Interview with Matthew D’Ancona, political columnist for the Guardian and the New York Times

Costa Rica is recognised across Latin America as a leader in education. The country was among the first in the region to enrol all children in primary school and combat adult illiteracy.

Indigenous peoples are the first inhabitants of their lands, but are often poorly served by the education systems in their countries. Why? Is it necessary to wait until issues such as poverty or appropriate legal recognition for Indigenous peoples are resolved?

The challenge that youth are facing, first and foremost, is skills for employability. It is a fundamental issue. What we have realised in education is that going to school has not necessarily translated into quality learning.

Increasing the educational attainment of young adults has been the focus of much effort over recent decades. But we all know that having children spend more time in school does not guarantee that every student will learn.

Moving from the world of school to the world of work is one of the most dramatic changes in the lives of young people. And for many youngsters this transition does not go smoothly.

Tertiary qualifications have become the entrance ticket for modern societies. Never before have those with advanced qualifications had the life chances they enjoy today, and never before have those who struggled to acquire a good education paid the price they pay today.

Career decisions are wrought in complexities. Many students start by looking at their interests, selecting a career in line with their personal affinities or aspirations.

What happened in school today?” is a question that many parents across the world ask their children when they get home. Many parents also attend school meetings in order to understand how their child’s learning is developing.

Innovative schools challenge the boundaries – in time, space, and also in curricula and learning processes – that tradition seems to impose on schools today. They often have different approaches to the learning process and especially how its pedagogical core is organised.

Disadvantaged students don’t have as many resources at home as their advantaged peers so ideally schools would need to compensate by providing more support. However, often schools reinforce social disparities rather than moderate them.

It’s an exciting time for education in Wales. This was noted by the OECD earlier this year, when it recognised that government and sector are working closely together with a commitment to improvements that are “visible at all levels of the education system”.

Adults who lack basic skills – literacy and numeracy – are penalised both in professional and private life. They are more likely to be unemployed or in precarious jobs, earn lower wages, have more health issues, trust others less, and engage less often in community life and democratic processes.

Since Harvard economists Goldin & Katz published their ground-breaking book The Race between Technology and Education (2008), education has come face-to-face with the challenges of a world continuously altered by technological innovation. Education is generally perceived to be a laggard social system, better equipped to transmit the heritage of the past than to prepare for the future.

Teaching and learning lie at the heart of what it means to be human. While animals teach and learn from each other through direct demonstration, observation and experience, humans are unique in their ability to convey vast quantities of information and impart skills across time and space.

Diversity in the classroom includes differences in the way students brains learn, or neurodiversity. Diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) have risen dramatically in the last two decades.

Anyone flying into Abu Dhabi or Dubai is amazed how the United Arab Emirates has been able to transform its oil and gas into shiny buildings and a bustling economy. But more recently, the country is discovering that far greater wealth than all the oil and gas together lies hidden among its people.

New technologies tend to shift jobs and skills. New technologies bring new products, which shift jobs across occupations: with the arrival of cars, the economy needed more assembly line workers and fewer blacksmiths.

Gender biases can be persistent. Too persistent. A simple exercise to illustrate the point: Picture a doctor or a professor. You will most likely think of a man. Now think of nurses and teachers and you are likely to imagine a woman. This unconscious gender bias is rooted in years of associating male and female attributes to specific roles in society. Inevitably, it also influences students’ career choices.

Late next month (21 November, to be exact) we’ll be releasing the results PISA’s first-ever assessment of students’ ability to solve problems collaboratively. Why has PISA focused on this particular set of skills? Because in today’s increasingly interconnected world, people are often required to collaborate in order to achieve their objectives, both in the workplace and in their personal lives.

Teaching is a demanding profession. Teachers are responsible for developing the skills and knowledge of their students, helping them overcome social and emotional hurdles and maintaining equitable, cohesive and productive classroom environments. On top of their teaching responsibilities, they are also expected to engage in continued professional development activities throughout their careers.

The assessment examines students’ ability to work with two or more people to try to solve a problem. The report highlights how students’ gender, socio-economic status and immigrant background are related to their performance in the assessment and to their attitudes towards collaboration in general.

Skills have become the currency of 21st century economies and, despite the significant increase the UK has seen in university graduation over the last decade, the earnings of workers with a Master’s degree remain over 80% higher than those of workers with just five good GCSEs or an equivalent vocational qualification.

Higher education is one of the most globally integrated systems of the modern world. There still are important barriers to the international recognition of degrees or the transfer of credits, but some of the basic features of higher education enjoy global convergence and collaboration.

Taken as a whole, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) present a mixed picture for Korea and Singapore. As their economies have grown, these two countries’ education systems have seen fast and impressive improvements; both now rank among PISA’s top performers.

Successes and failures in the classroom will increasingly shape the fortunes of countries. And yet, more of the same education will only produce more of the same strengths and weaknesses.

It can be difficult to get your head around education finance. Who actually pays for it, where does the money come from, and how is it spent are all crucial questions to ask if you want to understand how the money flows in education.

