In April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, close to 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school due to temporary closures, representing more than 90% of students around the world, according to the United Nations. 

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In this episode, we take an international perspective with our guests Arif Naveed, Aya Waller-Bey, and Sara Allen. We discuss the double-edged sword of education systems around the world, for example, the US and Pakistan: how education both preserves inequality and how it can help us to overcome inequality. 

Arif Naveed explores how the underlying social hierarchy that shapes day-to-day living also impacts the economic outcomes of schooling. Aya Waller-Bey talks about quality as opposed to simple access to education. Access depends on deep structural factors that mean opportunity is not equally distributed. Sara Allan gets us thinking about changing the way that institutions organise instruction and the role of the teacher. Would more of a student-centered approach improve access and inclusion in schools?

Education’s moment of reckoning: access and inclusion in schools

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) was born out of the educational vision of St Kuriakose Elias Chavara, an educationalist and social reformer of the nineteenth century in South India. He founded the first Catholic indigenous congregation, Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), in 1831, which administers CHRIST (Deemed to be University). Established in 1969 as Christ College, it undertook path-breaking initiatives in Indian higher education with the introduction of innovative and modern curricula, insistence on academic discipline, imparting of Holistic Education and adoption of global higher education practices with the support of creative and dedicated staff. The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India conferred Autonomy to Christ College in 2004 and identified it as an Institution with Potential for Excellence in 2006. In 2008 under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India, declared the institution a Deemed to be University, in the name and style of Christ University. One of the first institutions in India to be accredited in 1998 by the NAAC, and subsequently in 2004 and 2016, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) has the top grade ‘A’ in the 4-point scale.The multi-disciplinary University which focuses on teaching research and service offers Bachelors to Doctoral programmes in humanities, social sciences, science, commerce, management, engineering, education, and law to over 21000 students. The campus is a living example for the harmonious multiculturalism with students from all the states of India and around 60 different countries.

Education’s moment of reckoning: access and inclusion in schools

University of Cambridge