Students Should Help Shape Education
Students experience education policy every day, yet they rarely have equal influence over how it is designed. UNESCO’s 2026 Lead with Youth report found that only about one in three countries has a formal body for youth or student participation in education decision-making, while more than 40% of surveyed youth organizations were dissatisfied with engagement through formal government bodies.
That gap feels especially important to me. Students know where policies meet reality, in classrooms, assessments, technology, and unequal access to opportunity. Their experience should be treated as evidence, not decoration.
Education policy should not simply be written for students. The people living with its consequences should have a meaningful role in shaping it.
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