The United Nations made 24 January the International Day of Education to highlight the role of education in peace and development. In 2026 the theme is “the power of youth in co-creating education”. This refers to “involving young people and students in global decision making in education” and to young people’s initiatives to safeguard everyone’s right to education.

To mark the occasion, we’re sharing some of the articles our authors have contributed in the past year.

Learning to flip

School children don’t always seem too enthusiastic about their role in learning. An official education policy might encourage active learning and critical thinking, but all too often the reality in schools is “chalk and talk”, or rote learning, where only the teacher’s input counts.

What stops educators from using more effective methods? Lizélle Pretorius tells the story of what happened when she asked teachers to “flip the classroom” – getting learners to contribute more.

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• ** Read more: Chalk and talk vs. active learning: what’s holding South African teachers back from using proven methods? ** *

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Nigeria’s private school closures

Simply getting into school and staying there is a challenge for many children in Nigeria, where authorities have been shutting down private schools on safety and quality grounds. Thelma Obiakor studied the reasons that children are enrolled in these schools in the first place, and what the consequences of closing them could be.

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• ** Read more: Nigeria’s low-cost private schools are the only option for millions: is closing them a good idea? ** *

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Violence at school

It’s hard to imagine young people being able to co-create their education if they are exposed to violence at school. This is a problem in southern African countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi and Angola, according to researchers. Gift Khumalo, Bokang Lipholo and Nosipho Faith Makhakhe reviewed the studies to learn more about what’s creating this problem and how it can be solved.

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• ** Read more: School violence doesn’t happen in isolation: what research from southern Africa is telling us ** *

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The dangers of AI

What does co-creating education mean in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) can do so much? Well, human expertise and critical thinking matter more than ever, argue Sioux McKenna and Nompilo Tshuma. They outline four dangers facing students, and three steps universities can take to prepare them.

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• ** Read more: AI can be a danger to students – 3 things universities must do ** *

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AI as an opportunity

AI is actually an opportunity to learn critical thinking, writes Anitia Lubbe. Let AI take some pressure off educators by doing certain kinds of tasks, freeing up more time for self-directed learning. And test the uniquely human skills and attributes of students.

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• ** Read more: Universities can turn AI from a threat to an opportunity by teaching critical thinking ** *

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Measuring what matters

In the academic world, you get what you test for. Researchers are judged and rewarded on the basis of indicators like citation counts and journal impact factors – and these are biased against African scholarship, according to Eutychus Ngotho Gichuru and Archangel Byaruhanga Rukooko. They propose a new, complementary metric which puts a value on the local relevance and community impact of academic output. This would also measure co-creation of knowledge with communities, interdisciplinary teamwork and other cooperative efforts.

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• ** Read more: Measures of academic value overlook African scholars who make a local impact – study ** *

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