US ranks 18th in providing future-skills education for youth, according to the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI)

LOS ANGELES, US -�Media
OutReach - 7 March 2019 - 

 

• US underperforms most of its rich-world peers in the second
  edition of the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI), produced by
  The Economist Intelligence Unit and commissioned by the Yidan Prize Foundation
• Finland’s strong policy, teaching and socio-economic
  environments propel it to top of the 50-economy ranking Switzerland and New
  Zealand follow closely behind Finland, New Zealand having taken the top spot in
  2017’s inaugural ranking
• Ghana leads among low-income economies, based on the
  strength of its strategy to teach future skills and supportive assessment
  frameworks

 

The
Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2018: Top ten economies

 

Future-focused approaches to
education must move beyond rigid, exam-based methods and encompass
problem-based learning, innovative teaching methods and broader themes of
global citizenship. Progress on transforming the world’s education systems to
meet these goals is uneven, according to a new report released today by The
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

 

Themed “Building tomorrow’s global
citizens“, the white paper is commissioned by the Yidan Prize
Foundation and based on the findings of the second annual Worldwide Educating for
the Future Index. With a focus on young people aged 15-24 in 50 economies, it
measures three pillars of education systems–policy approaches, teaching
conditions and broader gauges of societal freedom and openness–as a means of
readying young people to meet the challenges of work and society in future. It
remains the only major ranking to assess inputs to education systems and stands
in contrast to measures like the OECD’s Programme for International Student
Assessment, which looks at exam-like outputs.

 

With comprehensive policies,
well-trained teachers and strong assessment frameworks to test for future
skills, small, wealthy, globally connected economies like Finland, Canada and
Singapore comprise the top performers. But greater wealth is not a panacea:
Ghana punches well above its weight when measured against GDP per head, ranking
25th overall, while Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines merit favourable
mention for their work in policy areas, as does Costa Rica for its efforts to
adapt teaching to the demands of tomorrow. On the other hand, the US, due to a
highly decentralised education model and uneven distribution of resources, punches
far below its economic weight.

 

The
Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2018: Top low-income economies

 

Michael Gold, editor of the report
said, “The second edition of the index shows that while education systems are
starting to recognise the importance of holistic approaches to learning, many
gaps still exist. Economies around the world must strengthen assessment
frameworks, regularise reviews of curriculums and improve teaching conditions.
Perhaps most importantly, the recent retrenchment away from globalisation by
many economies may threaten students’ abilities to develop an inquisitive mind-set
and tackle the big problems of tomorrow.”

 

The
full report is available for download here.
Readers can also download short written snapshots of four economies covered in
the index: Finland, Ghana, the US and Vietnam.

 

Note
to editors:

The
Worldwide Educating for the Future Index 2019 assesses the extent to which
education systems are equipping youth aged 15-24 with the skills needed in
future. It covers 50 economies representing 93% of global GDP and over 6bn
people. The economies were selected for balance across multiple factors, including
income levels, population size and geographic representation. The index
includes 21 indicators across three thematic categories: policy environment,
teaching environment and socio-economic environment. A full explanation of the
methodology can be found in the appendix of the report.

About The Economist Intelligence Unit

The EIU is
the thought leadership, research and analysis division of The Economist Group
and the world leader in global business intelligence for executives. We uncover
novel and forward-looking perspectives with access to over 650 expert analysts
and editors across 200 countries worldwide. More information can be found on
www.eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About the Yidan Prize Foundation

Founded in 2016 by Dr Charles CHEN
Yidan, a core founder of Tencent, the Yidan Prize has a mission of creating a
better world through education. It consists of two awards, the Yidan Prize for
Education Research and the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Yidan Prize
Laureates each receives a gold medal and a total sum of HK$30m, half of which
is a cash prize while the other half is a project fund. To ensure transparency
and sustainability, the prize is managed by Yidan Prize Foundation and governed
by an independent trust with an endowment of HK$2.5bn. Through a series of initiatives,
the prize aims to establish a platform for the global community to engage in
conversation around education and to play a role in education philanthropy.