Interlocking inequalities, conflicts, and crises: COVID-19 and education in the Global South

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal of Education takes the COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point to interrogate and reflect critically on how crises and pandemics interlock with, and impact on, education in contexts of substantial existing inequities, particularly those in the Global South. We sought contributions that evaluate how pandemics and crises have impacted education choices, the manner in which education decisions have been taken, and how these exacerbate or disrupt existing inequalities. This special issue provides a critical space for reflection on how the pandemic and crises in general afford us an opportunity to rethink and reimagine the purposes and values of education. The pandemic, devastating as it is, is also a wakeup call to deliberate on alternative education imaginaries. Articles in this issue provide critically reflective and empirically grounded perspectives on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other interlocking pandemics and crises that affect education in the Global South.