and interests, such as arts, science, math, languages, and more.

• Founder(s): Amir Nathoo, Mikhail Seregine, and Nick Grandy
• Funding: Venture – Series D

41. Khan Academy

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization that provides free online education for anyone, anywhere. The company’s mission is to create a set of online tools that help educate students on various subjects, such as math, science, computing, history, art history, and economics. The company’s flagship product, Khan Academy, is a platform that allows users to access video lessons, practice exercises, and a personalized learning dashboard.

• Founder(s): Salman Khan
• Funding years: 2006

42. Kidaptive

Kidaptive Inc. is an education technology company that provides adaptive learning tools for children of various ages and stages. The company’s mission is to empower learners, parents, and educators by creating a vibrant ecosystem of personalized learning experiences. The company’s flagship product, Kidaptive, is a platform that allows users to access video lessons, practice exercises, and a personalized learning dashboard.

• Founder(s): P.J. Gunsagar and Dylan Arena
• Headquarters: Redwood City, California

43. Teachable

Teachable is an education technology company that provides an online course creation platform for anyone who wants to teach or sell courses online. The company’s mission is to empower creators to transform their knowledge into income. The company’s flagship product, Teachable, is a platform that allows users to create and sell online courses on various topics and interests, such as business, design, health, music, and more.

• Founder(s): Ankur Nagpal

44. Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle is an education technology company that provides an online video-editing and analytics tool for teachers and students. The company’s mission is to make any video into a powerful learning experience. The company’s flagship product, Edpuzzle, is a platform that allows users to crop, customize, and add interactive elements to any video from the web or their own devices.

• Founder(s): Quim Sabrià, Santi Herrero Bajo, Jordi Gonzalez, and Xavier Vergés Parisi
• Funding: Secondary Market

Vivi is an education technology company that provides a wireless presentation and screen mirroring tool for education. The company’s mission is to empower teachers and students to display, capture, annotate, and save content in real-time. The company’s flagship product, Vivi, is a platform that allows users to connect their devices to any display and share their screens with the class.

• Founder(s): Lior Rauchberger, Simon Holland, and Tomas Spacek

46. ClassDojo

ClassDojo is an education technology company that provides a school communication platform for teachers, students, and families. The company’s mission is to create a positive culture and community in every classroom. The company’s flagship product, ClassDojo, is a platform that allows users to share photos, videos, and messages about the school day, as well as give feedback on students’ skills and behaviors.

• Founder(s): Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don

47. Lightneer

Lightneer is an education technology company that provides hyper-casual learning games for kids. The company’s mission is to make learning fun and accessible for everyone. The company’s flagship product, Lightneer, is a platform that allows users to play games that integrate casual and fun gameplay with educational content about particle physics, biology, chemistry, and more.

• Founder(s): Lauri Järvilehto, Lauri Konttori, and Niklas Hed
• Headquarters: Helsinki, Finland

48. FutureLearn

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is an education technology company that provides an online learning platform for anyone who wants to learn new skills or pursue their interests. The company’s mission is to create a diverse and inclusive community of learners who can access high-quality education from anywhere. The company’s flagship product, FutureLearn, is a platform that allows users to enroll in online courses, programs, and degrees from leading universities and institutions around the world.

• Founder(s): The Open University
• Funding: Corporate round

 49. Newsela

Newsela is an education technology company that provides online news articles for education. The company’s mission is to make reading and learning from the news accessible and engaging for every student. The company’s flagship product, Newsela, is a platform that allows users to access news articles from various sources that are adapted to different reading levels and aligned to curriculum standards.

• Founder(s): Matthew Gross

50. Duolingo

Duolingo is a free, fun, and effective way to learn a language online or on mobile devices. It offers courses in over 40 languages, with bite-sized lessons that adapt to the learner’s level and pace. Duolingo uses AI and data science to personalize the learning experience, optimize the curriculum, and assess the learner’s progress.

• Founder(s): Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker
• Headquarters: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Funding: Series H

51. Lingoda

Lingoda is an online language school that offers courses in English, German, French, Spanish, and Business English. Learners can choose between group classes or private classes with native-level teachers, available 24/7 via Zoom. Lingoda also provides learning materials, certificates, and flexible plans to suit different goals and budgets.

• Founder(s): Fabian Wunderlich and Michael Shangkuan
• Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
• Funding: Private Equity

52. DreamBox Learning

DreamBox Learning

DreamBox Learning is an online adaptive learning platform that offers personalized and engaging math and reading instruction for K-8 students. DreamBox uses AI and data science to tailor the curriculum to each student’s needs and pace and to provide real-time feedback and guidance. DreamBox also provides educators with actionable insights and reports on student progress and growth.

• Founder(s): Lou Gray and Ben Slivka
• Headquarters: Bellevue, Washington

53. Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that enables anyone to create and play fun and engaging quizzes, games, and presentations on any topic. Kahoot! can be used in classrooms, workplaces, social settings, or at home for learning, training, entertainment, and more. Kahoot! also offers a variety of ready-made games and content from partners and publishers.

• Founder(s): Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker, and Morten Versvik
• Headquarters: Oslo, Norway
• Funding: Post IPO secondary

54. Prodigy Education

Prodigy Education

Prodigy Education is an online math learning platform that offers curriculum-aligned math games for students in grades 1-8. Prodigy uses AI and data science to adapt the content and difficulty to each student’s level and learning style and to provide feedback and rewards. Prodigy also provides teachers with tools and reports to monitor and support student learning.

• Founder(s): Rohan Mahimker and Alex Peters
• Headquarters: Toronto, Canada

Bulb is a Denver-based company that provides a web-based platform for students and educators to create, share and showcase their digital portfolios. Bulb enables users to document their learning journey, showcase their skills and achievements, and collaborate with others on projects and assignments. Bulb also helps educators to design curriculum, assess student work and provide feedback.

• Founder(s): Eric Goldreyer, David Dixon, and Bart Epstein
• Headquarters: Denver, USA

56. Eduphoria!

Eduphoria! Inc.

Eduphoria! is an online platform that offers a suite of applications for school management and assessment. Eduphoria! helps educators plan and deliver instruction, monitor student progress, analyze data, and create reports. Eduphoria! also provides tools for professional development, teacher evaluation, and student portfolios.

• Funding years: 2004
• Headquarters: Plano, Texas, USA
• Funding: Series Unknown 

Otus is an online platform that offers a suite of tools for classroom management and assessment. Otus helps teachers create and deliver instruction, monitor student engagement, analyze data, and communicate with students and families. Otus also provides tools for standards-based grading, learning management, and student portfolios.

• Founder(s): Chris Hull and Pete Helfers
• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA

58. BYJU’S

BYJU’S

BYJU’S is an online learning platform that offers courses and programs for school and competitive exams, such as CBSE, ICSE, JEE, NEET, CAT, UPSC, and more. BYJU’S uses AI and data science to personalize the learning experience, provide feedback and guidance, and track the learner’s progress and performance. BYJU’S also provides live classes, interactive videos, quizzes, games, and simulations.

• Founder(s): Byju Raveendran
• Headquarters: Bangalore, India
• Funding: Debt Financing

59. Lingvist

Lingvist is a Tallinn-based company that provides a web-based platform for learning languages faster and more efficiently. Lingvist uses big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to adapt learning materials to each learner’s level, needs, and goals. Lingvist covers various languages such as English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, and Estonian.

• Founder(s): Mait Müntel
• Headquarters: Tallinn. Estonia 

60. NoRedInk

NoRedInk is a company that created a platform that helps students in grades 4-12 become better writers. The platform uses adaptive learning and personal interests to engage learners and deliver performance data to teachers and administrators. NoRedInk also supports teachers with curriculum, assessments, and professional development.

• Founder(s): Jeff Scheur

61. Teachmint

Teachmint is a company that provides an online teaching platform that enables tutors to conduct live classes and manage their classrooms. The platform combines live classes, real-time chat, homework and note sharing, online tests, announcements, etc. Teachmint also offers solutions for schools and institutes, such as ERP and LMS systems.

• Founder(s): Mihir Gupta, Payoj Jain, Divyansh Bordia, and Anshuman Kumar
• Funding years: 2020
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

62. OpenClassrooms

OpenClassrooms

OpenClassrooms is a company that provides an online education platform for vocational training, offering courses in IT, technology, entrepreneurship, and digital skills. The platform uses video resources, online reading, real-life projects, and individual mentoring sessions to deliver fully online degrees that are internationally recognized.

