International Day of Education: Asian changemakers improving access to quality learning opportunities

“Why is education so unfair? I need to do something about it,” said Sky Yen to Tatler, reflecting on his struggles with unequal learning opportunities as a young student who moved from Taichung to Taipei. Determined to make a difference, he opted out of a career in the tech industry to establish LIS Education, the non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing science education in Taiwan. Under his leadership, LIS developed innovative teaching materials designed to spark a love for learning and empower children to “think like scientists.” Today, these textbooks and videos are used by over 78 per cent of Taiwanese secondary schools, enriching the educational experience of more than 130,000 students.

Further extending his impact, LIS offers a library of educational videos, some featuring Yen himself, to almost 160,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel. The organisation has also partnered with the Ministry of Education to provide teaching materials for educators. Additionally, Yen plans to hold up to 200 workshops and online courses over the next three years to support more teachers in their work.

Read Sky Yen’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Inspired by his online learning experiences while taking his master’s studies in the United States, Titipong Pisitwuttinan co-founded SkillLane to provide accessible education anytime, anywhere. Through its website and app, Skilllane offers over 3,000 courses covering a range of topics such as finance, design, marketing and even soft skills. Popular courses include business analytics and accounting for decision-making, while free courses span content creation, Microsoft Excel basics and using AI for presentations.

In 2024, the edtech platform received the Prime Minister Award: National Startup at the Startup x Innovation Thailand Expo, reaffirming its impact on Thailand’s education sector.   

Read Titipong Pisitwuttinan’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Outside of her leadership roles in Ayala Corporation, Mariana Zobel de Ayala is an education advocate who serves on the board of directors of U-Go, the international organisation that provides financial scholarships to young women seeking higher education. “The issue of education equality for women is as much about empowering women as it is about building the most capable economy possible for the Philippines, to ensure our collective progress as a nation. The opportunity to contribute to this possibility, through U-Go Philippines, is exciting,” Zobel said in a statement.

In 2024, U-Go and the Ayala Foundation organised a fundraising dinner that secured over PHP19 million to assist 300 young women in completing their college education. The organisations aim to provide support to 1,000 scholars by 2026, while also assisting graduates with employment opportunities and skill development.

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“To meet the pressing challenges of our times, universities will need to develop new competencies and capabilities, and be bold enough to drive transformational change,” said Tan Eng Chye, president of the National University of Singapore (NUS), at the Temasek Foundation – NUS Programme for Leadership in University Management summit in 2022. At the summit, the educator emphasised the importance of collaboration among universities in the region, an endeavour that the NUS programme has been championing for a decade. Indeed, his influence extends throughout the region: in 2023, Tan was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Management by the Universiti Malaya in recognition of his role in helping the Malaysian institution achieve academic and intellectual excellence.

In 2025, NUS, through a grant from Sea Limited, opened two state-of-the-art buildings that will drive its ambitions in cutting-edge research, education and collaboration in AI and data science. Along with its new infrastructure, NUS offers new and revamped tech programmes, including Bachelor of Computing in Artificial Intelligence, Bachelor of Computing in Business Artificial Intelligence Systems, Master of Computing in Artificial Intelligence and Bachelor of Engineering in Robotics and Machine Intelligence.

Read Tan Eng Chye’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

In 2009, social activist Nila Tanzil set up Taman Bacaan Pelangi (Rainbow Reading Gardens), the non-profit organisation that promotes literacy in young children by building libraries in remote communities across Eastern Indonesia. “[M]y heart feels very happy because I know that far away there are thousands of children whose eyes are shining seeing thousands of storybooks that they can read in the new library of their school,” said Nila in an Instagram post about the inauguration of new libraries in Nagekeo, Flores. Apart from establishing more than 200 libraries in the country, the organisation also holds workshops for teachers and local volunteers, covering library management and basic literacy courses, as well as reading activities and storytelling competitions to instil the love of books in children.

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Chan Soon Seng quit his 9-to-5 job to become a fellow at Teach for Malaysia (TFM), before joining the organisation as its programme director and now its CEO. The education advocate believes in the organisation’s mission to empower Malaysian children through quality education. Part of the global Teach for All network, TFM enjoins graduates and young professionals to combat education inequity by teaching in the country’s most high-need schools for two years. By 2030, TFM aspires to develop 30,000 leaders—including 2,200 fellows, 9,500 leaders in the Ministry of Education and Civil Service and 18,300 alumni, volunteers and student and community leaders, all working toward its goal of providing education for everyone.

Read Chan Soon Seng’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Yuan Li is the principal of Taipei Media School, the academic institution that breaks away from traditional educational curriculums to cultivate creativity and thinking. Described as a “specialist media training facility”, the Taipei Media School is an incubator for young creatives, particularly those in the film and television industry. Most intriguing in the audio-visual school is its focus on freedom, with students allowed to choose their courses and set their goals—a direction that ultimately instils the valuable skills of independent learning, responsibility and decision making. Admission is unconventional, too, favouring “interest and potential”, along with a relevant portfolio and experience, over academic performance. The school's experimental methods are geared toward producing graduates with unique points of view.

Read Yuan Li’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

“I represent teachers who are trying to teach in a challenging way, trying to make their lessons in the classroom meaningful,” said Samuel Isaiah, who was honoured with the TRT World Citizen Educator Award in 2022. A champion of learning in Malaysia, Isaiah has been involved in several educational organisations such as Teach for Malaysia, Edufication and Pemimpin GSL, where, as programme director, he helped improve school leadership and launch the Malaysia Teacher Prize. More recently, Isaiah held leadership positions in YTL Foundation, which provides scholarships to university students, and Impact Integrated, the non-profit that empowers youth through social impact, esports and media.

Read Samuel Isaiah’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

In order to “address the great need for our country to build a critical mass of STEM professionals to usher social and economic development, we must mentor and retain Filipino talent in the country,” said Pia D Bagamasbad, director of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines Diliman (NIMBB), about the challenges of life science research. The pandemic highlighted the importance of science and scientists, as Dr Bagamasbad led a team from NIMBB in training medical technologists on Covid-19 testing processes, helping the country ramp up its pandemic response. Later, she also led the Covid-19 Online Learning Laboratory Course, which helped reach more medical personnel throughout the country. Dr Bagamasbad was named one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS) in 2022.

In early 2023, she and her student Weand Ybañez discovered the Kruppel-like factor 9 (KLF9), a gene that stifles tumour growth and connects the development of breast cancer to stress and sleep health—especially significant in the Philippines, which has one of the highest breast cancer mortality rates in Asia. 

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Through Edvolution Enterprise, Melissa Gomes is creating transformative education leaders in Malaysia. Its Teacher Empowerment for School Transformation (TEST) programme is designed to raise the quality of leadership and teaching skills, all of which lead to an improvement in student learning and competency. In a feature written for the non-profit organisation, Gomes, who has over a decade of experience in management consulting and education, identifies how teachers should emphasise social and emotional learning, as well as adopt technology in their practice to succeed in the future. In January 2025, Edvolution launched its newest programme, Talent in Leadership, which promotes school leadership through classes and group coaching.

Read Melissa Gomes’ full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Tatler Asia’s Most Influential is the definitive list of people shaping our world today. Asia’s Most Influential brings together the region's most innovative changemakers, industry titans and thought leaders who are driving positive impact in Asia and beyond. View the full list here.

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