How pre-school can transform children’s chances

Young children are ready to learn, but their early experiences are crucial in facilitating their learning. As we explain in our new policy paper on early childhood care and education, there is striking evidence that extending pre-school access to the poorest and most vulnerable children can boost their education and livelihood opportunities later in life. [...]

Youth jobs crisis pushes EU to address ‘skills mismatch’

Hard on the heels of Davos, where the “skills gap” was the subject of several sessions, the European summit on Monday showed that high unemployment is concentrating EU leaders’ minds on improving training for young people – the focus of our forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Youth unemployment, which is high right [...]

At Davos, the ‘skills gap’ is on the guest list

As the world’s movers and shakers head to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the International Labour Organization has issued a gloomy report on employment – just in time to focus minds at Davos even more sharply on the global jobs crisis. “The jobs crisis continues unabated, with [...]

Education rises – slowly – from Haiti’s rubble

As Haiti struggles to recover from the devastating earthquake two years ago, rebuilding education is a major priority – and a small bright light, of sorts. According to Nigel Fisher, the UN secretary-general’s Deputy Special Representative for Haiti, there are now more children in school than there were before the earthquake that struck on January [...]

EU review says need for skills is urgent

Another strong argument for the importance of developing young people’s skills –the subject of the forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – comes from a new review by the European Commission, which warns that the recession has made it even more urgent to improve skills across the board. Like the OECD report on [...]

Skills are the key to fighting inequality, OECD says

A new report from the OECD argues that focusing on skills – the subject of the forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – is essential to combat rising wage inequality, which traps many people, especially the young and the marginalized, in temporary, part-time or badly paid jobs. “Upskilling of the workforce is by far [...]

How do we gauge global progress on skills?

Français | Español One of the challenges when setting targets like the Education for All goals (which the international community aims to reach by 2015) is knowing when you’ve actually reached them. It’s a particularly tough call with EFA goal 3, “ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable [...]

Education in Somalia needs help urgently, agencies say

A group of 14 agencies and non-government organizations led by UNICEF and Save the Children has exposed the devastating effect of conflict, drought and famine on education in Somalia. Urgent action and funding is needed to prevent the situation worsening further when schools reopen in September, the groups warn, after a rapid assessment carried out [...]

When we talk about youth, we need to talk about skills

Français | Español When the United Nations kicked off a year celebrating youth empowerment 12 months ago, no one could have predicted that young people would soon rise up across the Arab world, overthrowing leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. The leaders of the Arab Spring are driven by a desire for sweeping social, political and economic change [...]

Education needs to be protected by law

Français | Español Human Rights Watch has supplied further momentum to the growing movement to protect education during conflicts, by pointing out the gap between global and national legal protections. Governments should explicitly outlaw attacks on schools and curtail their use by the military, the organization said in a report released on Wednesday. While international [...]