We believe that every government has an incontrovertible obligation and fundamental need to provide all children with a free, high-quality formal education, irrespective of gender, abilities, ethnicity, location, socioeconomic level, or other frequently marginalizing characteristics as is outlined by the United Nations’ 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child .

The ultimate aim of schooling is to prepare children for future success and fulfillment in their lives and livelihood.  Quality education is not measured simply by test results but by learners’ ability to use what they have learned to improve their lives and the conditions of their families, communities, nations, and the world.  Students must not just learn to Know.  They must also learn to Do, to Be, and to Be Together

Children learn best when their lessons are rooted in the context that students know and experience daily.  This is how abstract information and techniques become knowledge and skills.  As children learn the mathematics, language, science, and social studies in the context of their home setting, they acquire the capacities and confidence to continue learning and perform in any setting worldwide.

Virtually all education investments in quality depend on teachers.  Recognizing this, systems often believe the most effective path to equal quality is to ensure that all teachers teach the same, placing them on rails to reach the same place the same way.  They do this with dense curricula and texts that teachers must cover completely, high-stakes, content-focused examinations, precise instructional methods, and more.  True quality comes, however, by liberating teachers’ creativity and initiative, placing them on roads, not rails, to summon their personal passions, networks, expertise, and other assets.