• Founder(s): Mathieu Nebra and Pierre Dubuc,
• Headquarters: Paris, France

63. Quizlet

Quizlet is a company that provides tools for studying and learning, such as digital flashcards, matching games, practice electronic assessments, and live quizzes. The platform covers various subjects and levels, from grade school to graduate school and language learners to vocational students.

• Founder(s): Andrew Sutherland
• Funding years: 2005

Chegg is a company that operates a student-first connected learning platform that provides various products and services to help students achieve their academic and professional goals. The platform offers homework help, digital and physical textbook rentals, online tutoring, test prep, scholarships, internships, and career services.

• Founder(s): Aayush Phumbhra, Josh Carlson, and Osman Rashid
• Headquarters: Santa Clara, California
• Funding: Post-IPO Equity

65. 3P Learning

3P Learning

3P Learning is a company that provides online education for schools and families. It offers a suite of learning resources that cover mathematics, spelling, literacy, science, and e-safety. The company aims to inspire a love of learning by providing engaging, meaningful, and personal learning experiences.

• Founder(s): Shane Hill and Matthew Sandblom
• Headquarters: North Sydney, Australia

66. ChatterHigh

ChatterHigh

ChatterHigh is a company that provides an online education platform that helps students in grades K-12 discover and learn about various post-secondary and career options. The platform uses quizzes, competitions, and discussion forums to engage students and provide them with relevant information and resources.

• Founder(s): Lee Taal and Glen Hallam
• Headquarters: Victoria, Canada

67. Eruditus

Eruditus is a company that provides executive education programs intended for mid-career professionals. The company collaborates with more than 50 top-tier universities across the world, such as MIT, Harvard, Columbia, INSEAD, and Wharton, to design and deliver high-quality courses in various formats, such as online, blended, and modular.

• Founder(s): Chaitanya Kalipatnapu and Ashwin Damera
• Headquarters: Mumbai, India

Collaborations and Partnerships Between Omdena and Leading Impact Organizations

Omdena AI projects play a vital role in supporting the objectives of SDG 4 by addressing various challenges in education, expanding access to quality learning, promoting personalized instruction, supporting educators, and facilitating data-driven decision-making. Through these collaborative efforts, Omdena strives to create positive and sustainable impacts in the field of education.

Below are some examples of successful collaborations:

1. Bringing Data Science Education to Secondary Schools in India for Zero Cost (with Datacamp)

Omdena, in collaboration with DataCamp Donates, aims to bring zero-cost data science education to secondary schools in India. This project seeks to provide students and teachers access to industry-recognized data skills that can help solve various business and technical problems. The team successfully created a database of over 35,000 Indian secondary schools’ names, email addresses, domains, and other details despite challenges such as inadequate resources and inconsistent data.

With this accomplishment, access to DataCamp classrooms service can be granted to higher secondary schools in India. This initiative contributes to worldwide technological growth through quality education (SDG 4) and sets the stage for expanding DataCamp Classrooms services into other countries.

The project page can be found here .

2. Digitizing Bhutanese Documents and Books using Machine Translation (with the Royal Government of Bhutan)

DHI InnoTech

Omdena collaborated with the Innotech Department of the Royal Government of Bhutan to develop a machine translation model capable of automatically translating documents written in Bhutan’s local language into English. This model allowed these documents to be stored as digital copies in the cloud, making them more accessible and preserving their cultural heritage.

Access the project page here .

3. Building an AI-based Personalized Language Learning Model For Bilingual Children ( with Poikilingo)

In partnership with Poikilingo an educational organization, Omdena brought together a team of 50 AI engineers who analyzed data from bilingual children’s learning applications. Together, they built a recommendation system that adapts to each child’s level as they progress within the app, offering a more personalized learning experience.

More information about this project can be found here .

These examples showcase the power of collaboration between Omdena and various organizations in leveraging AI technologies to address challenges related to SDG 4 – Quality Education. By working together, these partnerships have created new possibilities for enhancing educational opportunities and resources on a global scale.

SDG 4 Quality Education is an ambitious global goal that aims at creating a more equitable world where everyone has access to quality learning opportunities. As we’ve seen, numerous organizations are leading the charge toward achieving this goal by addressing various challenges and working tirelessly to ensure that education becomes a universal right.

These educational pioneers serve as an inspiration for all of us to support and promote SDG 4 Quality Education in our own communities – whether through policy advocacy, volunteer work, or simply spreading awareness about the importance of education. By doing so, we will not only contribute to the betterment of our societies but also help create a more sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come.

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Sustainable Development Goal 4

Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 is to “provide quality education for all”, according to the United Nations .

The visualizations and data below present the global perspective on where the world stands today and how it has changed over time.

Further information on education and learning can be found across several Our World in Data topic pages on Education , Teachers and Schools , Education Spending , and Literacy .

The UN has defined 10 Targets and 11 Indicators for SDG 4. Targets specify the goals and indicators represent the metrics by which the world aims to track whether these targets are achieved. Below we quote the original text of all targets and show the data on the agreed indicators.

Target 4.1 Free primary and secondary education

Sdg indicator 4.1.1 achieving proficiency in reading and mathematics.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.1.1 is the “proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex” in the UN SDG framework .

In the interactive visualizations, this is shown as the share of students in each country at each stage of education who reach at least the minimum reading and mathematics proficiency level.

Target: By 2030 “ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”

More research: Further data and research on primary and secondary education can be found at the Our World in Data topic pages on Education and Literacy .

SDG Indicator 4.1.2 Ensuring children complete their education

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.2.1 is the “completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)” in the UN SDG framework .

This indicator is defined as the share of a cohort of children or young adults aged 3-5 years older than the intended age of the last grade of each educational level who have completed that grade.

Shown here in the interactive visualizations is data for this indicator on the national average completion rate for primary education (first chart), lower secondary education (second chart), and upper secondary education (third chart).

Target: By 2030, “ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”

More research: Further data and research can be found at Our World in Data topic pages on Education .

Target 4.2 Equal access to quality pre-primary education

Sdg indicator 4.2.1 ensuring children are developmentally on track.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.2.1 is the “proportion of children aged 24–59 months (2-5 years) who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex” in the UN SDG framework .

Since internationally comparable data for this indicator is not currently available, this is measured by the United Nations through a proxy indicator defined as the proportion of children aged 36-59 months in each country who are developmentally on-track in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, socio-emotional and learning.

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualization.

Target: By 2030, “ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.”

More research: Further data and research can be found at Our World in Data topic page on Education .

SDG Indicator 4.2.2 Participation in pre-primary education

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.2.2 is the “participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex” in the UN SDG framework .

The participation rate in organized learning is the share of children participating in one or more organized learning programs (including programs that incorporate both education and care) in the year prior to a country’s official entry age.

Target: By 2030 “ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.”

More research: Further data and research can be found at the Our World in Data topic page on Education .

Target 4.3 Equal access to affordable technical, vocational and higher education

Sdg indicator 4.3.1 equal access to further education.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.3.1 is the “participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex” in the UN SDG framework .

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualization. We also show the enrollment in tertiary education.

Target: By 2030 “ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.”

Target 4.4 Increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial success

Sdg indicator 4.4.1 information and communications technology (ict) skills.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.4.1 is the “proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill” in the UN SDG framework .

Having a skill in this context refers to having undertaken a certain ICT-related activity in the past three months. This indicator includes multiple ICT skills, including using basic arithmetic formulas in a spreadsheet and verifying the reliability of information found online.

Data for one component of the indicator is shown in the interactive visualizations. The first chart shows the share of youth and adults (aged 15-24 years old) in each country with skills in creating electronic presentations with presentation software. The second chart shows this measure by sex.

Target: By 2030 “substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.”

Target 4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education

Sdg indicator 4.5.1 disparities in educational access.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.5.1 is “parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated” in the UN SDG framework .

Parity indices measure the ratio of the value of a measure for one group to the value for another, with the likely more disadvantaged group placed in the numerator.

In the interactive visualizations, data for this indicator is shown for gender parity in primary school completion (first chart), lower secondary school completion (second chart), and upper secondary school completion (third chart).

Target: By 2030 “eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for all.” 1

Additional charts

• Primary-school-age children who are out of school by world region

Target 4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy

Sdg indicator 4.6.1 universal literacy and numeracy.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.6.1 is the “proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex” in the UN SDG framework .

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualizations for young people (first chart), the literacy of adult men and women (second and third chart), and their numeracy (fourth and fifth chart).

Target: By 2030 “ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.”

More research: Further data and research can be found at the Our World in Data topic page on Literacy .

