Education in the Time of COVID-19

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on education globally. Schools and other educational institutions have been closed, with the leveraging of online education both welcomed as a key element of supporting the education of some and criticised for failing to meet the needs of others. Debates are raging internationally about if, how and when schools should reopen.

The first week of July will see the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Dr Koumbou Boly Barry, present a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on ‘The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Right to Education’.

Marking the report and responding to worldwide debates on education, the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre and Centre for International Education Research will host a webinar on education in a time of COVID-19.

Speakers will include:

• Dr Koumbou Boly Barry, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education
• Professor Allyson Pollock, Director of the Newcastle University Centre for Excellence in Regulatory Science; member of Independent SAGE and co-author of ‘When Should a School Reopen? 
• Professor Simon McGrath, UNESCO Chair in International Education and Development, University of Nottingham; member of DFID’s Scientific Advisory Group

The webinar will take place at 12:00-13:30 (BST) on 10 July 2020.

Key questions addressed will include: how has COVID-19 affected education and the right to education? What standards should be applied – and should not – when considering the education measures taken by states when faced with a public health crisis? How can the rights of learners, education workers, parents and the broader community best be secured? How should education systems be reconceptualised to render them more resilient in the face of future public health crises?

Professor Aoife Nolan, Co-Director of the UoN Human Rights Law Centre, will chair the event.

To register, please click here.