Category: 2025 UKFIET Conference - Page 2 - The Education and Development Forum (UKFIET)

When education defies the odds: Higher education in Myanmar amid the ongoing political unrest

by Lin Wai Phyo | Feb 4, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Education and Conflict, Higher Education and Skills

Following the 2021 coup d’état, Myanmar’s higher education has been mired in political unrest. Public universities eventually resumed their operations, yet the attendance is relatively low, with students and academics living under the thumb of stringent control and surveillance. Read More

From universal frameworks to relational futures: A decolonial reflection on international education

by Kate Matzopoulos | Feb 2, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, SDGs

Walking through the sessions at the UKFIET education conferences, it’s hard not to notice a pattern. Regardless of the focus of the presentation, many of them begin and are framed by the same reference point — the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over time, this repetition begins to feel… Read More

Learning together to prevent violence in education: Reflections from UKFIET 2025 conference

by Steven Kaindaneh | Jan 29, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Learning

My aim for attending the conference was to share findings and lessons from a recently concluded study on school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) from the perspectives of children with disabilities in Sierra Leone. My second objective was to learn from what other researchers and practitioners were doing to understand violence in… Read More

Drivers of effectiveness in education systems: An UKFIET panel on the role of the middle tier in implementing education change

by Sam Awuku, Deborah Kimathi, Siddesh Sarma, Modern Karema, Yue-Yi Hwa and Kholosa Nonkenge | Jan 26, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Policymaking

There is increasing attention on the role of middle-tier officials – education system intermediaries between top decisionmakers and schools, who typically sit at the state, district, subdistrict level or similar – in implementing education policies at scale. Read More

Shared commitment to scale impact: Reflections from UKFIET 2025 conference

by Lillian Viko | Jan 21, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

When I attended the UKFIET Conference in 2025, it was my first time participating, and I could not wait to connect with people who care as deeply about education as I do. I felt genuinely excited and hopeful because the discussions reflected the issues I navigate every day in my… Read More

Mokoro reflections from the UKFIET Conference 2025

by Lavinia Blundo | Jan 19, 2026 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

Three themes emerged: the need for joined responses across actors, the value of multi-layered and locally grounded approaches, and the importance of building and using stronger evidence to inform action. Read More

Are our partnerships really opening doors for refugee students, or just moving the borders?

by Mir Abdullah Miri, Corinne Squire and Holly Rooke | Dec 15, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Education and Migration, Higher Education and Skills

‘Nothing about us without us’, a principle invoked in many struggles for social justice, only works if we mean it. When we talked with people from refugee backgrounds and those working with them for our research (‘It’s not just opening the doors’: Challenges and possibilities for refugees’ access to higher… Read More

Reflections on UKFIET 2025 Conference

by UKFIET | Dec 11, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

From 16-18 September 2025, over 750 participants from 66 countries gathered in Oxford for our biennial conference, under the theme: ‘Mobilising knowledge, partnerships, and innovations for sustainable development through education and training’. Read More

Why collaboration matters: Personal reflections from British Asian Trust’s journey in convening outcome-based partnerships

by Shraddha Iyer | Dec 11, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Aid and Finance

This blog was written by Shraddha Iyer, British Asian Trust. For the 2025 UKFIET conference, a record 37 individuals from 15 countries, including Shraddha, were provided with...

Relational ecologies of knowledge and practice

by Moira V Faul, Keith Holmes, Catherine Odora Hoppers, Prachi Srivastava and Leon Tikly | Dec 9, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Decolonisation, Learning

Struggles for cognitive justice continue to shape everyday practice in education and research. A workshop envisioned new, reparative ways of knowing and being together that prioritize community knowledges and contextual epistemologies, equitable resource distribution, and ethical funding and publication pipelines. Read More

Removing the Extra from Extracurricular: Reimagining Activities as Core Catalysts for Classroom Connection

by Yajur Dolwani | Dec 8, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Learning

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) have long been seen as add-ons to schooling. But what if these activities are actually the key to forging deeper peer connections, boosting student participation, and creating classrooms where every voice is heard and valued? Read More

Why children’s literature belongs in conversations on education and inclusion

by Deepali Agarwal | Dec 1, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Literacy and Numeracy

Access to rich and engaging literature at home is a severe gap for Global South populations, with studies suggesting that access to children’s literature in India is limited to 1 book available for 5 children in urban areas, and 1 book available for every 11 children in rural areas. In… Read More