Page 46 - EW April 2021

Cover Story

9 recommendations for post-pandemic education

The global health pandemic has shined a compel us to prioritise the participation of
harsh light on the vulnerabilities and chal- students and young people broadly in the co-
“lenges humanity faces. It has provided a construction of desirable change.
clear picture of existing inequalities — and a 5. Protect social spaces provided by schools as we
clearer picture of what steps forward we need transform education. The school as a physical
to take, chief among them addressing the edu- space is indispensable. Traditional classroom
cation of more than 1.5 billion students whose organisation must give way to a variety of ways
learning has been hampered due to school clo- of ‘doing school’, but the school as a separate
sures... It is evident that we cannot return to the space-time of collective living, specific and
world as it was before. One of the strongest different from other spaces of learning, must
messages in this report is that our common Sahle-Work Zewde be preserved.
humanity necessitates global solidarity. We 6. Make free and open source technologies avail-
cannot accept the levels of inequality that have able to teachers and students. Open educational
been permitted to emerge on our shared planet. Covid-19 has resources and open access digital tools must be supported.
the potential to radically reshape our world, but we must not Education cannot thrive with readymade content built outside
passively sit back and observe what plays out. Now is the time of the pedagogical space and outside of human relationships
for public deliberation and democratic accountability. Now is between teachers and students. Nor can education be de-
the time for intelligent collective action,” says Sahle-Work Zewde, pendent on digital platforms controlled by private companies.
President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and 7. Ensure scientific literacy within the curriculum. This is the right
chairperson of the International Commission on the Futures time for deep reflection on curriculum, particularly as we strug-
of Education, comprising eminent educators from academia, gle against the denial of scientific knowledge and actively fight
science, government, business and education worldwide. The misinformation.
commission has made nine recommendations for global ac- 8. Protect domestic and international financing of public education.
tion today that will advance education in the post-pandemic The pandemic has the power to undermine several decades of
tomorrow. advances. National governments, international organisations
1. Commit to strengthen education as a common good. Education and all education and development partners must recognise
is a bulwark against inequalities. In education as in health, we the need to strengthen public health and social services but
are safe when everybody is safe; we flourish when everybody simultaneously mobilise around the protection of public edu-
flourishes. cation and its financing.
2. Expand the definition of the right to education so that it addresses 9. Advance global solidarity to end current levels of inequality. Co-
the importance of connectivity and access to knowledge and vid-19 has shown us the extent to which our societies exploit
information. The Commission calls for a global public discus- power imbalances and our global system exploits inequali-
sion — that includes learners of all ages — on ways the right ties. The Commission calls for renewed commitments to
to education needs to be expanded. international cooperation and multilateralism, together with a
3. Value the teaching profession and teacher collaboration. There revitalised global solidarity that has empathy and an apprecia-
has been remarkable innovation in the responses of educa- tion of our common humanity at its core. Covid-19 presents us
tors to the Covid-19 crisis, with those systems most engaged with a real challenge and real responsibility. These ideas invite
with families and communities showing the most resilience. debate, engagement and action by governments, international
We must encourage conditions that give frontline educators organisations, civil society, educational professionals as well
autonomy and flexibility to act collaboratively. as learners and stakeholders at all levels.
4. Promote student, youth and children’s participation and rights.
Intergenerational justice and democratic principles should Source: https://en.unesco.org/

capital equipment purchases, or pro- buses and to continue paying EMIs gregate enrolment of 60 million chil-
vide credit against receivables. Nor (equated monthly instalments) and dren, they have not been provided any
has the Central government directed interest on loans availed for installing of the reliefs given to MSMEs under
them to do so. institutional infrastructure and equip- the prime minister’s Rs.20 lakh crore
Moreover as conceded by Agarwal, ment. Indeed a major grievance of pandemic relief package, or in any
private schools have had to retain NISA (National Independent Schools subsequent relief packages including
teachers and non-teaching staff to Alliance) which has a membership of the Union Budget 2021-22.
maintain school grounds, classrooms, 60,000 BPS, is that despite their ag- In addition to blatant discrimina-

48 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2021