Children across the United States are heading back to school this week against a backdrop of alarming news headlines: There’s a tense weapons standoff with North Korea even as hurricanes and fires stir fears of devastation in parts of the US.

Headlines of this kind threaten to powerfully disrupt young lives. Each year about 80 million children around the globe are estimated to have their educations interrupted by crisis or conflict – a sobering statistic, to be sure.

And yet at the same moment, something very positive is happening. Two nations absolutely lacking in cultural or linguistic ties are now reaching out their hands to each other to benefit young learners. Finland – long considered a global leader in education – signed 18 memorandums of understanding with Vietnam last month, agreeing to export some of its most successful and innovative teaching methods to the Southeast Asian nation. Finnish-inspired high schools will soon be opening in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

It’s hard not to feel encouraged about a world in which adults living on different sides of the world can come together to focus on what’s best for children.