Analyzing resilience in South and Southeast Asian education systems: Addressing structural inequities alongside ecological and political disruptions

• In Event: Regional perspectives on education system resilience: Insights from the Pacific, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean

Proposal

Education systems across South and Southeast Asia are navigating an increasingly complex landscape of disruptions, from climate disasters and political conflicts to structural inequities, affecting students’ learning experiences. Drawing on data from peer-reviewed studies and international organizations’ reports, this presentation analyzes how countries in the region are developing resilience practices to respond to these challenges. We examine whether national education systems are "absorptive, adaptive, or transformative" in their responses to disruptions (Jeans et al., 2017) and whether and how they utilize context-specific strategies.

A country’s vulnerability to one form of disruption frequently leads to its exposure to others, generating an intertwined set of challenges. For instance, an ecological event like a flood can trigger a socio-economic crisis, forcing children, particularly girls, to abandon their education for labor or early marriage. The analysis also shows that resilience is not a single quality–an education system may possess significant strength in rebuilding physical infrastructure after a disaster, yet remains profoundly vulnerable to systemic issues, such as the lack of necessary digital infrastructure to assist students during a health crisis, like the case of Indonesia. This vulnerability is often rooted in pre-existing social and economic inequalities that crises amplify, highlighting the contradictory nature of resilience in regions facing a diverse range of shocks.

The analysis also identifies different resilience practices implemented across the region. Some are reactive, such as emergency education and the establishment of community-based classrooms (e.g., Afghanistan), which help ensure learning continuity in areas affected by political conflicts. Others are more proactive (e.g., Timor-Leste; Bhutan), including integrating climate literacy into national curricula and developing guidelines for climate-resilient school infrastructure. There are also transformative practices that aim to address the root causes of vulnerability, such as reforming policies to promote gender equity, bridging the digital divide, and providing targeted financial support to keep at-risk students in school (e.g., Nepal and Cambodia). However, a persistent challenge is the tendency to prioritize temporary, emergency-focused interventions over the long-term, systemic reforms needed for sustainable resilience.

Building a resilient education system requires a holistic approach that moves beyond simply surviving a crisis. In that process, education itself is both a victim of and a powerful tool for resilience. A system that can adapt and transform in the face of crisis at all levels (e.g., structures, teachers/teaching, students/learning)—by empowering students with climate literacy, ensuring vulnerable and marginalized populations are included in learning, and addressing the root cause of inequities—is a system that can contribute to a more stable, equitable, and sustainable future for the entire region.

Authors

• Vu Phuc Phuong Dao, University of Minnesota

• Joan DeJaeghere, University of Minnesota