So it’s all the more devastating that education has been hit so hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. One billion children and young people have had their learning disrupted. Some of them will never return to school — particularly those already marginalized through poverty, gender, or disability.

But from this difficult place, green shoots are starting to appear — green shoots we can nurture. We’ve done it before: Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — “everyone has the right to education” — was embraced by survivors of colonization, the 1918 pandemic, and two world wars. In the 1940s, the drive to recover ushered in a period of tremendous social, cultural and economic progress. This time round, the scale of what we’ve lost could once again spur policymakers, philanthropists, and educators to create widespread change.

As the world rebuilds, we have an opportunity to do more than restore educational systems. We can renew them. And, by doing so, build a better world.

In this report, we ask:

• What will schools of the future look like?
• How can we prepare schools for that future?
• What we can do now

You can read and download the full report here.