Giving Compass' Take:

• To address educational challenges, schools must tackle issues of access and quality before changing the traditional school model.

• How can donors play a role in helping schools advance educational equity?

• Read about how impact investing can make a difference for educational equity.

Today, people and ideas are flowing across borders faster than ever before in human history. Technology is omnipresent. The gig economy is on the rise. And while not every child today lives in a community where this is the case, the pace of change is so rapid that these new ways of life may soon be universal.

Because of this fast-paced social and economic change, it is not clear exactly what skills children will need to thrive and become constructive citizens in the future world of work. We do know that children will need to be well equipped with a range of skills to face this uncertainty. Children all face a future that will demand a wide range of abilities, from reading texts critically and solving problems collaboratively to adapting quickly to new forces affecting the economy, society, and the natural environment.

Confronted with these deep educational challenges, how should education systems across the globe react? Is it possible to address both skills inequality and skills uncertainty at the same time? Or must education systems tackle fundamental issues of access and quality before thinking about the relevance of the traditional schooling model in a fast-changing world?

Read the full article about education challenges by Rebecca Winthrop & Adam Barton at Stanford Social Innovation Review.