1. Report background

Introduction

1. Report background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on social, political, and economic realities worldwide, forcing governments to respond swiftly with policies to minimise the present effects while weighing future implications. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc, uncertainty and unpredictability, impacting every aspect of life the world over. It has exacerbated social inequalities, further marginalised the impoverished, and plunged fragile economies into disarray. This moment of crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to examine how education systems can more thoughtfully and deliberately respond to these types of systemic disruptions by asking questions about the purpose and values of education so that all learners, particularly the poor, have access to quality and equitable education in contexts of uncertainty and disruption. How do countries respond when education is disrupted and face-to-face learning is not possible? Given the difficulties with technological infrastructure and problems with broadband connectivity, how can equitable and quality learning continue effectively? What are the implications for teacher professionalism and decision-making? How might governments and teachers’ unions work together to ensure students are learning in times of disruption? And how might we use these moments of disruption to more closely align education offerings to support the full development of the human personality as anticipated by Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Apart from these enquiries, another area of concern that the report addresses is the impact of policy responses on teacher autonomy. More specifically, the report illuminates how teachers are empowered (or not) to take decisions in the current situation and connect with their peers, their school leaders and their learners. Insights into how policy responses have manifested globally, given the highly differentiated education contexts, are also discussed.

In the context above, this research pays attention to how education responses during the pandemic ensure equitable and quality education for all, and crucially, meaningful engagement with stakeholders such as

students, parents, teachers, teachers’ unions and education officials in formulating policies. In this respect, a key issue to debate is whether the new modalities of education introduced are provisional and should be abandoned post-COVID, or whether they are here to stay. In examining these choices and responses in the eight countries participating in the seminar, we illuminate education policies, choices and plans in response to the COVID-19 crisis in the Global South.

The overarching research question will be explored through the following two questions.

What policy choices and trends have manifested in the selected countries in supporting teacher professionalism and agency?

The report responds to this question by addressing the following themes:

• Professional development and psychosocial support for teachers, including teacher autonomy; • The transformation of curriculum and assessment during the pandemic; and • Modalities of education delivery during school closures.

What have been the policy-making processes in the eight selected countries since the beginning of 2020 when the threat of COVID-19 became a global reality?

The latter question aims to illuminate how policy responses to education made globally have impacted the attainment of quality education as delineated in the UNESCO Sustainable Development

Goal 4: Education (SDG 4), with a particular focus on teachers.

More so, the second research question seeks to examine: (i) who was involved in processes of policy-making; and (ii) what is the nexus between science/social science evidence and policy-making in education? We will pay particular attention to factors shaping policy decisions in education during the pandemic. This research was commissioned by the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and Education International (EI) with the aim of understanding the global policy responses to education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research also aims to understand how various states have responded