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11 August 2026 | International Labour Organisation
The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. This edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) finds that slowing global economic growth, diminished job creation, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change are combining to make the transition from school to decent work increasingly difficult for many young people. After reaching its lowest level in more than two decades in 2023, the global unemployment rate of young people aged 15 to 24 edged up to 12.4 per cent in 2025, equalling 67 million unemployed young people worldwide.
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Education Ministers call for education to remain a common good in the age of AI at UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week
9 September 2026 | UNESCO
The Ministerial Statement, presented at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 8 September during Digital Learning Week 2026, sets out shared priorities for ensuring that the terms on which AI is integrated into education are shaped through deliberative governance, public accountability and respect for the rights of learners and teachers. Under the theme “Education in the age of AI: Facts | Frictions | Frontiers”, Digital Learning Week 2026 is bringing together over 1,500 participants in Paris and thousands more online, including ministers of education, high-level experts, representatives of the technology industry, educators and students.
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Global education monitoring report 2026: Lead with youth; youth report
2026 | Global Education Monitoring Report Team / United Nations Youth Office
While young people and students are not well represented in formal politics, they are a politically active group who demand good governance and social justice. They want their voices to be heard and to be engaged meaningfully on issues that affect their present and future, notably on education. Youth and students’ demands for meaningful engagement in decision making in education is part of a global movement for youth agency that has grown in the past three decades.
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31 August 2026 | Island Business
Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala has launched the kingdom’s first National Apprenticeship Policy. This has been described as an important milestone in Tonga’s efforts to establish an inclusive, industry-driven, and quality-assured apprenticeship system. The policy builds on the Quality Apprenticeship Pilot Programme, which began in 2024 with 21 students from the Ahopanilolo Technical Institute and private sector employers in the tourism and hospitality sector.
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Seychelles teachers build digital skills at Praslin workshop on AI tools
8 September 2026 | The Seychelles Times
Forty-one teachers and education stakeholders from Mahe and the inner islands gathered on Praslin from 4 to 5 September for a Teacher Digital Competency Workshop aimed at building practical skills in the use of Artificial Intelligence and Open Educational Resources, with participants working through hands-on sessions designed to translate national digital policy into classroom practice. The workshop, which forms part of the third phase of the Commonwealth of Learning’s Beyond Numbers Project, was officially opened by the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Ambassador David Pierre, who framed the gathering as a direct investment in teacher capacity as the country moves to operationalise its National Artificial Intelligence in Education Framework.
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Green TVET initiative to prepare Ghanaian youth for emerging jobs
30 August 2026 | My Joy Online, Ghana
Ghana has launched the Green TVET Initiative to equip young people with green skills, climate resilience and sustainable innovation needed to take advantage of emerging employment opportunities in a changing global economy. The initiative is being implemented by the Ghana TVET Service in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) as part of preparations for the 2026 National TVET Week.
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Rwanda takes cybersecurity to TVET schools as first 24 teachers complete training
9 September 2026 | The New Times, Rwanda
Rwanda is moving to introduce cybersecurity training at the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) level, opening an earlier pathway into a field facing a shortage of skilled professionals while strengthening the skills needed to protect the country’s expanding digital ecosystem. The move has taken a first step with 24 TVET teachers — the first cohort trained under the initiative — completing a 10-day training-of-trainers programme to support the rollout of cybersecurity courses in TVET schools, according to the organisers.
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CXC launches new certification programme
18 August 2026 | Jamaica Observer
The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on Tuesday launched the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC), describing it as a “game-changer”. CXC Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Wayne Wesley, speaking at the ceremony where the regional examination body presented the results of its 2025-26 exams to students across the region, said that CTEC pilot in mathematics was “highly successful” in the May-June 2026 examinations.
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September 2026 | Teachonline.ca
Artificial intelligence has generated no shortage of books warning educators about plagiarism, cheating and the collapse of assessment. What distinguishes Alyson King’s edited volume is that it refuses to treat generative AI simply as a threat. Instead, it asks a more useful question: How should pedagogy change now that AI exists? That shift in emphasis makes this one of the more worthwhile contributions to the growing literature on AI in higher education. The collection brings together contributors from Canada, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Ukraine and the United States, offering a welcome diversity of institutional and cultural perspectives.
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9 September 2026 | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Artificial intelligence is changing how Canadians learn, work and access services. Canadians need the knowledge and skills to benefit from these technologies, understand their risks and make informed choices about how AI fits into their lives. Today, the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, launched Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative, a new national partnership with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii).
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7 September 2026 | The Edge, Malaysia
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for Malaysia to strengthen its STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) ecosystem to develop more young talent capable of driving the country’s future growth and competitiveness. He said Malaysia needed to create more opportunities for young people to develop their potential through universities, research institutions, industry and startups.
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8 September 2026 | Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka
The new education reforms will place greater emphasis on inclusive education to ensure that no child is left behind and that all students receive equal educational opportunities, Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Madura Seneviratne said. He made the remarks while participating in the 2026 Milad-un-Nabi celebrations organised by the Muslim School Development Branch of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.
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From literacy to metaliteracy: Strengthening open and distance learning
9 September 2026 | Commonwealth of Learning
In an age of artificial intelligence, more information does not guarantee understanding. UNESCO reports that globally at least 739 million adults still cannot read and write, two-thirds of them women. International Literacy Day is observed on September 8, with the 2026 theme being “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity”. This invites attention to persistent inequalities and emerging challenges around literacy.
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Seeds of resilience: Saroja’s journey into agricultural entrepreneurship and
community mentorship
4 September 2026 | Commonwealth of Learning
Living in Kurunduwatta village, Sri Lanka, with her husband and two sons, Saroja had endured years of hardship. Her husband, a former army combatant living with a disability, received a modest pension that was the family’s only steady source of income, supporting their daily needs, his medical care, and their sons’ education. Determined to improve her family’s circumstances, Saroja began cultivating tea on a small plot of land.
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Business Models for Open and
Distance Learning
July 2026 | Commonwealth of Learning
This report combines evidence from a literature review as well as contemporary findings from fieldwork to provide insights into how providers in different contexts are addressing the development of appropriate business models for ODL provision. It seeks to support providers new to ODL provision to identify the key issues which need to be considered when starting out with ODL and in identifying an ODL model that will be most appropriate for their context.
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Now live: The latest issue of Connections explores expanded opportunities for the
next generation
31 August 2026 | Commonwealth of Learning
With young people representing more than 60 per cent of the Commonwealth’s population, this issue of Connections looks at the opportunities and barriers they face as technology, labour markets and climate pressures reshape education and work. Through stories on youth innovation ahead of CHOGM 2026, the disengagement of boys and young men from education, pathways for women in science and technology, and livelihood-focused skills development, we explore how expanding opportunities can equip the next generation with the knowledge and confidence to shape their futures and contribute to more resilient communities.
| | This news service is curated from key news sources by the Commonwealth of Learning for information purposes only and does not constitute endorsement or verification of the linked content. All images are owned by the respective copyright holders. | | | | |
