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Session: Journeying from an ego-system to an ecosystem: Lessons from educational communities in Bangladesh

Type: Panel

Before the pandemic, Bangladesh succeeded in providing access to education to nearly 100% of our children during their primary years, however challenges in education quality remained not just in our country, but around the world as well. This is to extent that schooling without learning has been called out as an act of injustice. On one hand, Covid-19 managed to further exacerbate and reveal the inequities that exist within the education system and society, but on the other, it has compelled governments and civil society to undertake pockets of action to experiment and leapfrog to diverse forms of education modalities – high-tech, low-tech and no-tech. These pockets of action have nurtured the discourse that learning takes place not just in school, but potentially anywhere, establishing the foundation for a blended learning ecosystem that continues to grow even after schools function normally. However, the nurturing of futures-oriented educational discourse and action does not necessarily happen automatically or through disparate individual acts, but it requires an environment of collaboration and authentic trust. This session will discuss how collaboration and trust can be nurtured in an ecosystem with such diverse actors to work towards an education system that works for all, not just some.

Presenters

Shakil Ahmed (he/him)

Shakil Ahmed is an educator, storyteller and futurist at Ridiculous Futures and network coordinator for #NextGenEdu. As a futurist, he has facilitated foresight with diverse organizations, including the futures of health in 2030 with BRAC, the futures of education in 2041 with the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh and the future of work in 2040 with trade unions. His bachelor’s was in Theoretical Physics at the National University of Singapore and his Masters’ was in Educational Leadership and School Improvement at BRAC University. In 2019, he was recognized as a Next Generation Foresight Practitioner by the School of International Futures.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shakattack84/

Mehdi Hassan (he/him)

National Consultant: e-Learning

Mehdi Hassan is the National Consultant for e-Learning at a2i (Aspire to Innovate), the flagship project of the government’s Digital Bangladesh agenda. Right now he is managing the national e-learning platform- Muktopaath, which aims to make skills and professional development available, accessible, and affordable for all. Besides, he works for policy reform, learning experience design & instructional content development. Mehdi holds Master’s in Special Education from the University of Dhaka.

Azwa Nayeem (she/her)

Chairperson

Azwa Nayeem is an educator and a social entrepreneur who founded Alokito Hridoy (meaning enlightened soul in Bangla) Foundation and Alokito Teachers with the belief that equitable education is the most powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty and develop enlightened souls. She builds evidence-driven teaching-learning innovations in her low-cost charter school. Then scales the most effective approaches across the country through her teacher development initiative.

Facebook: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azwa-nayeem-74533a29/