Each year, the Global Education and Skills Forum is held in Dubai. Sometimes called “The Davos of Education,” the event brings together educators, politicians, activists and thought leaders for a few days of focused conversation about the state of global education.

The 2015 “New Vision For Education—Unlocking The Potential of Technology” report from the World Economic Forum is pretty clear about the state of global education. It needs attention. “To thrive in a rapidly evolving, technology-mediated world,” the report begins, “students must not only possess strong skills in areas such as language arts, mathematics and science, but they must also be adept at skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration and curiosity.”

In the U.S., we spend a lot of time thinking about these kinds of skills and proficiencies. Our media is saturated with discussions of the importance of entrepreneurial problem solving skills. And we are also bombarded with stories about education technologies and digital literacies. Still, our school system suffers from embarrassing socioeconomic disparity. It is shocking that we can continue to teach all of our students the words of the Declaration of Independence even while the manifest reality makes it so obvious that we don’t really believe all schools, districts, classrooms, and students are created equal.

When you look at international data, the picture of inequality shows some surprises. The World Economic Forum report explains that students in many countries are not attaining “the 16 most critical ‘21st-century skills.’” They divide these skills into three categories: Foundational Literacies, Competencies, and Character Qualities.

Foundational Literacies:

1. Literacy
2. Numeracy
3. Scientific Literacy
4. ICT Literacy
5. Financial Literacy
6. Cultural and Civic Literacy

Competencies:

1. Critical thinking/Problem solving
2. Creativity
3. Communication
4. Collaboration

Character Qualities:

1. Curiosity
2. Initiative
3. Persistence/Grit
4. Adaptability
5. Leadership
6. Social and cultural Awareness

The World Economic Forum studied “nearly 100 countries” and discovered “large gaps in selected indicators for many of these skills.” Surprisingly, these gaps are not always divided by categories as simple as ‘rich’ and ‘poor.’ Instead, the global skills gap is “between developed and developing countries, among countries in the same income group and within countries for different skill types.” The bottom line: “many students are not getting the education they need to prosper in the 21st century and countries are not finding enough of the skilled workers they need to compete.”

The annual Global Education and Skills Forum, organized by the Varkey Foundation, provides an opportunity for the international education community to think about implementations that might help to address this education gap. This year’s theme was “Education, Equity, and Employment: Delivering on the Promise.” And most of the panels focused on “how” the world can fix its education problem.

According to the World Economic Forum, this kind of discussion is one of the necessities. “Much more needs to be done to align indicators, ensure greater global coverage for key skills, establish clear baselines for performance integrated with existing local assessments, standardize the definition and measurement of higher-order skills across cultures and develop assessments directed specifically towards competencies and character qualities.” In theory, just by virtue of putting key stakeholders in the room together, events like the Global Education and Skills forum should help move the world toward consistent definitions and measurements.

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