The education sector has been ripe for reform for the longest time, yet progress remains lacklustre in many parts of the world. Will the COVID-19 pandemic accelerate the transformation necessary for the greater good of our younger generation?
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
Winston Churchill
On 8 July 2020, in The HEAD Foundation’s latest webinar in the “COVID-19 What Next…?” series, three experts in the global education arena – Ms Sooinn Lee, CEO of Enuma Inc.; Dr Ethel Valenzuela, Secretariat Director of SEAMEO and Mr Philipp Schmidt, Director of Learning Innovation at the MIT Media Lab – spoke about policies and innovations that can help to level the education playing field amidst the pandemic and beyond. This session was hosted and moderated by Prof Tikki Pangestu, a Visiting Professor at NUS’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and a passionate educator with 40 years of teaching experience.
As much as the pandemic poses great challenges to the world, it presents vast opportunities for progressive changes to create a more inclusive education landscape. The panellists, though hailing from different backgrounds, were unanimous in recognising the key role technology plays in enabling teaching and learning to reach communities as far and wide as possible. Yet in the quest to ensure no one falls through the cracks of the education system, concerted efforts among NGOs, the private sector and the government are equally pivotal, especially as the pandemic lays bare the interconnectedness of systems and resources on all levels.
The webinar presented many more inspiring ideas and insightful exchanges among the panellists, as well as their responses to questions posed by the audience. We invite you to watch the full recording of the webinar to learn more.
The HEAD Foundation sincerely thanks all webinar panellists and attendees from 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, UK, USA and Singapore for your support and participation.
