I recently spoke with Lego Foundation CEO Hanne Rasmussen about how schools must do more to build soft skills and allow for playtime as well as focus on numerical and literacy skills. As a busy working mum herself, she personally sees the value in schools incorporating play in the learning process for her 13-year-old son.
I see it too. When I was growing up in a Kenyan village, some of my earliest years of schooling took place under a tree. When we were in a classroom, it had mud floors full of dust and due to over-crowding, some of us had to sit on the floor rather than in chairs, at desks. Of course, I feel lucky that I had the opportunity to go to school at all. UNESCO states that in 2015, millions of children today are out of school.