News & Articles
Higher Education and Social Inclusion in Bangladesh – Some Inherent Contradictions
by Manzoor Ahmed, Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University
Abstract: Two ways higher education can be linked to the question of social inclusion and exclusion are - a) participation in the system of higher education and b) how higher education - through its content, academic programmes, research agenda, policy and technical advice, and institutional culture - recognises and addresses the realities of social inclusion, exclusion, disparity, discrimination and injustice.
On both counts, higher education systems around the world are subject to inherent contradictions arising from its history and the role it plays as a social institution. And they fail spectacularly in
South Asia and in the developing world generally.
The paper looks at the Bangladesh situation, delves into and illustrates the ideological,
intellectual and structural problems as well as the prospects and possibilities of addressing these.
It would be difficult to sound an optimistic note. We all need to be intensely aware of the
situation and deepen our understanding of the dimensions and consequences of the situation - the
foundation and scaffolding of exclusion which prop up the edifice of higher education, and
decide for ourselves, where each of us stand as academics, participants in policy discourse, and
citizens.
The Shanu Adolescent Agency Project
The Shanu Project is an action-research initiative based in five pilot villages in rural Gujarat, India. The purpose of the project is to promote the advancement of rural adolescents, particularly girls, by strengthening access to education and employment. Throughout the last decade, the government of India has made education for all children, up to the age of 14, a national priority, by implementing legislative reform1 and large scale investment. As a result, enrollment rates at the primary level have increased significantly2. However, the lack of government focus on learning outcomes and the neglect of adolescent educational and training needs have resulted in a national secondary level net attendance ratio of 53.6%, falling to 42.5% for rural females.3 The Shanu Project aims is to identify why existing programs are failing to address the needs of this cohort of rural youth and how this shortcoming can be corrected.
Multiple Intelligences in a Nutsell, by Howard Gardner
The original scene: Paris, 1900—La Belle Epoque. The city fathers approached a talented psychologist named Alfred Binet with an unusual request. Many families were flocking to the capital city, and a good many of their children were having trouble with their schoolwork. Could Binet devise some kind of a measure that would predict which youngsters would succeed and which would fail in the primary grades of Paris schools?
Please click here for the full chapter.
In India, the Pressure Cooker of College Admissions, by Corey Flintoff
January 10, 2012, National Public Radio
This can be a harrowing time for high school seniors and their parents in the U.S. as they wait to hear from college admissions offices. But the pressure can be equally intense, if not more so in India, where the massive number of applicants and one make-or-break exam keeps students on edge.
Admission to Delhi University, one of India's most prestigious schools, is considered as tough, if not tougher than the process at many leading schools in the U.S.
"It's a very difficult game, given the numbers," says Dinesh Singh, the vice chancellor of Delhi University.
India has 1.2 billion people, he notes, and like most things in Indian life, getting one of the limited places at the best colleges is incredibly competitive.
Delhi University is an amalgam of 80 different colleges in the Indian capital, India's equivalent to Oxford and Cambridge in Britain or the Ivy League schools in the U.S.
India, Front and Center
January 17, 2012, Harvard Gazette
Over the past several years, Harvard University has been ramping up its involvement in India and South Asia, a trend exemplified by Harvard’s South Asia Initiative.
Tarun Khanna, the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School (HBS) and an authority on developing nations, said the initiative was founded in 2003 to foster the University’s engagement in South Asia, a region with varying definitions but centered on India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Please click here for the full article on the Harvard Gazette website.