Outline

The COVID-19 global pandemic has thrust education systems around the world into a state of crisis as schools have been closed and children and families face extraordinary challenges. This topic considers the ways in which these circumstances are exacerbating existing education inequalities, as well as introducing new ones, analysing responses to the crisis by governments, schools and other actors through a critical political economy lens.

This topic looks at the following questions:

In what ways has the COVID-19 pandemic interacted with new and existing education inequalities in different contexts?
How have different actors, including policymakers, education institutions and social movements responded to the crisis?
What can the field of Education in Emergencies contribute in terms of learning and best practice on local and global scales?

Lectures

Dr Prachi Srivastava, from the University of Ottowa, outlines the politics of education during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ways in which it has exacerbated education inequalities in different contexts. She also discusses the role of the wider Education in Emergencies field in strengthening policy responses to the crisis and the prospect of 'building back better'.

Open access publications

Brehm, Will, Unterhalter, Elaine and Oketch, Moses (2021). States of Emergency: Education in the Time of Covid-19. NORRAG Special Issue No. 6.

Lambert, Helen, Gupte, Jaideep, Fletcher, Helen, Hammond, Laura, Lowe, Nicola M, Pelling, Mark, Raina, Neelam, Shahid, Tahrat and Shanks, Kelsey (2020). COVID-19 as a global challenge: towards an inclusive and sustainable future. Lancet.

Reflection and discussion