🎧 Top Class 

Micro-credentials are bite-sized qualifications designed to help people demonstrate they have certain skills or experience.

Dr Monique Ositelu from data consultancy firm Itàn & Shizuka Kato, Education Policy Analyst at the OECD explain why they’re becoming more popular.

Everything you need to know about micro-credentials

118: AI as a Creative Partner: Redefining Human Potential in Education

While countries came together in the late 80s to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, technology and the advent of virtual currencies have further complicated the tracking of illicit financial flows across borders. Over $51 billion in cryptocurrency was used by criminals last year to circumvent traditional banking regulations. Chady El Khoury is an assistant general counsel and heads the Financial Integrity Group at the IMF. In this podcast, El Khoury says the anonymity of virtual currency transactions is supercharging the ability for criminals to grow their empires. 

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3KOjzeA

Chady El Khoury on the Virtual Reality of Financial Crime

As industries evolve and the skills gap widens, the question remains: How can we better connect education to employment? 


In this episode of The Idea Spark, host Carl Hooker welcomes Jennifer Wilkerson, VP of Innovations and Advancements at NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research), and Andy Dunaway, Product Manager, Career Connected Learning at Pearson. Together, they explore how credentialing, industry alignment, and strong partnerships help students move from the classroom to meaningful careers. Using construction as a lens, this conversation highlights scalable strategies for building career-ready pathways across CTE programs and beyond.


This week's episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by Pearson, NCCER, and the EdSurge Solutions Studio team.

Career Readiness in the Real World

The US is a breeding ground for startups, and California has been the center of that universe since the dot-com boom in the late 1990s. But rising costs, tighter quarters, and increasing bureaucracy have many tech innovators seeking greener pastures, well beyond Silicon Valley. Princeton University’s Swati Bhatt has been studying the evolution of America’s startup boom in recent years and has uncovered a surprising trend toward rural communities, better known for raising cattle than for high-tech infrastructure. In this podcast, Bhatt talks to journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about these new entrepreneurs opting for a different lifestyle. 

Where Startups Do Roam: Swati Bhatt


Nine in ten teachers are satisfied with their jobs, yet one in five report a lot of stress. Just two of the findings from the new OECD TALIS report, the largest survey of teachers and school leaders in the world.
TALIS captured the perspectives of 280,000 teachers across over 50 education systems. In this episode of Top Class, OECD project manager Ruo Chen, who led the TALIS team, and Antonia Wulff, Director of Research, Policy and Advocacy at Education International, tell the OECD’s Duncan Crawford about the findings. 


The state of teaching around the world, TALIS results are out

Rooted in Culture, Ready for Tomorrow: Community-Driven Education Innovation | #WISEOnAir Podcast 

How can education systems honor cultural roots while preparing students for the future? 
In this episode, we feature WISE Prize finalists Fadia Hamdi (Queen Rania Foundation, Jordan) and Abdulhamid Haidar (Darsel, U.S.), who share how their initiatives blend tradition with innovation to build resilient learning communities. 

Chapters: 
00:00–01:46 Introduction 
01:46–02:46 Solutions Beyond the MVP: What Iqrali.jo and Darsel Offer with WISE Prize Support 
02:47–04:37 Preserving Arabic Literacy and Heritage 
04:38–05:45 Adapting Tools to Cultural Contexts 
05:45–08:17 Why Emotional Connections Matter 
08:18–10:47 Building Inclusive Educational Solutions 
10:48–13:37 Engaging Communities in Design 
13:38–16:12 Access for Refugee & Marginalized Communities 
16:13–18:05 Lessons from Diverse Implementations 
18:05–21:17 Incentivizing Parents and Students 
21:17–end WISE Prize Support and Future Plans 

Listen to the full episode: https://pod.link/wiseonair 

119: Rooted in Culture, Ready for Tomorrow: Community-Driven Education Innovation

Even though 40% of young people would prefer to be self-employed, the reality does not match their aspirations. If young people were as active in entrepreneurship as 30- to 49-year-old men, there would be an additional 3.6 million more young entrepreneurs across OECD countries. In this episode of OECD podcasts, Alix Philouze chats to Elina Cohen-Peirano, CEO & founder of URONE and a young entrepreneur who founded her first company at the age of 17. They discuss all things youth entrepreneurship – from balancing entrepreneurship and studies to the policy challenges facing youth entrepreneurship and the legacy of the YEPA programme, tune in to hear from a young entrepreneur, in her own words. 

Alix Philouze is a communications co-ordinator at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, where she works with both the SME and Entrepreneurship division and the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development division. She holds a degree in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin.

Elina Cohen-Peirano is a young serial entrepreneur driving systemic change in entrepreneurship education through Urone, her company which partners with academic, business and institutional actors across Europe. Its mission is to make entrepreneurship a lever for youth empowerment, innovation and inclusion. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy (YEPA), led by the OECD and the European Commission, contributing to international dialogue and policy action.

To learn more: 
•	The YEPA hub: https://yepa-hub.org/
•	OECD work on inclusive entrepreneurship: https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/inclusive-entrepreneurship.html
•	The missing entrepreneurs: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-missing-entrepreneurs-2023_230efc78-en.html

To learn more about the OECD, our global reach, and how to join us, go to www.oecd.org/about/
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Youth entrepreneurs uncovered: Elina Cohen-Peirano, in her own words

Everything you need to know about teaching and learning in one podcast. Top Class, the OECD Education Podcast, interviews leading educators, researchers and policy experts about the big issues facing education systems around the world.




Disclaimer: The opinions expressed and arguments employed on the "TopClass" podcast and the recordings contained therein do not necessarily represent the official views of the OECD, its member countries, or non-members who have participated in any related work. This site may display third party videos or recordings. The inclusion of such videos or recordings does not imply any endorsement of, or responsibility for, the opinions, ideas, or information presented in these videos. The "TopClass" podcast is subject to the Disclaimers section of the General Terms and Conditions of the OECD website. http://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions/

Everything you need to know about micro-credentials

Top Class, The OECD education podcast