7 May 2020
As we all know this is an unprecedented time with COVID19 impacting our society at all levels. In education it is estimated that approximately 1.5 Billion school age students are out of school. Never before have so many student been out of school for so long a period. It is slowly being realized that this could have a longer impact on education and that it may not return to normal so quickly. This has left the world seeking new solutions that might provide a more robust education system that can be more flexible during times of crisis.
Many are looking towards digital and online learning as a potential tool that can help deal with these problems. Educational development has already started to include digital learning solutions quite some time ago but it has yet to become a key part of the system. Now it may be the time to look at more comprehensive solutions and move education firmly into the digital age.
In this Webinar we looked into the broad issues facing education at this time of crisis with input from experts with major development agencies such as UNESCO, ADB and UNEVOC and explore what is needed and how this may unfold over the next year or two.
Moderator
Dr. Steven McKee, President of Worlddidac Association and Labtech International Limited. Dr. McKee started his career with some of the first International educational development projects funded by the World Bank. He has been based full time in Asia since 1984 and is extremely familiar with all phases of education within the ASEAN Region, especially within Indonesia where he has long-term in-depth experience. Dr.McKee has a personal interest and commitment to the development of education. He is the founder of Labtech International which he created to meet the needs of technology training in developing nations. He has been increasingly involved in finding solutions for the use of ICT technology in education to provide a platform for adapting the educational process to the 21st century.
Speakers
Mr. Brajesh Panth, head of TVET in Asian Development Bank from Philippines. Mr. Panth provides technical leadership to the education sector group (ESG) in ADB, leads the preparation of the ESG work plan and facilitates collaboration across sector and technical groups in ADB and with external partners. He has over 25 years of experience in the education sector including sector assessment, project processing, implementation, evaluation, and policy dialogue, covering all levels—primary, secondary, technical and vocational education and training, and higher education.
Mr Shyamal Majumdar, former Head of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Mr. Majumdar has worked as a TVET expert in various capacities. He has been engaged in the work of the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok, Beijing and Cairo, GTZ and INWEnt (both now GIZ), CPSC, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), and the World Bank. Working closely with various government institutions and technical institutes across Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the USA, he contributed his strong expertise and background in
- Technical and vocational education and training (TVET),
- Technical teachers training,
- Information and communication technology (lCT),
- Total quality management (TQM),
- Greening TVET, and
- Qualifications frameworks towards quality assurance in TVET,
to conduct a variety of programmes and projects in the education sector.
Mr. Raúl Valdés-Cotera is a Team Leader at UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and manager of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. For more than fifteen years, Mr. Valdés-Cotera has been working in international organisations in the field of public policies, lifelong learning and adult education. He has led various research and advocacy projects such as the Regional Report of Adult Education in Latin America (2007), the Conceptual Evolution and Policy Developments in Lifelong Learning (2011), the Glossary for Adult Education (2013), Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities (2015 & 2017). Raúl holds a master degree in Statistics, another in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Education.
YouTube
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