Online Symposium | Reconfiguring Schooling Through an Equity Lens: Lessons from The Educational Experiences Of Children With Disabilities During Covid-19

Date: Sep 13 - 17 2021

Time: to

Online

 
 
 
Online Symposium
RECONFIGURING SCHOOLING THROUGH AN EQUITY LENS: LESSONS FROM THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES DURING COVID-19
 
Speakers
Ms. Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo - World Bank
Dr. Niraj Poudyal - Kathmandu University School of Arts
Ms. Jenipher Mbukwa-Ngwira - Catholic University of Malawi
Dr. Aemiro Tadesse - Ethiopian Centre for Disability and Development
 

     

 

Session Summary
Organizer: Cambridge Network for Disability and Education Research (CaNDER)
Chair: Professor Nidhi Singal, University of Cambridge

This symposium brought together empirical findings from recently completed multi-country projects, and possibly the only comprehensive surveys, examining the impact of prolonged school closures on the education of children with disabilities and their families. The contributions are based on the work undertaken by the World Bank’s Inclusive Education Initiative and three projects completed under the aegis of CaNDER.
Collectively these studies provide important insights in relation to providing equitable and quality education for children with disabilities, with particular emphasis on the following:
  • Need for increased recognition of schools as not only spaces for formal learning but the significant role they play in nurturing social and emotional wellbeing of children.
  • The crucial role that parents have in supporting the education of their child with disabilities and consequently the need for reimaging partnerships between parents and teachers, especially for children in specialist provision.
  • Recognizing the urgent need for providing teachers (and other school-based stakeholders) with support and necessary skills to respond to the learning needs of a diverse student body, which must include low tech solutions.
The symposium included the following four presentations:
This study will present findings from a survey consisting of nearly 4000 responses from parents, caregivers and teachers across the globe. The survey presents critical concerns related to return to schools, learning loss experienced by children with disabilities due to COVID-19 and safety once schools reopen. Key solutions identified by teachers and parents include cross-sectoral collaborative support beyond education, including social protection, digital access and inclusion, transport and WASH. The results emphasize that one size fits all solutions will not work particularly when due consideration is given to the various types of disabilities.
 
 
Drawing on data gathered through telephone interviews with 99 parents/caregivers in various regions of Malawi, the paper highlights their strong desire to continue with the education of their child with disabilities. Also noted is the extreme dissatisfaction with the complete exclusion of children with disabilities from any formal learning opportunities during school closures.
 
 
This paper reinforces some of the perspectives from Malawi and challenges current assumptions around the need to re-educate parents of children with disabilities about the importance of sending their children back to school. Data collected from 120 parents across two provinces highlights how child with disabilities remained invisible and absent in efforts towards remote schooling. Parents highlighted significant anxieties in relation to the short term and long-term impact of the loss of learning arising from significant disruptions in schooling for children with disabilities.
 
 
The impact of Covid-19 on the education of children with disabilities in Ethiopia:
Response of school personnel
(Presenter: Dr Aemiro Tadesse, Ethiopian Centre for Disability and Development)
 
This paper will present findings based on data collected from 100 teachers across three regional states using a combination of telephone based and face to face survey. The key theme emerging from this analysis highlights how teachers were centrally concerned about socio-emotional and safety factors in relation to children with disabilities. They acknowledged issues of learning loss but felt that unprecedented school closures had increased the vulnerability of learners with disabilities.
 
Logos of the involved organizations

Key Area
covid-19

Region
Global

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