The outbreak of the pandemic of COVID19 has brought unprecedented problems for the mankind, and educationists have their task cut out to deal with these prominent challenges being faced by the humanity. This was stated by Dr Marta Hawkins, founder of In-Light-Of, London, during a webinar on global management education in post-COVID19 times, conducted by the Directorate of International Affairs of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in association with Academy of Management, USA, and Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana. The webinar, which was attended by 120 participants from across the world, witnessed rigorous deliberations on various facets of the global education during and after the pandemic.
The webinar was chaired by Prof. Mahesh Verma, vice-chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha Universit. In his presidential address, Prof. Verma emphasized on the need for academic administrators to deal with the contemporary challenge in an equitable way so that the students from developing and underdeveloped countries do not suffer. He highlighted the steps being taken by academic institutions across the world to address the academic, logistics, and examination related problems. Ms Cyndi McLeod, CEO of the Global University Systems, maintained that the global education is bound to be disrupted by the pandemic. She stressed upon the need to use internet and other technologies for the purpose of sustainability in education. Using the case of her own organization, she elaborated how educational institutions are adapting to the situation by providing digital solutions to the students around the world. Dr Marta Hawkins questioned the narrative of calling the contemporary situation as a ‘new normal’. She argued that the situation of job losses, starvation, inequality, racism, and regionalism cannot be termed as ‘normal’ in any way, and the efforts to term it as ‘new normal’ are part of a fascist conspiracy. Prof Anubha Kaushik, Director, International Affairs of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, raised the challenges being faced by researchers and academic collaborators during the times of social distancing. She also highlighted the environmental issues of the corona virus situation. Dr Gagan Deep Sharma, representative of the Critical Management Studies division of the Academy of Management, built a case for looking at the ongoing situation with a lens of criticality so that what doesn’t meet the naked eye can also be understood. Citing the example of George Floyd, he criticized the growing onslaught of racism against the underprivileged in the name of ‘nationalism’. Dr Kathleen Riach from University of Glasgow illustrated the themes that researchers may try to address for fighting the crisis being faced. Dr Ajay Sharma from Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, focused on the economic challenges being faced by the world due to the ongoing crisis. He highlighted that the developing economies may use this situation as an opportunity to excel in the new global economic order. Dr Sanchita Bansal from University School of Management Studies, contextualized the COVID19 pandemic in relation with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. She asserted that this situation may push the world backward in terms of sustainability, if proactive actions are not taken immediately. Ms Mrinalini Srivastava indicated how educationists need to respond to the crisis by updating the course curriculum to bring more inter-disciplinarily. Ms Mansi Jain moderated the questions of the audience, and highlighted the importance social responsibility of educators in serving various sections of the society in these critical times.