• Literate and illiterate world population
• Literacy rates of younger vs. older population

Target 4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship

Sdg indicator 4.7.1 education on sustainable development and global citizenship.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.7.1 is the “extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment” in the UN SDG framework .

These measures reflect characteristics of country education systems, as reported by government officials, and measure what governments intend rather than what is implemented in practice. For each component, a score is calculated by combining a number of criteria to give a single score of one to zero.

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualizations for the components related to teacher education (first chart), curricula (second chart), student assessment (third chart), and national education policies (fourth chart).

Target: By 2030 “ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development.” 2

Target 4.a Build and upgrade inclusive and safe schools

Sdg indicator 4.a.1 inclusive and safe schools.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.a.1 is the “proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service” in the UN SDG framework .

Data for this indicator is shown for a variety of basic services, including access to electricity, handwashing facilities, and access to drinking water.

Target: “Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.”

More research: Further data and research can be found at the Our World in Data topic page on Teachers and Schools .

Target 4.b Expand higher education scholarships for developing countries

Sdg indicator 4.b.1 scholarships for developing countries.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.b.1 is the “volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study” in the UN SDG framework .

This indicator is disbursements of official development assistance (ODA) for scholarships, defined as financial aid awards for individual students and contributions to trainees, where students and trainees are nationals of recipient countries.

Official development assistance refers to flows to countries and territories on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and to multilateral institutions which meet a set of criteria related to the source of the funding, the purpose of the transaction, and the concessional nature of the funding.

Target: By 2020 “substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries.” 3

Unlike most SDG targets which are set to be achieved by 2030, this indicator has a target year of 2020.

More research: Further data and research can be found at Our World in Data topic page on Financing Education .

Target 4.c Increase the supply of qualified teachers in developing countries

Sdg indicator 4.c.1 supply of qualified teachers.

Definition of the SDG indicator: Indicator 4.c.1 is the “proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level” in the UN SDG framework .

This indicator is measured as the share of pre-primary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary teachers who have received the minimum organized pedagogical teacher training required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country.

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualizations for pre-primary education (first chart), primary education (second chart), lower secondary education (third chart), and upper secondary education (fourth chart).

Target: By 2030 “substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers.” 4

More research: Further data and research can be found at Our World in Data topic page on Teachers and Schools .

• Pupil-teacher ratio in primary education

Full text: “By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.”

Full text: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”

Full text: “By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.”

Full text: ”By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.”

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It’s All Linked to Education

Empowering educators and students.

QEM Network serves as a national resource and catalyst to unite and strengthen educational opportunities for historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

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EQUITY, ACCESS AND EXCELLENCE FOR ALL STUDENTS

THE QUALITY EDUCATION PROJECT

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The Quality Education Project (QEP) seeks to empower communities to advocate for change that improves the quality of education for all students. QEP also provides academic and community-engaged research to support and initiate educational policy reform committed to equity, access and excellence.

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QEP is committed to providing research-based policy statements that inform the public, including parents, students, and policymakers, about quality education initiatives and issues.

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QEP strives to involve the community in public education. Check out our events... we would love to have you!

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• Quality education

Grade-appropriate education for all boys and girls.

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Poor quality education is leading to poor learning outcomes in India, ultimately pushing children out of the education system and leaving them vulnerable to child labour, abuse and violence. Many classrooms continue to be characterized by teacher-centred rote learning, corporal punishment and discrimination.

Learning assessments show that many of those children who are in school are not learning the basics of literacy and numeracy or the additional knowledge and skills necessary for their all-round development as specified under the Right to Education Act.

Much remains to be done to ensure a child-friendly learning environment where all children benefit from gender-sensitive and inclusive classrooms, as well as the availability of improved water, sanitation and hygiene, and mid-day meal practices.   

Every girl and boy in India has the fundamental right to quality education, an education one that helps them to acquire basic literacy and numeracy, enjoy learning without fear and feel valued and included irrespective of where they come from.       

For the first time in 10 years, reading and arithmetic scores have improved in public funded schools at early grades (ASER 2016). In seven states (Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Uttarakhand) reading level increased by 7 per cent at grade 3 level since 2014. This indicates that increase in learning is possible but takes time. Nevertheless, ASER 2018 showed that in grade 5 after more than four years of schooling, only half of all children could read a grade 2 level text fluently. The National Achievement Survey 2017 which was conducted for grades 3, 5 and 8 gave a similar picture with only 45.2 per cent of students achieving the targeted performance levels across all subjects and classes at the national level. States such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh with large populations of children from scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and minority communities have the lowest scores. In the NAS 2017 girls scored slightly higher or as the same level as boys.

While governments both national and state have invested in large scale learning assessments, the challenge is in the use of assessment data for improving the delivery of education rather than letting it remain a simple data collection exercise.

Successful performance in school is supported by a wide range of abilities, attitudes and socio-emotional competencies, beyond traditional literacy and numeracy skills - life skills significantly contribute to learning and are an aspect of quality education. While there is an understanding around the importance of life skills , there is a possible lack of alignment between traditional curricula and a life-skills learning agenda  and a lack of understanding of how these can be developed across the education continuum. The NEP brings this focus stressing the importance of leaning by doing.

Since March 2020, schools in India have been closed and learning has shifted to remote home-based learning for those who can access it. School closures will impact learning across the education system. Gains in enrolment, school completion, and learning must not get eroded due to the combination of schools being closed and socio-economic hardships related to Covid-19. According to the World Bank, five months of school closures due to COVID-19 will result in an immediate loss of 0.6 years of schooling adjusted for quality, bringing the effective learning that a student can achieve down from 7.9 years to 7.3 years. During this period of school closure, efforts have been made by governments to ensure continuity of learning for children while they have been home. Digital tools including internet based high tech tools like apps and online learning classes, social media platforms, television and radio were used extensively.    India is now looking at delivering education programmes differently and speedily to employ solutions, that accelerate impact and achieve scale across interventions targeted at children and adolescents.  

COVID-19 presents urgency as well as an incredible opportunity to act and transform the education system through technology using it as an important tool of capacity building, inclusiveness and quality learning, without replacing the essential role of teachers/facilitators. While technology is not a silver bullet to solve the problem of inequities in access and learning, it has huge potential for changing how teaching and learning is delivered in India, if employed in a systemic and inclusive way, empowering teachers, frontline workers, children and adolescents and increasing access to and quality of learning.

Currently around one-third of the 2.6 million secondary schools in India have ICT labs and a functional computer.  Universal access to technology in homes is yet a dream in tribal belts, interior locations, rural areas, and amongst children with disabilities. Children with poor or no access to technology face most challenges in continuing to learn. There is disproportional access to the internet across state, further extending into the rural-urban schism, where 13 per cent people of over five years of age in rural areas can use the internet against 37 per cent in urban areas. Additionally, the digital dichotomy extends to the access to hardware and devices where the poorest students and marginalised communities, including girls, do not have access to smartphones, and even if they do, internet connectivity remains poor.

The main area of UNICEF engagement and support is elementary education especially early grades and the transition to secondary education. As schools remain closed and children learn remotely, UNICEF will engage with state government for expanding access to remote learning options. UNICEF will support the expanded use of technology and the use of online systems to improve governance in education, enhance capacity of teachers, teacher support systems, other education functionaries and participation of children for enhanced learning and skills development. But at the same time recognizing that quality learning requires quality teachers and teaching.

Implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 being a priority UNICEF will provide technical support at national and state level in the key areas related to curriculum revision, learning assessment and reporting, foundational learning, life skills and career guidance.

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How to Promote Quality Education: Tips and Strategies

By GGI Insights | April 11, 2024

Table of contents

This article will explore tips and strategies to promote quality education and ensure that every student receives a meaningful and enriching learning experience.

Understanding the Importance of Quality Education

Before delving into the tips and strategies, it is essential to comprehend the significance of quality education. Quality education goes beyond academic excellence; it focuses on holistic development, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. It prepares students for the challenges of the real world and empowers them to contribute positively to society. In the quest of how to promote education , it's crucial to understand that quality education goes beyond academic excellence; it focuses on holistic development, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

Quality education equips students with the knowledge and nurtures their intellectual, emotional, and social well-being. It takes a comprehensive and learner-centric approach beyond rote learning and grades. By providing a nurturing environment, quality education ensures that students acquire the skills and attitudes required for lifelong learning and personal growth. It's particularly significant in secondary education , where students are prepared for the challenges of the real world and empowered to contribute positively to society.

