The power of parents in accelerating global education progress

Senior Fellow Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, says that global organizations project that by 2030 half of the world’s young people will not have the 21st-century skills and academic competencies they will need to thrive. The pace of change is too slow, and it could take a century for the poorest children to catch up. What’s needed, she said, is a way to rapidly accelerate progress by leapfrogging education. And parents have a crucial role to play in this transformation.

In this episode, Winthrop talks with four education leaders, whom she met at the LEGO Idea Conference in Denmark, about the role of parents and the power of innovative approaches like playful learning in pursuing education transformation.

The four episode guests are:

• Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founder and board member, Malala Fund
• Brijpal Patel, director of global program development, Right to Play
• Jen Lexmond, founder and CEO, EasyPeasy
• Eszter Salamon, director general of Parents International, and president, European Parents’ Association

Also, listen to the episode about the book, “Leapfrogging Inequality: Remaking education to help young people thrive”

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