Education Review, 29 March 2022:

“By committing to the Sustainable Development Goals, countries around the world pledged to provide ‘equitable, quality education for all’. Access to education has indeed expanded quickly. Globally, enrollment in primary education is near universal and the gross enrolment rate in secondary education increased from 51% in 1990 to 76% in 2016.

Expansion of education systems has been especially rapid in lower-income countries, where a large majority of young people in the world live.

Historically, expanding education has generally resulted in less education inequality, at least as measured by years of schooling. But major reports from the OECD, World Bank, and UNESCO all point to substantial differences in learning achievement between and within countries. Too many students lack the advantages afforded by a rich and supportive learning environment. While we are getting closer to meeting the goal of enrolling all children in school, equity and quality appear to be elusive.

Students and educators are turning to EdTech for solutions, and it is providing interesting new options. EdTech innovators are creating new ways to coach teachers, tutor students, and expand online learning offerings. It’s even becoming possible to imagine an entirely new model of teaching and learning, where young people collaborate online, across borders, and accumulate verifiable credentials stored in a blockchain.”

Read the full article here.