Education South Asia Oxford University Conference 2021

In what ways do we need to re-think education in South Asia? As South Asia faces the devastating second wave of the pandemic, its education systems are likely to face an even greater crisis than ever before. This pandemic has not only exposed existing economic, social and political fault lines, but has also exacerbated the enduring societal inequalities. The recovery and rebuilding of the education will require ‘Rethinking Education’, in terms of its contents, methods, and governance. The emerging new forms and manifestations of crisis in education urge us to rethink our approaches to education in order to be responsive to uncertain futures.

This conference takes the (post)-pandemic context of South Asia both as a lens to understand this crisis as well as a site to understand the existing challenges in education. What are the political and economic fissures that have emerged as a result of the pandemic? Has the situation led to innovation in technology and created positive changes in the system? What is the long-term impact of a crisis of this scale, and is this a critical inflection point that will determine the future direction of education? How has South Asia in particular reacted to the challenges posed by this ongoing adversity?

We invite researchers and practitioners to present papers that examine the challenges and innovations on education in South Asia. Each paper presentation will be for 10-15 mins, followed by additional time for Q&A. The conference will take place online, and will be open to the public. The question from the public will be collected by the session moderators. The conference will also host roundtable discussions. This will be a first step towards building a community of like-minded professionals in the field of South Asian education, who will continue to come together regularly to create meaningful dialogues and discuss unique solutions to the challenges posed by this pressing crisis.

The conference will address the following themes:

• Education, technology, and digital divide
• National policy, governance and the state
• Access, choice, and inclusion
• Innovative approaches to teaching and learning
• Equity, equality, and marginalisation
• Families, communities, and educational pathways
• Gender, social relations, and inequality

Please send us the paper abstract of approximately 200 words, along with your name, current affiliation, title of your paper at [email protected] by 15^th June 2021. The word limit excludes the references list.