When students receive a quality education, the impact on society is transformative. It goes beyond individual benefits and extends to the entire community. Quality education is crucial in reducing poverty by equipping individuals with the tools to secure better employment opportunities. It also promotes social cohesion by fostering understanding, empathy, and respect among diverse groups of people.

Quality education empowers individuals to build thriving communities. Providing students with the necessary skills to adapt to a rapidly changing world fosters innovation and drives economic development. Quality education encourages entrepreneurship and empowers individuals to create their opportunities, contributing to the growth and prosperity of society as a whole.

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In addition to its economic and social impact, quality education also profoundly affects personal development. It helps students discover their passions and talents, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and aspirations. Quality education instills a sense of purpose and self-confidence in individuals, empowering them to overcome obstacles and reach their full potential.

In conclusion, quality education is not just about academic achievement; it encompasses a holistic approach that nurtures students' intellectual, emotional, and social well-being. It has a transformative impact on society, reducing poverty, promoting social cohesion, and driving economic development. Quality education empowers individuals to build thriving communities and enables personal growth. By understanding the importance of quality education, we can strive to create an educational system that prepares students for success and empowers them to make a positive difference in the world.

Key Elements of Quality Education

Several key elements contribute to the delivery of quality education. These elements are crucial for creating an environment that promotes effective teaching and meaningful learning experiences.

Quality education is not just about imparting knowledge but also about nurturing the holistic development of students. It goes beyond textbooks and exams, focusing on learners' growth and well-being. One of the key elements contributing to quality education is the focus on primary education . A strong foundation in primary education sets the stage for future academic success and personal development, providing students with essential skills and knowledge for lifelong learning. Let's explore some additional aspects that are integral to achieving quality education.

Curriculum Development and Implementation

The curriculum plays a pivotal role in quality education. It should be relevant, inclusive, and based on the needs and aspirations of students. A well-designed curriculum encourages interdisciplinary learning, fosters creativity, and promotes a love for lifelong learning. It's also  fundamental for effective learning . It should not only cover the necessary academic content but also be adaptable and responsive to the evolving needs of students and the demands of the 21st-century world.

When developing a curriculum, it is essential to consider students' cultural diversity and individual learning styles. A curriculum integrating real-world applications and practical experiences helps students connect theoretical knowledge with practical implications. It also encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills, preparing students for the challenges they may face in their future endeavors.

Teacher Training and Professional Development

Teachers are the backbone of quality education. They must have the latest teaching methods, strategies, and innovative approaches. Continuous professional development programs ensure that teachers stay updated and provide effective instruction that meets the diverse needs of their students.

Professional development opportunities for teachers should focus not only on subject knowledge but also on pedagogical skills, classroom management techniques, and fostering a positive learning environment. Training programs that encourage collaboration among educators and provide opportunities for sharing best practices can significantly enhance the quality of education. Mentoring and coaching programs can also support teachers' professional growth, allowing them to improve their teaching practices continuously.

Student Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and evaluation are essential components of quality education. They provide valuable insights into students' progress and help identify areas for improvement. A balanced approach to assessment that includes both formative and summative assessments encourages student engagement, motivation, and meaningful feedback.

Assessment methods should be varied, allowing students to demonstrate their understanding and skills differently. This can include projects, presentations, portfolios, and collaborative activities. By providing multiple opportunities for assessment, educators can gain a comprehensive understanding of each student's strengths and areas that require further support.

Assessment should not be limited to academic achievements alone. It should also encompass the development of social and emotional skills, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. This holistic approach to assessment ensures that students' overall growth is nurtured and celebrated.

By focusing on these key elements of quality education, we can create an educational system that empowers students to become lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and responsible global citizens. Quality education is not just a goal but a continuous journey of growth and improvement for all stakeholders involved.

Strategies to Promote Quality Education

Implementing effective strategies is vital to promoting quality education. These strategies aim to create a conducive learning environment and engage all stakeholders to ensure the best educational outcomes for students.

Quality education imparts knowledge and skills, fosters a love for learning, and nurtures holistic development. To achieve this, educational institutions must adopt various strategies beyond traditional teaching methods.

One such strategy is encouraging parental involvement. Parental involvement is crucial for student success. Schools must actively involve parents in their children's education, fostering a strong partnership between home and school. Regular communication, parent-teacher conferences, and parent engagement programs facilitate a supportive learning environment.

When parents are actively involved in their children's education, they can provide valuable insights into their child's strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. This information can help teachers tailor their instruction to meet the individual needs of each student, leading to better learning outcomes.

In addition to parental involvement, implementing technology in the classroom is another effective strategy. Integrating technology into the classroom enhances learning experiences and prepares students for the digital age. Interactive whiteboards, online resources, educational apps, and virtual simulations facilitate personalized and immersive learning, making education more engaging and effective.

With the rapid advancement of technology, students can now access a vast amount of information at their fingertips. This enables them to explore various subjects in depth, conduct research, and collaborate with peers worldwide. Technology also allows teachers to create interactive and multimedia-rich lessons that cater to diverse learning styles, ensuring that every student can actively participate and grasp the concepts being taught.

Promoting inclusive education is another crucial strategy to ensure quality education for all. Inclusive education promotes equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their abilities, backgrounds, or circumstances. It embraces diversity, creates a welcoming and supportive environment, and ensures every student can access high-quality education.

Inclusive education recognizes that every student has unique strengths and challenges. It encourages educators to adopt differentiated teaching strategies that cater to the diverse needs of their students. This may involve providing additional support to students with learning difficulties, modifying assessments to accommodate different learning styles, or creating inclusive classroom activities that celebrate diversity.

It fosters empathy, understanding, and acceptance among students. Students develop a broader world perspective and essential social and emotional skills by learning and interacting with peers from different backgrounds and abilities.

In conclusion, promoting quality education requires the implementation of various strategies. Encouraging parental involvement, implementing technology in the classroom, and promoting inclusive education are just a few examples. By adopting these strategies, educational institutions can create a nurturing and inclusive learning environment that empowers students to reach their full potential.

Tips for Enhancing Quality Education

Enhancing the quality of education requires a collective effort and a focus on continuous improvement. Here are some tips for fostering a positive learning environment and maximizing the effectiveness of the educational experience:

Fostering a Positive Learning Environment

A positive learning environment is essential for student engagement and success. Schools should prioritize creating a safe and inclusive space where students feel valued, respected, and supported. This can be achieved through positive discipline, peer collaboration, and a nurturing school culture.

One way to foster a positive learning environment is by implementing restorative justice practices. This approach focuses on building relationships, resolving conflicts, and repairing harm rather than punishing students for their mistakes. By promoting empathy and understanding, restorative justice helps create a sense of belonging and encourages students to take responsibility for their actions.

Incorporating social-emotional learning (SEL) into the curriculum can promote a positive learning environment. SEL equips students with essential self-awareness, empathy, and responsible decision-making skills. Schools can create an environment that supports academic and personal growth by addressing students' emotional well-being and teaching them how to manage their emotions.

Encouraging Continuous Learning and Improvement

Education is an ongoing process, and fostering a culture of continuous learning is critical. Schools must provide opportunities for professional growth and encourage teachers to embrace innovative teaching methods. Additionally, students should be encouraged to explore their interests, engage in self-directed learning, and pursue lifelong learning outside the classroom.

Continuous learning starts with early childhood development . Schools must foster an environment where the seeds of curiosity and the love for learning are planted early, ensuring a trajectory of growth and development throughout a student's educational journey.

Establishing a professional learning community (PLC) within the school effectively encourages continuous learning. A PLC is a collaborative group of educators who work together to improve their teaching practices and student outcomes. Through regular meetings, sharing of best practices, and engaging in reflective discussions, teachers can enhance their skills and knowledge, ultimately benefiting their students.

Schools can promote continuous learning by incorporating technology into the educational experience. Online learning platforms, educational apps, and virtual reality tools allow students to explore new subjects, engage in interactive learning experiences, and access many educational resources beyond the traditional classroom setting.

Implementing Effective Teaching Methods

The adoption of effective teaching methods significantly impacts the quality of education. Encouraging active learning, inquiry-based teaching, and student-centered approaches enhances critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Teachers should utilize various instructional strategies, including group work, hands-on activities, and real-world applications, to make learning more relevant and engaging.

Another effective teaching method is project-based learning (PBL), where students work on real-world projects that require them to apply their knowledge and skills to solve complex problems. PBL promotes collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, as students engage in authentic, hands-on experiences that mirror the challenges in their future careers.

Additionally, incorporating technology into the classroom can enhance teaching methods. Interactive whiteboards, educational software, and multimedia presentations can make lessons more interactive and engaging, capturing students' attention and facilitating their understanding of complex concepts.

