Education as a Marketplace: What Entrepreneurs can Learn from Research on Pakistan’s Education Sector
Asim Khwaja, Professor of Public Policy, Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Professor of International Finance and Development. Faculty chair of the MPA/ID program, Harvard Kennedy School
Mariam Chughtai, Doctoral Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Education
In the fourth and final Video Conference for the academic year, Professor Asim Khwaja and Mariam Chughtai engaged in a lively discussion across sites in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Meena Hewett, SAI Executive Director, welcomed the participants and thanked the Aman Foundation, the Higher Education Commission and the Harvard Pakistan Student Group for their contributions during the year in enabling this new SAI series of Video Conferences across the South Asian region.
Mariam Chughtai presented her doctoral research on the politics of identity formation via the curriculum and then Professor Khwaja gave an overview of his research on Pakistan’s Education sector – he moved quickly to a thoroughly engaging discussion and Q&A session with the diverse audience making it clear at the start that many in the audience such as academics at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) were incredibly informed participants so he wanted to engage in a genuine dialogue with them.
The questions and comments came from Video Conference sites across Pakistan and via an active Twitter feed. As one participant later shared thoughts on the value of the Video Conference, ‘The session was very informative and enlightening. Response to audience’s question was elaborative and I found it quite educative’, Muhammad Memon, The Hamid al Din al Kirmani Professor, AKU-IED.
We look forward to a new series of Video Conferences beginning in Fall 2013 and for enabling the presentation and wide sharing of research findings of Harvard academics across South Asia.
A recording of this event is available here.
Co-sponsored with the Harvard Pakistan Student Group.
Readings:
LEAPS Report Executive Summary
Twitter #SAIEd and Event Facebook page.
South Asia Institute website,SAI Facebook page, HPSG Facebook page