Our founder, Nancy Mwirotsi reflects on a growing divide in education that goes beyond income: the gap in foundational skills. As AI accelerates learning for some, students who struggle with critical thinking, reading, and communication risk falling further behind. She calls on parents, educators, and communities to build these skills early through real-world responsibility, curiosity, and strong learning foundations—because technology can’t replace the ability to think.
I was asked to sum up my 2025 thoughts on student learning, and here it is:
The class divide I see growing is skills, not just income.
It’s the gap between people who can think critically, read deeply, write clearly, and adapt, and those who can’t.
At its core, it’s about how you receive information, process it, retain it, and then use it: to make sense of what you’re seeing, connect ideas, solve problems, and make decisions. It’s also about learning execution without constant hand-holding, staying curious, and being resourceful enough to figure things out.
And AI won’t close that gap. If anything, it will widen it.
Right now, we’re seeing too many students struggle with foundational concepts. Not just understanding them, but holding onto them long enough to connect ideas and make decisions. I am concerned that Critical thinking isn’t just declining, it’s becoming a dividing line.
So what do we do?
We must build these skills early. And yes, that starts at home.
Parents can give children real-world capacity by creating space for learning, responsibility, and growth. That can look like chores that teach follow-through, limited and intentional screen time instead of endless scrolling, and reading actual books to build attention span and imagination. It can also mean volunteer opportunities where parents step back and let kids figure it out.
Teach your kids practical skills you use at work every day: how to send an email, read and understand messages, attach a document, and handle everyday logistics like finding the post office box.
Even a part-time job during school helps. It teaches time management, humility, and communication in ways a classroom can’t.
And don’t underestimate the quiet moments: a walk to the park, unhurried conversation, noticing the world around them, asking questions. Those experiences shape young minds in ways we often overlook.
Kids need a well-rounded view of life, and we can’t afford to settle.
Here’s the truth: AI can help you move faster, but it can’t replace the foundation.
To thrive in an AI-powered world, you still need the fundamentals: the ability to reason through a problem, strong reading comprehension, clear communication, the discipline to learn something hard without quitting, the humility to say “I don’t know” and go find out, and the capacity to solve problems.
The people who will thrive in an AI world are the ones who already know how to think, ask the right questions, and evaluate what they’re given. The ones who can’t will fall further behind.
So our job, as parents, educators, and communities, is to close that gap now, before it becomes permanent.
