edt champions partnering with purpose at the Education World Forum 2026

As a sponsor of the event, we convened ministers, policymakers, and international organisations to focus on key challenges facing education systems today, and how solving these problems depends on the alignment of effort across governments, funders, and delivery partners. 

In line with this year’s EWF theme, Educating for a Shared Future: Peace, Planet, Purpose and Pathways, our contribution centred on the practical pathways and innovative partnerships that have real potential to translate policy reform efforts into improved teaching, learning, and employability outcomes.

Engagement at EWF

At this year’s EWF event (17th-20th May), we: 

• hosted a ministerial breakfast, with focused discussion on translating reform into classroom impact 
• engaged in targeted exchanges on scaling and implementation, exploring practical pathways to scale
• provided a space for ongoing dialogue throughout the event at our exhibition stand.

Where reform breaks down

Our engagement at EWF this year was led by a set of system-level challenges, which we believe will require collaborative working and effective partnerships to address. These include: 

• Why do so many attempts at school reform at scale fail? 
• How can education ministers respond to the pressure on budgets for national school reform? 
• Why are government systems struggling to recruit and retain high-quality teachers – and what will fix it? 
• Why is teacher professional development not translating into improved classroom practice, and what needs to change? 
• What role should school leaders play in education reform, and how do we ensure it improves learning outcomes? 

Across contexts, these point to a consistent challenge: how to ensure that systems have the capacity to deliver consistently, sustainably, and at scale.

“What is so special about the Education World Forum is the opportunity to engage with so many ministers, to speak to our funding and delivery partners, and to bring those conversations together so that we can see how we can improve our work as we go forward. 

“Across conversations with ministers, system leaders and partners, there was a real honesty about what isn’t working and a shared desire to do things differently. Coming out of EWF, there’s a strong sense that the sector is ready for a more joined‑up, results‑driven approach to education reform, and edt is excited to be part of shaping what comes next.” 

Sarah Farquhar, CEO (Interim), edt

Let’s work together

As pressure on education systems intensifies, attention is shifting towards what systems can sustain in practice. 

EWF 2026 provided an opportunity to engage with that challenge directly, grounded in shared experience and a recognition that progress depends on coordinated effort over time. 

Let’s continue to work together to ensure that reform leads to real, lasting improvements for learners.

Find out more at partnering.edt.org