WEF 2022: Investing in education could add $2.54 trn to the global economy

WEF 2022: Investing in the workforce and supporting teachers to teach in new ways, using innovative teaching methods, is critical to unlock skills.

A worldwide improvement in students’ capacity for problem-solving to the average level of today’s top 10 scoring countries could add an additional $2.54 trillion to the global economy, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report.

The compound effects of the Coronavirus (Covid-19)  pandemic, pre-existing inequalities, and the rapid technological change of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, mean that returning to the status quo not only risks undermining the global economic recovery, but also of holding back the potential of an entire generation, a white paper stated.

To enable children to thrive, the focus must be on creating learning systems that develop the skills that children, families, communities and societies really need for both today and tomorrow, according to WEF vision for a future-proof Education 4.0.

According to the report, play is the most natural way that children learn to not only read and write, but also develop physically, socially, cognitively, creatively and emotionally, yet it is not widely recognised in education systems.

Changing systems to better reflect this relationship between learning and play will require a mindset shift, as well as collaboration from parents, teachers and policymakers, the study has found.

The report suggested that investing in the workforce and supporting teachers to teach in new ways, using innovative teaching methods, is critical to unlock these skills, and as part of the global post-pandemic recovery, there is currently a unique window to identify opportunities for strategic investment to transform learning and to reimagine education.

To reimagine what learning can and should look like today and in the future, systems should be inclusive, focus on the breadth of skills needed, and leverage technological and pedagogical innovation to put learners first, the report stated.

To harness the opportunity, policymakers need to make dedicated, visible public commitments to support the transformation of education and deliberately promote skills and a playful approach to education, it added.