Education plays a dual role when it comes to social inequality and social mobility. It is the main way for societies to foster equality of opportunity and support upward social mobility for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But the evidence is overwhelming that education often reproduces social divides in societies, through the impact that parents’ economic, social and cultural status has on children’s learning outcomes.

In 2015, 193 countries committed to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, a shared vision of humanity that provides the missing piece of the globalisation puzzle. The extent to which that vision becomes a reality will in no small way depend on what is happening in today’s classrooms. Indeed, it is educators who hold the key to ensuring that the SDGs become a real social contract with citizens.

"Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence”, George Orwell wrote in 1943. And in an era of ‘fake news’ and post-truth, it resembles our world today.

Standardised testing has received a bad rap in recent years. Parents and educators argue that too much testing can make students anxious without improving their learning.

A university degree has always been considered as key to a good job and higher wages. But as the share of tertiary-educated adults across OECD countries has almost doubled over the last two decades, can the labour market absorb this growing supply of skills?

Looking – literally – at how teachers around the world teach can be a game changer to improve education. The evidence is clear that teachers are what makes the greatest difference to learning, outside students’ own backgrounds. It is widely recognised that the quality of an education system is only as good as the quality of its teachers. Yet we know relatively little about what makes a good and effective teacher.

The world’s growing complexity and diversity present both opportunity and challenge. On the one hand, globalization can bring important new perspectives, innovation, and improved living standards. But on the other, it can also contribute to economic inequality, social division, and conflict.

Over the last generation, it has become clear that something has gone awry in how the United States prepares its young people for life. In spite of millions of young people pursuing university education, fewer than one in three young Americans successfully attain a bachelor’s degree, while millions of good middle-skills jobs go begging.

Digitisation is expected to profoundly change the way we learn and work – at a faster pace than previous major drivers of transformation. Many children entering school today are likely to end up working in jobs that do not yet exist.

Whether it's off-screen or on-screen mothers don't have it easy. It's taken Bollywood a long time to get their idea of a mom right, so on this mother's day let's look at some of the actresses who gave 'mother' a whole new dimension.

With many of us still continuing to remain at home and while some won't be able to see their moms in person, here are some of the best Hollywood films to watch on Mother's Day celebrating the motherhood.

Just like every child across the world, Bollywood celebrities too are celebrating Mother's Day amid the nationwide lockdown.

On Mother's Day 2020, we take a look at actresses like Malaika, Kareena, Shilpa who are among the most gorgeous mothers of the film fraternity.

Mothers, are you looking after yourself? Is your health your priority? A mother's nutrition at any given age whether in the '20s, '30s or '50s, her nutrition plays a vital role. A woman's health is unique in many ways. Scroll down to know more.

Happy Mother's Day: A look back at how our mothers in the Hindi film industry have become relatable, flesh-and-blood characters.

Gokul Anandayuvaraj, the founder and CEO of VINVELI, is one such entrepreneur and tech innovator. From his consistent hard work and contribution, he has been inspiring millions of engineers and budding entrepreneurs all over the world, especially in the field of aerospace.

The Euregio Museum Day 2017 reviewed the pilot version of the OECD guide "Culture and local development - Maximising the impact" and worked on thematic action principles and policy options to advance the reflection on these issues.

Too many poets have turned inward, speaking to their fellows rather than to the wider world

As I approached the hall where the relics of our vintage were assembled, I heard an unspirit-like roar

Avoid eating too much and say yes to that extra glass of wine before you go to sleep in flight

1. Maa Jaisa Koi Nahi: Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag Lead Mother's Day Wishes  News18
2. 'When I first met Sachin, I didn't hear anything he spoke' - Cricbuzz  Cricbuzz
3. Sachin Tendulkar provides financial aid to 4000 underprivileged people  Hindustan Times
4. Sachin Tendulkar Gives New Meaning To "Aai" On Mother's Day  NDTVSports.com
5. Sachin Tendulkar provides financial support to 4,000 underprivileged people  Jimmys Post
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Riddhima Kapoor Sahni has the sweetest wish for mom Neetu Kapoor on Mother's Day: My mom, my everything  PINKVILLA
2. When Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt joined Rishi Kapoor in New York, spot...  Hindustan Times
3. Rishi Kapoor To Ranbir Kapoor To Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Count The Stars In The Throwback Pic Shared By Riddhima Kapoor Sahni  NDTV
4. Taimur Ali Khan is the happiest when posing with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan and this photo is proof  PINKVILLA
5. Diary | In Love With Jhalmuri, If There’s Rishi Kapoor, Can Food Be Far Behind?  Outlook India
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Inside Salman Khan's Panvel farmhouse: Actor bonds with Jacqueline, Iulia Vantur, and Waluscha - entertainment  Mid-Day
2. Salman Khan on life during the lockdown: This is the longest I have been sitting idle  India Today
3. Tere Bina teaser: Salman Khan romances Jacqueline Fernandez in his ‘cheapest production’. Watch  Hindustan Times
4. Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez share the inspiration behind their upcoming track 'Tere Bina' in the  Times of India
5. Salman Khan reveals lockdown journey and COVID-19 relief initiatives  NEWS9 live
6. View Full coverage on Google News