Innovations to tackle educational inequality

If things don’t change drastically, half of the world’s young people will lack the basic skills they need for work and life.

In her recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. asks how we can “leapfrog” educational outcomes in the same way as mobile technology has allowed some developing nations to bypass entire phases of infrastructure building.

Rebecca examines a number of innovations that are poised to address the deep educational inequality and widening skills gap we now face. Underlining that a shift in the teaching and learning process is essential, Rebecca describes CAMFED’s Learner Guide Program as a promising innovation:“The additional skills young people learn through the curriculum and the self-directed learning style give them important support for their future studies and careers, and the guides provide psycho-social support for students and serve as positive role models. The program is highly scalable, and already nearly 4,000 learner guides have helped teach more than 120,000 secondary students.”

Read the full articleHow Can We “Leapfrog” Educational Outcomes?