“Education systems are failing (to prepare) children to face a world of unknown unknowns.” 53% of children coming out of world education systems are ‘learning poor’. STiR Education is striving to create a world where every child develops a love for life-long learning, through reigniting intrinsic motivation in teachers and building supportive education eco-systems. It’s goal is to reach 60 million children in public education systems worldwide by 2025. STiR Education (Schools and Teachers Innovating for Results) was started in 2012, and in just 8 years has reached an incredible 6 million children and 200k teachers across India and Uganda. In this episode I speak with Girish Menon, the CEO of STiR Education, about STiR’s programmes, aiming to create more effective public education systems where teachers love teaching and children love learning. We explore the colossal impact the pandemic has had on children’s education and stalled progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Education - “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all”. Over a billion children and young people worldwide have had their education disrupted this past year, over 500 million of whom have no effective access to remote learning. With over 24 million children at serious risk of not going back to school, it is vital that governments of the world prioritise investment in education and education systems. Girish also shares his leadership wisdom gained over 30 years working in the international development sector. Recorded February 2021.