In conclusion, enhancing the quality of education requires a multifaceted approach that encompasses fostering a positive learning environment, encouraging continuous learning and improvement, and implementing effective teaching methods. By prioritizing these aspects, schools can provide students with a rich and meaningful educational experience that prepares them for success in the ever-evolving world.

Case Studies of Successful Quality Education Promotion

Examining case studies of countries that have successfully promoted quality education provides valuable insights and inspiration for educational reform.

Quality education is a fundamental right that every child deserves. It is not only about imparting knowledge but also about nurturing the overall development of students. In this regard, several countries have made significant strides in promoting quality education, setting examples for others. Let's delve into some case studies highlighting successful approaches to quality education.

Finland's Education System

Regarding exemplary education systems, Finland's model stands out as a shining example. Finland has consistently ranked among the top performers in global education rankings. So, what makes their system so successful?

Finland's education system prioritizes student well-being, teacher professionalism, and personalized learning. The Finnish government recognizes that education is not a one-size-fits-all approach and believes in tailoring education to meet the unique needs of each student.

One key factor contributing to Finland's success is free student education. This eliminates financial barriers and ensures every child has equal access to quality education. Additionally, Finland strongly emphasizes equal opportunities, ensuring students from all backgrounds have an equal chance of success.

Finland's education system nurtures creativity and critical thinking skills. Rather than relying solely on standardized testing, Finnish schools encourage students to think independently, explore their interests, and develop a love for learning. This approach fosters a lifelong passion for education and equips students with the skills to thrive in the modern world.

Singapore's Approach to Quality Education

Singapore is another country that has achieved remarkable success in promoting quality education. Despite its small size, Singapore consistently ranks among the top performers in international education assessments. So, what sets Singapore apart?

A key aspect of Singapore's approach to quality education is its rigorous curriculum. The Singaporean education system strongly emphasizes core subjects such as mathematics, science, and languages. By providing students with a solid foundation in these subjects, Singapore ensures its students are well-prepared for future challenges.

Singapore invests heavily in teacher training and development. Teachers undergo extensive training programs to enhance their pedagogical skills and stay updated with the latest teaching methodologies. This investment in teachers translates into high-quality instruction and personalized attention for students.

Another noteworthy aspect of Singapore's education system is its emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Recognizing the importance of these fields in the modern world, Singapore ensures that its students are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in STEM-related careers.

Singapore's holistic approach to education focuses on academic excellence, character development, and values education. The education system instills in students a strong sense of discipline, resilience, and integrity, preparing them to become well-rounded individuals who can contribute positively to society.

By examining the case studies of Finland and Singapore, it becomes evident that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to quality education. Each country has tailored its education system to meet its students' unique needs and aspirations. However, themes such as equal opportunities, investment in teacher training, and a focus on holistic development emerge as key factors contributing to their success.

The Future of Quality Education

The future of quality education is shaped by ever-evolving technological advancements, changing societal needs, and a deeper understanding of effective teaching and learning strategies.

As we look ahead to the future of education, it is clear that digital learning will play an increasingly significant role. With the integration of online platforms, adaptive learning systems, and artificial intelligence, personalized and self-paced learning experiences are becoming more accessible. Students can now engage with educational content in a way that suits their individual needs and learning styles. Interactive multimedia, such as videos, simulations, and virtual reality, enhances students' engagement and deepens their understanding of complex concepts.

Digital learning provides opportunities for students to develop critical 21st-century skills. Students can hone their communication, problem-solving, and teamwork abilities through collaborative online projects. They can also explore global issues and perspectives, fostering a sense of cultural awareness and empathy.

The Role of Digital Learning

Digital learning not only benefits students but also empowers educators. Teachers can gain insights into students' progress and tailor instruction accordingly through data analytics and learning management systems. They can identify areas where students may be struggling and provide targeted support. Additionally, digital tools enable teachers to differentiate instruction, offering more challenging material to advanced learners and additional support to those who need it.

It learning expands educational opportunities beyond the traditional classroom. Students in remote areas or with limited access to resources can now engage in high-quality education through online courses and virtual classrooms. This inclusivity ensures that no student is left behind and that education becomes a truly equitable endeavor.

The Importance of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning is essential in a rapidly evolving world. It emphasizes the importance of continuous education, professional development, and acquiring new skills throughout life. In today's dynamic job market, where technological advancements and automation are reshaping industries, individuals must be adaptable and open to learning new skills.

By promoting a culture of lifelong learning, individuals can stay ahead of the curve and embrace innovation. They can continuously update their knowledge and competencies, ensuring their relevance in the workforce. Lifelong learning also fosters personal growth, enabling individuals to pursue their passions and explore new fields of interest.

Lifelong learning has societal benefits. A population that values and actively engages in lifelong learning contributes to a more prosperous and innovative society. It fuels economic growth, as individuals with up-to-date skills and knowledge drive innovation and entrepreneurship. Lifelong learning also promotes social cohesion, providing opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds to come together, share ideas, and learn from one another.

In conclusion, promoting quality education requires a comprehensive and multidimensional approach. By understanding the importance of quality education, focusing on key elements, implementing effective strategies, and embracing the future of education, we can ensure that every student receives the quality education they deserve. Together, we can create a society that thrives on knowledge, innovation, and lifelong learning.

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CSR Projects in Education in India; Here are the 10 Large CSR Projects in the Year 2020-21

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India has been one of the hardest-hit countries by COVID-19. Beyond the staggering impact on human life, COVID-19 has greatly disrupted access to education in India, with 247 million primary and secondary school students out of school . While school systems in India and across the world have made efforts to reach students at home through various means, there has been a focused push in Education via CSR by companies as well.  If carefully used, education can help reach learners marginalised by poverty, gender, language, disability, displacement, and being out of school. It’s thus one of the most important social sector which shapes our development landscape. Below are the top 10 Education oriented projects through CSR in India based on the CSR funds allocation of each company in the Financial Year 2020-21.

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Education Infrastructure (Hostel, School Buildings, Benches, Desks)

Relevant SDG: SDG 4. Quality Education

Name of the Initiate: School Education Program

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 28.62 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 73.72 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 120.68 Cr.

The company contributed to the CSR by contributing towards School Education Program through Enrolment awareness programs/events, formal schools outside campus (company-run), education material (study materials, uniform, books etc), scholarship (merit and need based assistance), school competitions / best teacher award, cultural events, quality of education (support teachers, improve education methods), specialised coaching, exposure visits/awareness, formal schools inside the campus, support to midday meal project. Nearly 9,500 children are enrolled at 250 anganwadis that the company support. The company has repaired 16 anganwadis at Dhar, Shambhupura, and Raw.

Implementing Partner: UCWF (UltraTech Community Welfare Foundation)

Brief about the Company: Ultra Tech Cement Limited are India's biggest cement company and India's largest exporter of cement clinker based in Mumbai, India. The company is part of the Aditya Birla Group and division of Grasim Industries. It has an annual capacity of 64 million tonnes. Ultra Tech cement has been awarded the Super brand status. Ultra Tech's products include Ordinary Portland cement, Portland Pozzolana cement and Portland blast furnace slag cement. Ultra Tech is India's largest exporter of cement clinker.

More about Ultratech Cement Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Digital Education, Education Scholarships & Fellowships, Education Programs.

Name of the Initiate: Education Promotion

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 7.86 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 25.88 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 27.7 Cr.

The company has supported the rejuvenation and maintenance of 129 Government Schools in order to improve the infrastructure and provide a pleasant learning environment to children. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the normal working of WaGaLe (Wanchan-Ganan-Lekhan) was impacted. However, the initiative was partially continued with 700+ children. The company has continued its support to Shri N N Mehta Memorial Education Trust, which provided scholarships amounting to `42.57 lakh to 302 deserving students for higher education. The increase in the number of students getting scholarships/prizes is an indication of improvement in the standard of education in the area. The company has continued its support to Shri Balvant Parekh Science City (a modern science museum) in Bhavnagar. The centre enables children to get familiar with various scientific subjects through interesting demonstration units. The centre also prepares students for various scholarship programmes, and National Olympiad Competitions have also been undertaken. During the year, 90,915 students benefitted through 14 online sessions conducted on various subjects.

