As technological change sweeps across the world, the focus of education has undergone an inevitable shift toward artificial intelligence (AI) and digital learning. However, the HundrED Global Collection 2026 report has a message that Taiwanese society and education policymakers would do well to reflect on.
In the age of AI, the scarcest resource in education is not advanced computing power, but people; and the most urgent global educational crisis is not technological backwardness, but teacher well-being and retention.
Covering 52 countries, the report from HundrED, a Finnish nonprofit that reviews and compiles innovative solutions in education from around the world, highlights a potential blind spot in the pursuit of educational modernization.
While AI is reshaping industries across the board, global labor markets are seeing a countervailing surge in demand for interpersonal skills, it found. Empathy, collaboration and adaptability — qualities machines cannot replicate — are becoming the core indicators of future talent.
More importantly, the report identified teacher well-being and retention as the most pressing crisis, warning that without addressing teacher burnout and mental health, no educational innovation could be sustainable.
The report urged countries to adopt a strategy of reducing nonteaching burdens and administrative friction, so teachers have the time and capacity to focus on teaching itself and build deeper relationships with students. That approach has been key to success in Nordic countries and other high-performing education systems.
Looking at the Ministry of Education’s policies over the past few years, the intentions behind many initiatives have undoubtedly been well-meaning. However, implementation has often failed to adequately consider the actual capacity of frontline teachers, creating a situation of mounting administrative burdens and excessive performance indicators.
Teachers are left exhausted by paperwork and administrative tasks, while valuable classroom time for guiding students’ thinking and practicing competency-based education is steadily eroded.
True educational innovation rests on trust and partnership. As the world moves toward granting teachers greater professional autonomy, policymakers confront whether structural problems within Taiwan’s education system are draining teachers’ motivation.
For example, with the implementation of “campus incident resolution councils” to deal with situations in which teaching staff are accused of misconduct, how could student rights be protected while also safeguarding teachers’ professional dignity and sense of workplace security? An environment in which teachers are constantly at risk of investigation only breeds defensive teaching, stifling passion and creativity in education.
Resilience does not come from technology or funding alone, but from the strength of relationships and human connections, the report said. Taiwan’s issue is not a lack of investment in educational hardware, but a dearth of respect for educational professionalism and the undervaluing of human capital.
Successful international cases share a common feature: They focus on making it easier for teachers to teach well and for students to want to learn, rather than chasing better-looking key performance indicator data.
Education in the AI era should not train teachers to become machine operators. Instead, it should return time and space to teachers, allowing them room and energy to once again become warm human figures on school campuses, capable of inspiring students’ potential.
We must shift education policy away from blind faith in technology. Only by safeguarding teacher well-being and rebuilding a culture of trust — so teachers could focus wholeheartedly on their work — could Taiwan’s education system cultivate future generations of talented people, with empathy, the ability to collaborate and the capability to stand firm amid the global AI tide.
Yang Chih-chiang is a teacher.
Translated by Gilda Knox Streader
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