Future-Oriented Global Drivers of Change in Education: From Industrial Revolutions to a New Social Contract—A Scoping Review

The rapid technological development caused by industrial revolutions (Industry 4.0 and 5.0) puts a lot of pressure on the education system that regulates initial and continuous human resource development. The present study undertakes a scoping review of the policy papers of WEF, OECD, and UNESCO to understand the future challenges faced by education. The online databases of these international organizations were used to identify the English versions of the education policy reports published between 2020 and 2025 using the keywords “skills policy”, “closing skills gap”, “future skills”, “drivers of change”, “trends transforming education”, and “future education”. After screening and performing a thematic analysis, we identified fifteen publications that met the inclusion criteria. Choosing a systematic-narrative hybrid strategy, we conducted a systemic scoping review using the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We found that the analyzed WEF and OECD policy reports contribute the most to understanding global skills policy and global trends driving changes in education. Our review has also revealed that the WEF-developed Global Skills Taxonomy and Taxonomy Adoption Toolkit contribute to further skills policy improvement and its practical implementation in bridging the skills gap.