Improving education needs the right kind of political strategies
The elections held in the US in the first week of November this year had state and local representatives, including two governors, mayors and school board members, up for selection. The governor's election in the state of Virginia attracted national attention, because polls showed a close race between the Democrats and the Republicans. Another distinction of the Virginia race was that school education became a major election issue.
In the context of the education response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the growing prominence of the "culture war" pertaining to identity, values, and raising the next generation, politics of education has become an area of contention across the globe. Bangladesh is no exception.
Education advocates and academics would like to see that education rises higher on the political agenda of a nation, so that the problems related to education get the necessary public and political attention. The friends of education may get more than they bargain for, when education issues are caught up in the larger political controversies of society.
In Virginia, Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin released an advertisement featuring a mother complaining about her son having to read, in a high school English course, the novel "Beloved" by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison. The novel depicted the horrors of slavery and the black experience in the US. Youngkin made it an issue of parental choice and control over their children's education. The Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe argued that parents' preferences may be diverse, which have to be considered, but decisions have to be made by the elected school board. Republican propaganda managed to paint McAuliffe as anti-parents to the conservative voters of Virginia, and he lost the election by a narrow margin.
Other education questions that stoked controversy in Virginia and elsewhere were CRT, DEI, SEL parental say, and protection measures against the pandemic. CRT means Critical Race Theory, a concept that suggests that racism in society should be a subject of study in academia. DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion, which should guide education content and management. Its importance has come to the fore as a response to the Covid-19 impact on education, but it is difficult to agree on what exactly may be done about it. The protection measures against the pandemic in schools, including wearing masks and vaccination, have become highly politicised—the Republicans, particularly the supporters of former President Donald Trump, look upon any state-prescribed requirements as infringement on parents' and citizens' rights.
Political observers suggest that the win for the Republican could be a clue as to what may come in the 2022 midterm elections, when the balance of power in Congress is up for grabs—and when 36 states hold gubernatorial elections. A Republican win may even pave the way for Trump contesting and returning to presidency in 2024.
In Bangladesh, tensions have arisen from time to time about selecting textbook contents and the political compromises made that went against the basic state principles enshrined in the constitution. Faith-based madrasa education, both with public funding support and privately in what is known as the Qawmi madrasas, have grown as a parallel system. The rapid growth of the madrasas happened after the fateful change of the political regime in 1975 that had halted the democratic evolution of the country. By some estimates, one-third of the students in school-level education are in madrasas, which do not prepare their students as productive workers and active citizens of a rapidly changing modern society.
Many words have been written about the political and policy priorities in education, and how politics have led us astray. The importance of reclaiming the fundamental values of secularism, democracy, socialism, and nationalism and what these concepts mean for education has been highlighted in a number of columns in this daily earlier this year.
In neighbouring India, the ruling BJP government has followed a staunchly Hindu nationalist agenda as a national policy, straying from the secularist principles of independent India. Its reflection in education is described as "saffronisation of education" that glorifies Hindu contributions to Indian history and aims to raise the next generation as patriots steeped in the Hindutva values.
There has been pushback against the ultra-nationalist political and educational agenda in India. The new National Education Policy of India announced in 2020 is based on a human capital rationale derived from the neoliberal approach, with the aim to make India a globally competitive economic superpower. It takes a stance that attempts to navigate between ideological positions and diverging objectives. The NEP reveals something of the complex political reality in any country, including India, where the ideological saffronisation priority may be in conflict with the global economic ambitions.
I have been working with two of my colleagues on a book on the persistent quality and equity problems of education in South Asia. We drew the conclusion that the political dynamics of decision-making in education ultimately determined if the right priorities would be chosen and if the decisions taken would be implemented. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, who wrote the foreword of the book, said: "Politics clearly matters … When institutions, various stakeholders such as teachers and parents, professional bodies, and committed leaders come into alignment—itself a political process—the chances of successful reform are greater."
Meaningful reform in education cannot happen without political backing, but it is a double-edged sword. As noted above, it can be a diversionary or even a destructive force. Education stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and the young people themselves, are powerful in numbers and can be the upholders and champions of education. They can be a formidable strength when they are united by a common vision, and when they harness their own energy and idealism toward fulfilling this vision. Turning them into a force for positive change is a worthy and difficult challenge, which also calls for a political strategy.
Dr Manzoor Ahmed is professor emeritus at Brac University.