Student achievement stagnates worldwide, and millions of children fail to learn basic skills. However, learning from education systems that have successfully overcome difficulties makes significant change possible. The McKinsey report Spark & Sustain examines how education systems worldwide can improve learning outcomes at scale, especially in low-performing countries.
Today, more than ever, it is essential to improve the quality and equality of education systems worldwide. Automation increases the demand for highly skilled workers, creating a greater need for technological, social, and cognitive skills. The development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating these labor market transitions. Education systems should not only focus on preparing for the labor market. Still, they should also increasingly be involved in solving social problems, such as the deterioration of young people’s mental health, political polarisation, or the fight against climate change.
In many countries of the world, student performance stagnates or decreases. The World Bank estimates that seventy percent of students in middle-income and low-income countries live in “learning poverty,” meaning they cannot read plain text by the end of primary school. This figure in sub-Saharan Africa is almost ninety percent. Furthermore, over the past decade, most education systems have not made significant improvements, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problems as the loss of learning time has widened inequalities.
If historical trends continue, more than 700 million children will remain in learning poverty by 2050. This could have serious economic and political consequences worldwide. However, according to the McKinsey report, if all education systems increased learning outcomes at their best rates, an additional 350 million students could be lifted out of learning poverty over the next 30 years.
However, some countries’ education systems are able to overcome challenges and continuously improve students’ learning outcomes. These systems can be found on all continents and at all levels of development. Common features of successful systems include the use of evidence-based strategies, strong leadership, data-driven interventions, and tailoring reforms to specific challenges.
– Singapore: Large investment in educational foundations, selection of teachers from among the best students and provision of continuous professional development.
– Poland: Redesign the curriculum to focus on critical thinking and reasoning and involve teachers in the design and implementation of reforms.
– Brazil: Achieve significant improvements through strengthening basic reading and maths skills and regular professional development of teachers.
Successful education systems use several strengthening strategies that are equally important for long-term development:
- Evidence-based foundations: The changes focus on classroom instruction, especially improving the quality of teachers and the content they deliver.
- Lasting collaborations: Focus on a few priorities supported by all stakeholders in the system.
- Create capacity to scale: Quickly switch from strategy to implementation create dedicated teams to execute the plan.
- Data-driven Development and Adaptation: Rigorously measure learning outcomes and use transparent data to improve interventions.
- Create an Innovation Space: Making room for innovation and measuring its impact to increase the effectiveness of existing interventions.
Improving global education systems is not an easy task, but examples of successful systems show that it is possible to achieve significant and lasting improvements. Education leaders need to learn from these systems and apply best practices in their own environments to provide better learning opportunities for all students.