Implementing Partners:  Gram Daxinamurti, Gram Nirman Samaj GramVikas Yojna, Lokbharti Mahuva Education Trust, Triveni Kalyan Education Trust, Balwant Parekh Centre for General Semantics, Monghiben Balvihar Trust

Brief about the Company: Pidilite Industries Limited is Indian-based adhesives manufacturing company. It also sells art materials, construction chemicals and other industrial chemicals. Pidilite markets the Fevicol range of adhesives. Its other brands are " Fevikwik", Dr. Fixit, "Roff", Cyclo, Ranipal, Hobby Ideas, M-seal and Acron. The corporate office is located in Andheri (East), Mumbai. The company has manufacturing facilities in India, including Mahad (Maharashtra), Vapi (Gujarat) Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and Kala Amb (Himachal Pradesh). It also makes Fevi Kwik, a popular instant adhesive In South Asia.

More about Pidilite Industries Limited's CSR Portfolio

3.   Name of the Company: Aurobindo Pharma Limited

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Education Infrastructure (Hostel, School Buildings, Benches, Desks), Education Scholarships & Fellowships

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 5.7489 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 44.79 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 58.84 Cr.

The company contributed to the CSR by contributing towards 15 Vidya volunteers to ensure quality education; Supported with various education related infrastructure such as coolers, Kitchen Equipment; Constructed additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water facilities, cycle sheds, compound wall, dining hall, residential school buildings for various schools and Government Colleges; Sponsored college and school fee for 50 poor and rural tribal Students of Auro Mira Vidya Mandir and other colleges; Constructed Public Library for urban communities; Provided Rehabilitation Services for quality Education and better Care of the Hearing - Impaired and differently abled Children.

Implementing Partners: Aurobindo Pharma Foundation, Kamalapur Educational Trust, Makineni Basavapunnaiah Vignana Kendram, Mahila Abhivruddhi Society, Andhra Pradesh (APMAS) Lekhadeep, International Foundation for Research and Education (Ashoka University)

Brief about the Company: Aurobindo Pharma became a public company in 1992 and listed its shares on the Indian stock exchanges in 1995. In addition to being the market leader in Semi-Synthetic Penicillin's, Aurobindo Pharma has a presence in key therapeutic segments such as neurosciences (CNS), cardiovascular (CVS), anti-retroviral, anti-diabetics, gastroenterology and Anti-biotics Through cost effective manufacturing capabilities and a few loyal customers, the company also entered the high margin specialty generic formulations segment.

More about Aurobindo Pharma Limited's CSR Portfolio

4.  Name of the Company: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Education Infrastructure (Hostel, School Buildings, Benches, Desks).

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 4.53 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 538.77 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 552.98 Cr.

ONGC has undertaken a wide range of initiatives towards the promotion of education by strengthening educational infrastructure in the country through the construction of Classrooms, creating drinking water facilities for school students and construction of school toilets which has led to positive enrolment and attendance outcomes. In its endeavour to enhance access to quality education, smart classrooms have been set up in schools across the country, thus making digital education in these areas a reality.

Implementing Partner: Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation)

Brief about the Company: ONGC was set up under the visionary leadership of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Pandit Nehru reposed faith in Shri Keshav Dev Malviya, who laid the foundation of ONGC in the form of the Oil and Gas division, under Geological Survey of India, in 1955. A few months later, it was converted into an Oil and Natural Gas Directorate. The Directorate was converted into Commission and christened Oil & Natural Gas Commission on 14th August 1956. This largest natural gas company ranks 11th among global energy majors (Platts).

More about Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Education Scholarships & Fellowships, Education Programs, Livelihood Programmes, Agriculture.

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 2.09 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 20.08 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 20.155 Cr.

The company has contributed to Education - Khushali Shiksha Program for improving Leaving level of students in Govt. schools, Khushali Rozgar program for the upliftment of rural youth and women, Livelihood - Jeetega Kissan program for Agri-skilling of farmers. In Khushali Shiksha program, DCM Shriram strives to improve the learning level of students studying in classes 1 to 5. The company also introduced Blackboard and Loudspeaker activities in the community to increase community participation.  Jeetega Kissan was launched to help farming communities get More Crop Per crop" from the conserved water. The program is layered on our water conservation program and aims at an increase in irrigated area, cultivable area, and adoption of advanced agriculture.

Implementing Partners: Pratham Education Foundation, ISAP (Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals), DCM Shriram Foundation

Brief about the Company: DCM Shriram, a spin-off from trifurcation of the reputed erstwhile DCM Group in 1990, is managed by Mr. Ajay S. Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director, Mr. Vikram S. Shriram, Vice Chairman & Managing Director and Mr Ajit. S. Shriram, Joint Managing Director along with a highly professional executive team.DCM Shriram, across its various businesses is strategically diversified yet operationally integrated at a high level. Some businesses feed others, thereby lowering operation costs and making DCM Shriram a highly competitive player.

More about DCM Shriram Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Education Infrastructure (Hostel, School Buildings, Benches, Desks), Education Programs, Empowerment of Economically Backward Groups, Girl's Education.

Name of the Initiate: Promoting Education

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 1.66 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 45.06 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 84.67 Cr.

Grasim operates six company schools with a total strength of 6,349 students. 456 Girl children supported through study material and counselling and coaching. 170 Students received educational scholarships at Halol, Harihar. 1,371 Girl children supported in 7 government schools. 106 Class XI and XII students received special coaching at Rishra, Renukoot for JEE and NEET examinations. Through a PPP mode, the company helped 169 students from Rishra Hindi Vidyapeeth, a government school, to learn English and clear two phases of the course. They included first-generation learners from low-income groups. The project has received significant appreciation from various stakeholders and has been spotlighted by the media as well.

Implementing Partner: Direct Implementation

Brief about the Company: Grasim Industries Limited is the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. It started as a textiles manufacturer in India in 1947. Today, it is a leading global player in VSF and India's largest chemicals (Chlor-Alkali-s) player. It is also the largest cement producer and diversified financial services (NBFC, Asset Management and Life Insurance) player in India through its subsidiaries UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital. The Aditya Birla Group is a leading global player in VSF, accounting for ~17 per cent of global production.

More about Grasim Industries Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Education Scholarships & Fellowships.

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 1.4 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 18.51 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 20.92 Cr.

Educational programmes across locations to ensure zero drop-out and improve school lessons. During the pandemic, 23,000 children benefitted from online classes, scholarships, videos and WhatsApp groups set for education continuity. Their Learning & Migration Programme helped 6,012 children by enhancing their learning capabilities and strengthening the community school management system.TCML provided scholarships to 224 university and high school students. TCE provided career information with emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to Y12 students with a focus on girl students. TCE also helped run school enrichment clubs by providing resource access to disadvantaged students.

Implementing Partner: Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD)

Brief about the Company: Established in 1939 in Mithapur in the Indian state of Gujarat, Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) is a part of the US$ 110 billion Tata Group. A global company, they serve customers across 40+ countries in five continents. They bring together their knowledge, expertise and innovation prowess to positively impact industries, consumers and farmers with their science-led products spread across three business verticals - Basic Chemistry, Consumer Products and Specialty Products.

More about Tata Chemicals Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Skill Development

Name of the Initiate: Parivartan (Education Projects)

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 1.23 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 5.89 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 5.89 Cr.

The company, in partnership with Government Education Department through its non-formal schools, continued to support education to 6,450 underprivileged children in six states of India. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the classes were conducted through digital mediums and home visits by the teachers. In order to bridge the digital divide and ensure continuity of education for underprivileged children, your company provided digital tabs to the children this year.

Implementing Partners: Deepalaya, Sakshi, Sambhav Social Services, Humara Bachpan Trust, APSA (Asia and Pacific Seed Association), Pride India, American India Foundation, Yuva, Parivarikee, SOS Children's Village

Brief about the Company: Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company, which creates everyday essentials. AkzoNobel is a leading global paints and performance coatings company and a major producer of speciality chemicals, supplying essential ingredients, essential protection and essential colour to industries and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 46,000 people.

More about Akzo Nobel India Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Education Programs, Education Scholarships & Fellowships, Education Infrastructure (Hostel, School Buildings, Benches, Desks), Digital Education

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 1.19 Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 8.16 Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 8.16 Cr.

The company contributed to the CSR by contributing towards Smart class Project, Advance Learning, Para Teacher, Siksha Saathi, Ved Shala & Other education-related projects, including infrastructures. The project aims to create a revolution at the grassroots by merging the previous three programmes of Gyankunj, Para Teachers and Learning Levels by facilitating volunteers from the villages to promote education. 330 classrooms were also digitalised in government schools by the company. Education interventions are based on the insistence on a holistic approach towards it and stem from their Foundation's philosophy, where they'd like to see each child from our beneficiary schools find an identity, meaning and purpose in life through education. the company initiated our flagship program Wel-Accelerate. Designed to create an educational revolution from the grassroots level, it seeks to enhance teachers and students' teaching and learning outcomes through the use of technology. They aim to digitalise government schools and impact the lives of over 1 lakh children through their interventions.

