LAHORE -ASER South Asia, a hub of the People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network, comprising ASER Bangladesh, ASER India, ASER Nepal and ASER Pakistan, hosted a webinar on “Understanding foundational numeracy: South Asian perspectives on ICAN, a new global tool” on August 10, 2020.
The panelists for the webinar included Asif Saleh, Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh; Rukmini Banerji, CEO Pratham; Shehzad Jeeva, Chairman The Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) Pakistan; and Marguerite Clarke, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank, New Delhi. The discussion was moderated by Ramya Vivekandan, Senior Education Specialist, Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
South Asia is the only region that does not already have a common assessment. Hence, the webinar aimed at advocating for a common regional tool that can be used in diverse contexts (school, household, refugee campsetc) and is particularly important in the post-COVID era when we will see learning loss and increasing equity gaps.
The webinar began with a presentation on the International Common Assessment of Numeracy (ICAN) report, explaining the Citizen-led Assessment (CLA) approach and its relevance for the Global South.