The connection between education and long-term economic growth is well-documented and increasingly well understood.
Helping individuals get ready for work
Getting a job depends on having relevant skills. As many countries continue to wrestle with the economic, social and personal cost of unemployment, particularly for the young, it is even more important that we help people develop the skills they need for work.
Securing a professional or vocational qualification is an important factor in getting a job. We create and administer millions of admissions, tests, certifications, vocational assessments and general qualifications including:
- BTEC, the vocational qualification recognised by schools, colleges, universities, employers and professional bodies across the United Kingdom and in over 100 countries worldwide. Case study: Next Generation BTECs.
- The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the leading test for entrance to business schools and management programmes worldwide.
- NCLEX Nursing examination, required to obtain a licence necessary to apply for work as a nurse in the United States.
Sharing knowledge and investing in research
Few companies participate in education on a global scale so we have a responsibility to support educational improvement and to actively share our experience on models that work and those that do not.
We have:
- Mapped current research activity and laid the foundation to launch our online research portal.
- Convened a Pearson Executive Research Council bringing together the research professionals within Pearson.
- Launched two publications with international acclaim – The Learning Curve and Oceans of Innovation: www.pearson.com/oceans
We will:
- Invest in research to help advance education as well as inform the products and services we develop.
- Partner with a range of organisations to conduct educational research and promote the dissemination of knowledge.
- Promote open discussion through participating in and convening conferences and events.
- Make research publicly available.
Contributing to debate
We are committed to playing an active role in helping shape and inform the global debate around education and learning policy.
With the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All Goals fast approaching, it is certainly time to take stock on the role that education has played and should play for the future. We have joined with a range of organisations as an active member of the Global Compact on Learning. Ways we are helping include contributing to developing and agreeing common metrics to measure the success of the Global Compact: www.brookings.edu/learningmetrics
We are active participants in the Global Partnership for Education, having been one of the first companies to join the initiative and make a pledge at its replenishment conference. GPE brings together over 50 developing countries, donor governments, international organisations, the private sector, teachers, and civil society/NGO groups to support developing countries with their education sector plans through financial assistance and technical expertise: www.globalpartnership.org
We also believe that the wider private sector has an important contribution to make in developing education and learning policy. We supported and helped fund in 2012 the Global Business Coalition for Education. The aim is to help focus the wider business community on helping tackle the challenges faced by developing countries to promote learning: http://gbc-education.org/about-us
Doing informed business
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