Implementing Partners: Welspun Foundation for Health & Knowledge

Brief about the Company: Welspun India is a textile company based in Mumbai. It is Asia's largest and the 2nd largest Terry Towel producer in the world. It exports more than 94 per cent of its towels to more than 34 countries. An astounding 97 per cent of Welspun's total produce is exported across around the world.

More about Welspun India Limited's CSR Portfolio

Sub Thematic Area: Digital Education, Education Programs

Total Expenditure on the Project: INR 0.745Cr.

Total Prescribed CSR in 2020-21: INR 10.89Cr.

Actual CSR spent in 2020-21: INR 9.2788Cr.

The Initiatives were undertaken on improving age-appropriate learning and teaching outcomes amongst over 15,000 children across 135 Govt. schools through online mode in 82 villages. Students were taught reading, writing, comprehension and arithmetic via engaging parents through a digital medium. Regular assignments were circulated on various activities such as creating science model and its experimentation, short stories, quiz programme, dictation, and mathematical activities to promote comprehensive learning. Their mobile education van has been imparting learning to the last mile through interactive techniques.

Implementing Partner: Pratham Education Foundation

Brief about the Company: Founded in 1946, PI Industries works with a unique business model across the Agchem value chain from R&D to distribution providing innovative solutions by partnering with the best. Known for their technological capabilities in Chemistry/ Engineering related services and on the other hand, have built leading brands over the last 72 years and connected with more than 84,000 retail points pan India. They work with a unique business model across the Agchem value chain from R&D to distribution providing innovative solutions by partnering with the best.

More about PI Industries Limited's CSR Portfolio

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Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Lead - Inclusive Quality Education Project

Date: 9 Apr 2024

Location: Lilongwe, Malawi

Company: Plan International

  Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Plan International Malawi commenced its work in 1994 and currently supports programmes in 13/28 districts. Plan International Malawi currently has a new country strategy (2022-27) Core sectors of programming include Sexual reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), Inclusive Quality Education, and Skills and Opportunities for Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship (SOYEE)

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

ROLE PURPOSE

Plan International is looking for a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Lead, to effectively lead the monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for a 5-year project titled “Design, Implementation and Management of International Development Inclusive Education Programme”, in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. The programme will manage the distribution of scholarships for women and girls for completing secondary school/transitioning to tertiary education and/or TVET in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, aiming to remove barriers to access and increase girls and women’s participation in TVET and STEM subjects.

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Lead will be responsible and ultimately accountable for design and delivery of effective participatory MEL arrangements for the programme, including developing a MEL framework in conjunction with the Scottish Government’s International Development Team and stakeholders in the three countries, all with the ultimate objective of improving programme effectiveness. The post-holder will provide regional oversight and support across Rwanda and Zambia, whilst also delivering MEL requirements for the programme within Malawi. The post-holder will be based in the Country Office yet may travel to the project locations for some of their time.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND MAIN ACTIVITIES

MEL System: Lead the participatory development and implementation of the project’s MEL system. A strong understanding of participatory evaluation methodologies, feminist principles, and technical proficiency in mixed methods, data collection, analysis and presentation are essential.

Expected Outcomes:

• Work with wider MEL team to ensure participatory monitoring and evaluation system, tools and processes are developed for measuring the results of the project, and project data is collected, and validated by and shared with relevant stakeholders.
• Creation and implementation of participatory, inclusive, and empowering MEL frameworks.
• Co-designing the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) methodology, system, tools and processes in a participatory manner with the core partners, key stakeholders (involving government, civil society and women and girls) and the donor.  
• Monitor and evaluate outcomes and progress of the programme. This will include collating sufficiently disaggregated data annually, taking an ‘intersectional approach’, to determine the reach and impact of funded work.
• Ensure performance measurement frameworks and plans are finalised and validated with relevant stakeholders.
• Routine project monitoring is undertaken inclusive of tools design and development, and data collection, cleaning and compilation, analysis, validation and sharing with relevant stakeholders.
• Advise on design and implementation to ensure achievement of results and advance project and organisational learning.

Leadership and oversight: Work closely with Programme Director to lead high quality, feminist and results-oriented programme and MEL in compliance with donor and government agreements. Provide oversight and support to the MEL team’s in Rwanda and Zambia, ensuring coordination, and consistency across the three countries.

• Role models Plan International’s values and behaviours for staff and partner(s).
• Provides leadership and support to create a motivated, engaged and high performing MEL team across Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.
• Ensures that all MEL team members are aware of the project objectives and their role in achieving them.
• Plans and coordinated tasks among the team, guiding their understanding of the issues linked to the project through touch points and feedback, to ensure the achievement of expected goals.
• Liaises with MEL team to ensure they receives the required support in a timely manner.

Knowledge Management & Reporting: Best practices and lessons learned are documented, shared, and integrated into adaptive programming.

• In collaboration with the project team, core partners and stakeholders, compile raw data, choose data representations, and document lessons learned and best practices of the participatory methodology.
• Design and implement dissemination plans to share knowledge and findings with relevant stakeholders, government, donor agency, etc.
• Coordinate and collaborate as the link between Plan International UK, the other two implementing Plan International Country Offices, and core partners, to ensure MEL tools and processes are standardised and learning is shared across the project.
• As an integral member of the project team, ensure high quality data and learnings are available to inform planning, implementation, and decisions.
• Contribute to regular project narrative reports, ensuring high quality data and learnings are available to complete reports on time.
• Identify and develop / improve opportunities for continuous improvement of systems, processes and overall learning and development.

Safeguarding Children and Young People (Safeguarding) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI):

• Understands and puts into practice the responsibilities under Safeguarding and GEI policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), ensuring that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in project design, during implementation and as principles applied in day-to-day work of Programme team;
• Ensures that Plan Malawi contributes to Plan International’s global efforts to ensure safeguarding and GEI, including making sure that relevant reporting and data are submitted.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOURS

Knowledge and skills:

• Academic Qualification BA/MA in Statistics, Gender, Sociology, Economics, or other related fields.
• 10 years' experience in a monitoring and evaluation role, working within complex development projects.
• Knowledge and experience of designing, facilitating and coordinating participatory MEL approaches.
• Proven experience in leading a team ensuring high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity and teamwork.
• Strong understanding of feminist principles, inclusive quality education and youth empowerment.
• Knowledge and experience in the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, including of descriptive statistical analysis.
• Proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications (e.g. MS Office and mobile data collection such as Kobo); knowledge of statistical software (e.g. SPSS) a benefit
• Strong report writing skills, with proven ability to write clear, insightful analysis, that is tailored to the audience.
• Ability to establish priorities in a time sensitive environment, track project performance, meet deadlines, and ensure high quality deliverables.
• Ability to fully function in English (verbal and written) in essential.
• Ability to think creatively about MEL, designing and implementing frameworks, tools and approaches that are innovative and targeted. 
• Passion for feminist principles, mission driven work and personal values aligned with Plan International.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, including international colleagues, and build strong relationships across the project team and with partners/grantees.
• Commitment to working transparently and with integrity.
• Inclusive and empowering approach to leadership and project management.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills, natural ability to manage diverse opinions and agendas, finding win-win solutions in a respectful manner. 
• Demonstrated creativity and willingness to innovate.
• Flexible and adaptable work style to respond to an evolving context.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritize and meet deadlines.

Level of Contact with Children

Some contact with children, young people or programme participants.

• Act as a role model representing Plan International’s commitment to non-discrimination and safeguarding.
• Report safeguarding concerns in a timely manner and co-operate in investigations as appropriate.
• Understand the relevance of safeguarding to their role and make sure they mainstream safeguarding in their work in order to fulfil Plan’s duty of care.

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organisation to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

Location: Malawi Country Office, Lilongwe

Type of Role: Fixed Term

Reports to: Country Director

Grade: Level 17

Closing Date: 16 April 2024

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

Qualified females are encouraged to apply.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates. 

