NORRAG’s visit to China in early May
NORRAG accomplished a fruitful trip to China from 6th to 13th this May. This visit consisted of a series events including the launch event of the NORRAG News 54 (Chinese version) at Zhejiang Normal University, a seminar on Philanthropy and Education: Chinese Experience and Perspective in collaboration with the China Donors Roundtable, a seminar on SGD4 and International Education Policy at Peking University and other institution visits to local Chinese stakeholders in education and philanthropy.
Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua
On 7 May 2017, the Launch Event of the Chinese version of NORRAG News 54 was held in Jinhua at the Institute of International and Comparative Education of Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU). The Executive Director of NORRAG, Dr. Monks hosted the session with Dr. Zhang, the NORRAG News’ Chinese editor, and researcher at ZJNU This event marked the successful collaboration between NORRAG and Zhejiang Normal University for the publication of a contextualized Chinese version and demonstrated NORRAG’s continued efforts to disseminate timely, concise, critical analysis on education policy. This edition was the fifth edition of the Chinese version of NORRAG News and is now available online on the Institute of International and Comparative Education of Zhejiang Normal University website.
The Launch Event was the highlight of the International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative and 2030 SGDs in Education. This seminar included keynotes from Chinese and African scholars and officials. Prof. King from NORRAG gave a presentation on SDG4 and moderated the panel discussion on “Education Development and International Cooperation”, which focused on Chinese education policy in achieving 2030 agenda. The panel discussions on SDG4 and South-south cooperation in Education shed lights on the Chinese and African perspectives in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals relating to education and the respective roles of these two regions and their increasing collaboration.
China Donors Roundtable, Beijing
On 9 May, NORRAG contributed to a Seminar on Philanthropy in Education: Chinese Experience a
nd Perspectives, hosted by China Donors Roundtable (CDR) in Beijing. CDR is a Chinese network for grant-making organizations including NGOs and foundations in China. Established in 2015, CDR’s mandate is to facilitate cooperation among philanthropic organizations and contribute to the normalization of impact evaluation and project assessment in this domain in China.
Dr. Monks presented NORRAG and a case study of NORRAG’s collaboration in South Africa with the Centre for Researching Education and Labor based at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, focusing on Education, Skills and Labor Policy. The seminar covered topics areas of Chinese local NGOs’ experience in promoting education reform and early childhood development in rural China. The 21st Century Education Research Institute introduced its project on Local Education Innovation Award, which was a civil society effort to further promote innovation at the level of local public education systems in China. Representatives from Rural Education Action Plan (REAP) shared their research on a Trial Project for Healthy Growth of Infants and Young Children in Poor Rural Regions. More than 20 representatives from Chinese NGOs, think tanks and foundations participated in this event, including the Yifang Foundation, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Macao Tong Chai Charity Foundation, K2 Foundation, Sany Foundation and Jingyan Foundation.
Peking University, Beijing
On the next day, Dr. Monks was invited as a keynote speaker at the School of International Studies at Peking University. 30 professors and students from Peking University attended the seminar on the topic of The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Case of Education. Followed by a comprehensive introduction of NORRAG, Dr. Monks shared his insights on the current issues and debates regarding SDG4. The event concluded with a lively discussion between the audience and the speakers and students from the School of International Studies expressed great interests in NORRAG’s work in the field of international education policy and NORRAG’s future development agenda in China.
Meeting with Chinese organizations involved in philanthropy in education
In the context of NORRAG’s activities in Philanthropy in Education, the China visit was the occasion to meet with several local Chinese organizations in the domain of philanthropy and education, including, as indicated, the China Donors Roundtable, Beijing Normal University, the 21st Century Education Research Institute and the China Global Philanthropy Institute (CGPI) in China. CGPI is the first global philanthropy institute founded by Chinese and American philanthropists. CGPI is dedicated to advancing philanthropy in China and throughout the world by improving the professional standards of philanthropic education, strengthening international dialogue and cooperation, and promoting innovative reforms in global philanthropy. In these visits and presentations, NORRAG announced the launch of our symposium series Philanthropy in Education: Global Trends, Regional Differences and Diverse Perspectives and disseminated the Call for Papers for this conference, while successfully exploring possible partnerships to set up the China symposium in 2018.
With the launch of NORRAG’s symposium series Philanthropy in Education: Global Trends, Regional Differences and Diverse Perspectives, NORRAG very much looks forward to facilitating greater understanding and collaboration among key stakeholders in this domain and to provide contextualized experiences and perspectives from different parts of the world. The planned symposium in China is expected to be one of the highlights of the symposium series.