19 Mar 2025
A stated objective in the Digital Education in the Global South research theme is around engaging explicitly with marginalisation. Nowhere is that marginalisation more manifest than with refugee populations and how their search for higher education can be compounded with the increasing reliance of the sector on digital technology. So there are two news items here that begin to demonstrate how we are approaching this at the Centre.
The first is an upcoming hybrid event on refugee education hosted by Makerere University titled "Policy, practice, and accreditation: towards connected refugee education HEAC models". The two day event ran from 26-27 March starting at 9:00AM EAT and explores the role that the higher education access certificate (HEAC) might have in refugee education in Uganda, and what role digital education might have in that context. It is hybrid, which means there will be an opportunity to participate online. Download the itinerary to see the schedule. Contact Dr Michael Gallagher if you have any questions or comments at michael.s.gallagher@ed.ac.uk.
The second is a new special issue titled Connected Learning in Contexts of Forced Displacement. It is edited by Dr Koula Charitonos from the Institute of Educational Technology, Open University, and our own Centre members Dr Rovincer Najjuma and Dr Michael Gallagher. Connected learning is becoming an appealing form of educational provision in low-resource or marginalised contexts where more formal systems of education, which are often under-resourced themselves, struggle to absorb those forcibly displaced. As such, this special issue explores potential models of connected learning that speak these challenging conditions: by exploring the role of leveraging African orality in education in emergencies in Niger (Class et al. 2025), the experiences of studying on a connected learning programme in the Dadaab refugee settlement in Kenya (Leomoi, 2025), or the role of a digital commons in establishing and maintaining connectedness in an otherwise destabilised context in Palestine (Scott et al. 2025), to name but a few. The Digital Education in the Global South research theme will be hosting online events with the authors in June to showcase this special issue so more to come there.