Strengthening the education workforce for inclusive and equitable quality education

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the progress that countries have made towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 of “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Physical school closure has shifted face-to-face lessons to online and remote lessons; the latter requiring an ecosystem of infrastructure, digital devices, and home environment and support. Students from vulnerable groups (special learning needs, low socioeconomic income families, remote locations, ethnic minorities, and girls) often do not have access to such an ecosystem. Based on case studies in South-East Asia, this presentation explains the pivotal role of the education workforce for inclusive and equitable quality education (online, face-to-face or blended) and discusses how their capacity could be built by designing their professional development for scale, and localising for inclusion. Copyright © 2021 EducFrontiers.