NEWS: MPs consider actions to ensure equitable & inclusive education for all

1.12.20 - Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report, Manos Antoninis, presenting to IPNEd parliamentarians on the impact of COVID-19 on educational equity.

On 1 December 2020, IPNEd member parliamentarians were joined by Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report, and Professor Dr. Nidhi Singal, Professor of Disability and Inclusive Education at the University of Cambridge, to consider actions and recommendations to ensure inclusion is at the centre of education recovery plans. The session was chaired by IPNEd member and member of the Canadian Parliament for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, Mike Lake MP.

The session, on ‘rebuilding inclusive education which fulfils every learner’s needs and potential’, was the third in a series of briefings for MPs on COVID-19 and education. The briefing allowed MPs to hear from expert speakers and to consider the recommendations of both the University of Cambridge Education Faculty, and UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

Dr. Singal and Mr. Antoninis were joined by parliamentarians from countries including Bangladesh, Canada and South Africa. The panel spoke with MPs on both the immediate and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on equity and inclusion. Both speakers reflected on equity gaps that already existed prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, and ways in which parliamentarians can support the international community not simply in building back better, but in building back truly equal.

Mike Lake MP, the event chair, provided personal reflections and insights onto the topic, sharing the experiences of his family and his advocacy for disability-inclusive education throughout his 15-year parliamentary career, including working closely with Education Cannot Wait and the International Disability Alliance.

Mr. Antoninis and Dr. Singal provided a series of recommendations for parliamentarians to effectively deliver equitable and inclusive education for all, and there message was clear - if you reach the hardest to reach children, you will reach all children along the way.

The briefing session can be watched here. For further information on IPNEd’s COVID-19 and education work, please contact the Secretariat at info@ipned.org.