The 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) provides an authoritative account of how education is the most vital input for every dimension of sustainable development. This Report makes three messages starkly clear. Firstly, the urgent need for new approaches. Secondly, if we are serious about SDG4, we must act with a sense of heightened urgency, and with longterm commitment. Failure to do so will not only adversely affect education but will hamper progress towards each and every development goal. Lastly, we must fundamentally change the way we think about education and its role in human wellbeing and global development. Now, more than ever, education has a responsibility to foster the right type of skills, attitudes and behavior that will lead to sustainable and inclusive growth.