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• UN Women HQ

Call for proposals: Empowerment of Disadvantaged Women and Girls Through Education and Digital Technology

Based on the previous experience of the "Empowering Women in Agricultural Transformation" project, funded by the Korean Trust Fund and implemented by UN Women, education and skills development emerged as a key issue for the development of women and girls, particularly in rural areas. With the BuyFromWomen platform developed under this project, women and girls have demonstrated their appetite and capacity for digital technologies and business opportunities. As part of the implementation of activities under the "Empowerment of Disadvantaged Women and Girls through Education and Digital Technology" project, UN Women is seeking an Implementing Partner (IP) to carry out a number of activities, including the development of training modules/curricula, the development of e-learning program content, the selection of girls and women for vocational training, and the conduct of community awareness and advocacy activities.

Call for proposals (PDF, 212 KB)

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Partner agreement (PDF, 326 KB)

Contact information

• Contact person: Yacouba Doumbia
• Email: yacouba.doumbia[at]unwomen.org

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Meet Emily, a new face in MCC education and training

At the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, we’re busy every day dreaming up, developing, and testing new ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancer, as well as continuously improve quality of life for survivors. Our team of doctors, nurses, scientists, and educators unite across many different scientific and medical disciplines to ensure that all perspectives, expertise, and insight are shared. And a big part of ensuring that this collaborative effort continues is working together to train up and excite the next generations of health care professionals and researchers! 

That’s where MCC’s Education and Training team comes in. Led by Cathleen Drilling, the Education and Training team is hard at work making sure young people across Minnesota know about the science and health career opportunities they could choose to pursue one day. And the team has just added another staff member to the team roster—Emily Kraeske joined the team in February 2024. Her role focuses on supporting MCC trainees (graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers) as they launch into their careers. Keep reading to learn more about Emily and how she landed at the cancer center! 

What brought you to this work? 

I became fascinated by science in high school during classes where I got to extract DNA from strawberries and assess the water quality of nearby streams, and I went on to study environmental science and do climate science research at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an undergraduate. After getting connected to some student involvement activities, I discovered a love for the people side of science and decided to slightly pivot what I wanted to focus on in my career. My professional experience has been in engagement, education, and program coordination for science-centered programs, as well as supporting career and leadership development for students and early career professionals at non-profits and universities. I’m excited that my role as Training & Education Inreach Coordinator allows me to use all of these previous experiences and is so well aligned with my passion for creating accessible career pathways in science and health.

What are you most excited about in joining the Education and Training team?

My role focuses on supporting MCC trainees (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty on MCC teams), and I’m really excited to get to know all of our incredible trainees and start conversations about how we can help set them up for future career success. In addition, I’m looking forward to contributing to the existing Education & Training programming that supports youth in their pursuit of cancer-focused science and health education. Overall, I’m honored to play a role in the wonderful work MCC does to reduce cancer's burden in Minnesota and throughout the world, and I’m excited to get connected to MCC’s staff and faculty and their wealth of knowledge.

In your own words, why is it so important to encourage younger generations to learn about careers in cancer research and care? What are some of the things the Education and Training team does to connect young people with those opportunities and with people already working in the field? 

While there have been many incredible advances in cancer research and care, there is still more work to be done and we need people from all identities and backgrounds to bring their ideas, questions, and lived experiences to the field. Youth and young adults need opportunities and encouragement to see themselves in cancer-focused careers and know the different jobs and pathways they could pursue.

Our Education and Training programming has great opportunities like lab tours and summer internships for youth who want to explore research careers, but my role is a new position that was created to better support current MCC trainees’ professional development. Our team is looking into developing better trainee communication platforms, as well as new resources and programming around funding, professional training, and social opportunities for our graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty. We’re hoping to partner with trainees as well as staff and faculty from their home departments as we develop these tools and events - reach out to me if you’re interested in getting involved in this work!

What are some projects / events / etc. you are most looking forward to this year? 

There are so many events I’m looking forward to happening in the next few months! The top of my list is probably the  Mini Research Symposium  next week where I’m excited to meet more trainees, learn about their research, and even get some feedback from them on Education and Training programming ideas we have. We also have one more  RED Seminar Series  event in May and  Speaking Science  happening on April 12, both of which are great opportunities to learn more about best practices in science communication and engagement. Finally, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to connect with the community during Doors Open in May. It’s a really exciting time to be joining the team at MCC!

Want to stay in the loop on all that the Education and Training team is offering? Sign up for Career Connections , a once-monthly email newsletter that contains information about various events, internships, and more.

College students in Standerton demand free quality education

In response to the protest, the college outlined that nsfas issues are not only affecting the standerton campus or the gert sibande tvet college, but it is a national frustration that involves all tvet and university students funded by nsfas..

Students of Gert Sibande TVET College protested on Beyers Naudé Street on April 3, demanding free quality education.

According to a memorandum in possession of the Standerton Advertiser of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) on the Standerton campus, the NSFAS issues have raised its head again.

Grievances include: • Students on transport received R2 6 00 for two months and demanded immediate intervention from the financial office.

• Some accredited student accommodation is not best suited and should be discredited.

• Students not placed in accredited accommodation must be placed as soon as possible.

• A Coinvest agent should visit the campus.

• Landlords should be able to apply for student housing.

• Students who have not been placed in housing should be refunded to pay rent, while those approved by NSFAS to stay in accredited accommodation.

• Lack of Wi-Fi, washing lines, not enough fridges and stoves and unstable hot water- students should get R1 000 refunded monthly if not fixed.

This is not the first time they protested, as they peacefully protested on Kruger Street on February 1, as reported.

According to Sibusiso Tshabalala, the chairperson of the Student Representative Council (SRC), and Kwazi Gumede, the branch commander of the EFF, the NSFAS launched a pilot project that saw grants lowered from R3 600 to R800.

They disagreed with the new development and handed a memorandum to the Standerton Police. Students have to be accommodated at the college’s residency, which can accommodate 80.

According to them, the number has been increased to 125 students, meaning students will have to share bedrooms. According to them, NSFAS will pay the college directly.

ALSO CHECK: AfriForum se Delmas Valke-buurtwag lei protospanlede op  

The Standerton Advertiser investigated and drove past on February 2, where Gumede confirmed it would be another day without attending classes.

The newspaper reported on a protest on May 18 last year as well when frustration with NSFAS funding boiled over.

In response to the protest, the college then outlined that NSFAS issues are not only affecting the Standerton campus or the Gert Sibande TVET College, but it is a national frustration that involves all TVET and university students funded by NSFAS.

The college attended a meeting with NSFAS on May 18 last year and indicated they were going back and forth because there is a system remediation.

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NSFAS requested that the current movement in terms of status not be considered. Once their processes on the system are finalised, the final statuses for students will be issued.

“This issue is beyond our control because NSFAS didn’t stipulate when exactly the system remediation issue will be solved,” the college said.

The college held an induction and contract signing session with Coinvest last year for the seven former Gert Sibande TVET College students, who will be employed as field agents for Coinvest.

These students will be stationed across the seven campuses assigned to act as channels for the college and Coinvest, in attempting to address the NSFAS issues.

The newspaper contacted the communications department of the college, via their landline and on WhatsApp on April 4, requesting comment on the situation.

Readers will be updated on the feedback.

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Social class origin and job quality in the United Kingdom

24 April 2024, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm

Join this event to hear Mark Williams explore class origin gaps in five domains of (non-pay) job quality: non-pay rewards, prospective opportunities, work-life balance, job design, and workplace relations in the United Kingdom.

This event is free.

Event Information

Availability.

In recent years, research has documented that those from working class origins are paid substantially less than those from middle-class origins, even within the same destination class (‘the class pay gap’). At the same time, there has been growing academic and policy interest in the notion of ‘job quality’, an umbrella term denoting the multiple dimensions of what makes jobs ‘good’ and ‘bad’, which includes, but is not limited to, pay.

This seminar explores class origin gaps in five domains of (non-pay) job quality. Across 10 job quality indicators, Mark will discuss how class origin gaps, most of which cannot be completely accounted for by compositional factors such as qualifications and class destinations, imply the ‘class ceiling’ extends to job quality more broadly – concluding that social mobility research and debates must factor in job quality.

This event will be particularly useful for those interested in the labour market, social class, pay gap, and the class ceiling.

Please note this is a hybrid event and can be joined either in-person or online.

Related links

• QSS and CLS seminar series
• Quantitative Social Science
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• Social Research Institute

About the Speaker

Professor mark williams.

Professor of Human Resource Management at the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London

Mark researches socio-economic disparities in the quality of jobs in the United Kingdom. Much of his work has focused on pay disparities across occupations and classes.

Over the years, his work has branched out into working conditions more broadly (e.g., job insecurity, job control) as well as in workers’ attitudes to their jobs (e.g., job satisfaction, job meaningfulness). More recently, his research has explored the relationship between labour market regulation and the quality of jobs.

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