Deadline: 28-Feb-23
The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are seeking research proposals on policies and practices for building resilient education systems in Asia and the Pacific, with a focus on mitigating the impacts of disasters, violent conflicts, health crises, or other covariate shocks that can disrupt schooling in a country or a specific area of a country.
Prolonged education disruptions due to disasters, violent conflicts, and health crises can lead to permanent learning losses and increased student dropout rates that significantly undermine affected people’s lifetime earning capacity and broader economic development. As education disruptions are likely to become more frequent and severe due to factors such as climate change and pandemic threats, effective strategies for building resilient education systems are urgently needed to ensure that learning can continue in the face of shocks, students and educators receive adequate mental health and social services, and post-disruption planning is in place to facilitate rapid learning loss recovery.
Topics
Research proposals should focus on one of the following topics:
- Policies or practices to help maintain learning continuity for all children amid a disruption
- Ways to promote learning continuity and recovery among children of different vulnerability levels
- How to mobilize communities and parents to support learning continuity and recovery
- How to prepare teachers and school principals to address disruptions
- How to equip children to learn independently during disruptions
- How to deliver education services amid disruptions
- The importance of digitalization, digital infrastructure, and education technology (edtech) for maintaining learning continuity
- How to measure education system resilience
- As the world experiences more climate-induced disruptions, how school systems can adapt their infrastructure, teacher training, pedagogical technologies, curricula, and learning materials
- Ways to design accountability systems to enhance the responsiveness of local education agencies, teachers, and school principals during disruptions, addressing learning continuity and recovery
Funding Information
An honorarium of $5,000-$12,000 will be paid upon addressing the following requirements:
- Present initial research results during a conference in October 2023, to be held in-person in Tokyo if COVID-19 travel conditions allow or virtually. Travel, accommodation, and per diem to cover daily costs will be provided to one author per accepted paper. The participating author must be a citizen of an ADB member economy.
- Submit a draft full manuscript of no more than 10,000 words, excluding annexes, by November 2023
- Submit a revised final manuscript based on feedback from reviewers by December 2023
- Revise the manuscript further based on comments from journal reviewers, as requested
Eligibility Criteria
- Up to ten research proposals will be selected. Notifications of accepted proposals are expected to be sent by March 2023. The lead researcher or their affiliated institution will be contracted by ADBI as a consultant or research services provider. The lead researcher must be a citizen of an ADB member economy.
- Proposals must focus on a specific disruption. Comparative perspectives and country-specific submissions are also welcome. Quantitative analyses using primary or secondary data are welcome, as are analyses that document policy failures. Research methods should rigorously address causality where relevant. Theoretical papers are not welcome. Submissions from women researchers and researchers based in developing economies in Asia or the Pacific are encouraged.
For more information, visit Asian Development Bank.