The Institute of Informatics and Development (IID) presented their findings at the “Education and Activism Redux I” session during the 68th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) on March 7th, 2024. Their study, titled “Exploring the Nexus: Policy Modifications and Student-Led Protests in the Bangladeshi Education Landscape,” investigated the relationship between student protests and changes in educational policy in Bangladesh. It covered key movements, including the No VAT on Education, quota reform, the Safe Road movement, and debates on the HSC examination postponement, emphasising their impact on policy reform.
Md. Zarif Rahman of IID, who chaired the session, led the research that connected these movements to historical events, such as the Language Movement of 1952 and the Liberation War of 1971, indicating a history of student activism. Additionally, the research examined societal and structural factors leading to these movements, informed by findings from IID’s Resilience study. Aruja Islam from IID supported the research initiative as a co-author.
Academicians and researchers from different universities and institutions like the University of Virginia, the University of Oxford, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Shandong University of China, and Creative Associates International are discussing student movements in various contexts, including the push for lower education costs in Chile, the role of CSOs in supporting primary schools to make their students resilient in post-conflict settings in Northern Ethiopia, the sociological significance of the phenomenon of online class blasting in China, etc.
Supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), IID’s presentation at the CIES conference sought to provide insights into the dynamics of student activism in Bangladesh and its effect on education policy, in line with the conference’s theme of “The Power of Protest.”
