Teacher Workforce & Retention: Education Week’s K-12 Essentials Forum spotlights how leaders can improve teacher recruitment and retention, with Gen Z teacher perspectives and results from its Teacher Morale Index. Higher Ed Policy Pressure: A Democracy Now! report says U.S. federal rules tied to grant reviews and “intellectual diversity” could reshape university research and teaching amid austerity at private colleges. TVET Restructuring: Malaysia moves all nine Technical Secondary Schools under the Education Ministry’s Fully Residential Schools Management Division, reframing them as Technical Fully Residential Schools to boost STEM and skilled workforce goals. AI in Education Debate: Philippines consumer advocates argue AI can help reform education, calling for scaling proven models and partnerships like DepEd’s Khan Academy work. Learning Beyond Classrooms: A regional forum urges tighter coordination between education and child development services (health and social protection) to tackle the learning crisis. Free Education Push: Odisha announces “free and universal” education from KG to PG in government institutions, plus plans to hire thousands of teachers and expand universities. Skilled Trades Funding: Google.org pledges $50M to train workers for skilled trades, backing unions and associations to prepare hundreds of thousands for roles like HVAC.