The Seminar on “Moving from Equality towards Equity in Education” was held on 28th April 2023 on the premises of Kathmandu University School of Arts, Balkumari, Lalitpur. There were altogether 11 participants, among which 7 were female and 4 were male.
The discussion started with the question ‘Equality of What?’ which is often considered as a major discourse across the world. The space within which to evaluate/measure equality is not vivid in different arenas. Different theories of equality have emerged over the period of time. In this seminar, we discussed equality from the perspective of Utilitarian and Rawalsian doctrine and how these focus on benefiting and providing justice to the majority, and yet, many get left out.
After discussing the concept of equality, we then further discussed the concept of equity provided by Amartya Sen’s i.e. “Basic Capability Equality”. This concept focuses on the importance of building individual capabilities and empowering individuals to pursue what they value and have reasons to value. Thereby ensuring justice and well-being of all through a) capability, b) opportunity, c) recognition and d)participation. The capability approach supports equity in that it emphasizes equalizing the outcomes.
To understand equality and equity in education, Elaine Unterhalter’s perspective on equity was discussed and it mainly explained, what does equity from above, equity from middle and equity from below stands for education. UNESCO conceptual framework and National conceptual framework for equity were further discussed and they have been implemented to measure equity in education.
