Season 1 Episode 6

This episode continues the conversation begun in Episode 5 with Professor Anita Rampal, former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Delhi University. We further discuss the growing ascendency of ‘non-state actors’ in Indian education, with a focus on the push for the use of technology in teaching and assessment. In India, educational technology is today widely embraced as a means of ‘democratising’ education for the poorest. There has been an impetus from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and NITI Aayog for increased use of artificial intelligence, digital platforms, machine learning and adaptive assessment of students. Anita discusses several ethical issues raised by the push for the use of technology in education and for learning assessments, including:

• The resort to online delivery of education in India during the pandemic and the resulting abandonment of “offline” children
• The relationship between the growing legitimacy of online education and the further erosion or dismantling of the public education system
• Issues posed by technology for the privacy of teachers and students
• Online adaptive or algorithmic assessments, ‘datafication’ of children, and the problems of so-called ‘personalised assessment’ for students and teachers
• The OECD and the regime of international large-scale learning assessments, its ‘for profit’ partners, and the risk of a narrow or impoverished conception of the scope of learning, curriculum, and assessment
• UNESCO’s shifting discourse on the ‘quality of education’ Other themes discussed include the ‘Happiness’ curriculum of Delhi schools and other initiatives such as entrepreneurship education, and the implications of the new thrust to promote ‘Ancient Knowledge Systems’ for public schooling and the right to education.

Recommended readings:

• Arnove, R (ed.). 1980. Philanthropy and cultural imperialism: The foundations at home and abroad. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall.
• OECD and Pisa tests are damaging education worldwide (An open letter to Andreas Schleicher, Director of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment)
• Rampal, A. 2023. Dataveillance of children. Seminar, No. 765, May 2023.
• UNESCO. 2004. Education for all: the quality imperative; EFA global monitoring report 2005; summary. Paris, UNESCO.