Moderating the panel of young experts at the 2024 Yidan Prize Summit was an honor and a point of deep reflection for me. I felt safe and supported as an “aging learner” to know that Dr Vee Kativhu, Arshdeep (Arsh) Singh Randhawa, and Shakila Rehman are now part of my global social support network.
I also felt like weeping to think that these committed and determined leaders face the immense pressure of being ‘the outliers’ among their peers, rather than the norm. They should be part of an engine of millions of young people driving education innovation alongside a diverse group of educators. And navigate a world where, as Dr Charles CHEN Yidan observed, unpredictability is the only thing that’s predictable.
I learned so much from this conversation, but will try to condense that learning into three takeaways and one personal resolution.
There are nearly as many definitions of resilience as there are individuals. I have been reflecting on what resilience is not, as I wholeheartedly agree with Vee’s observation: “I struggle with the term ‘resilience’, because it suggests that students have to have something within them, some kind of grit — I reject that notion. Resilience shouldn’t be a space we sit in forever, but when we do need that space, we’re prepared for it.”
Resilience is not:
Resilience is developed over time by learners, by educators, and by individuals transforming systems.
It’s more than bouncing back from adversity. I loved Arsh’s reflection that you can only know if you’ve been resilient after the fact; if you’ve gone into the unpredictable/uncontrollable and you’ve come out alive, striving, different, better, then you’ve shown resilience. Shakila echoed this when she said, “I’m stronger than before; every difficult situation shapes your life.”
While hardship is part of the human experience, how do we ensure it doesn’t become the norm, with young people pushed into constant survival mode, and feeling like failures if they aren’t “resilient enough” — when it’s the system failing them, not them failing the system?
To quote Vee: “Education should be safe, loving, peaceful — a space where you’re not enduring.”
This is where community comes in. And it’s non-negotiable.
Resilience becomes a negative concept when it’s pushed onto individuals to prop up broken systems. Instead, we need to create safe spaces without fear, foster a sense of belonging, and build an ecosystem of support around each child. Arsh outlined his vision of every student getting the individualized help they need. Vee emphasized the extra support required by girls who fear gender-based violence, sexual assault, and are worried they don’t belong in the classroom because of their gender. Together, as Shakila’s powerful poem suggested, we can “step into our collective power.”
All three leaders made it clear that individual resilience must be complemented by adequate support and resources — it’s a community effort. As Vee pointed out, when disasters strike, we need to collectively ensure that students are prepared in a way that is sustainable, equitable, and respects their agency.
Hence the Summit addressed resilience not just among learners, but also teachers and education systems. And that, as Alicia Herbert prefaced in her keynote, is about more effective investment and embedding innovations in government education systems.
Our panel made it clear that we need to look to young people to co-create those innovations, so that learning adapts and continues, no matter the circumstances.
In 2024, I reached the age of 45 — the age at which I can no longer stand for elected office in the CAMFED Association of women leaders educated with CAMFED support. It’s one of the many ways we ensure that young people drive the agenda; and that their contribution is centered in our work, rather than a tick-box exercise that doesn’t allow space for their insights, expertise, and leadership.
That leadership starts with young people co-creating education innovations which serve the needs of the most marginalized students. “Sitting down with students and understanding their needs is a lengthy process but will pay dividends,” as Arsh points out. His English teacher, who took the time to coach him in his writing until he excelled and became a coach and mentor for other students, was his guiding light.
Vee, on the other hand, was driven by outrage, sparked by a teacher denying her the support she asked for to excel. That teacher, in turn, clearly did not have the support she needed to do the best for her students — she may have been driven by fear, or overwhelm. Vee told a story of playing with the cards stacked against her, while a single individual was able to stack the deck in Arsh’s favor.
Neither route is equitable or sustainable. As Arsh pointed out, we need “unconventional methods to get unconventional results.” For Vee that means doing away with conventional education — created for students but without them, and which doesn’t engage or prepare them with the skills they need to thrive. We want students to “not only thrive but exist loudly in education systems.” And research has shown time and again that when we build systems with and for the most marginalized, they work for everyone.
Young leaders are tired — tired of swimming against the tide, tired of being asked into a room as a nod to inclusion, but not truly being listened to. As Vee explained, “Often people say, we want young people at the table, we need young people represented, but we don’t have young people’s voices in the co-creation process… You need to speak to young people to understand what they want, what they need, and how they best learn.”
Arsh asked a simple question: “Why just have one teacher teach a class when you can have students teach a class?”
The upshot here is that including young people as we remake education systems fit to tackle the many challenges we face around the globe isn't doing them some kind of favor. We need young people — digital natives — to co-develop solutions borne out of lived experience and technical expertise. I can feel challenged and intimidated by new technologies. That’s why I felt a huge sense of relief when Vee reassured me: “It’s OK if you don’t know, you just have to ask us — we’re here!”
As CEO of CAMFED, I oversee the work and the partnerships — with school communities, education authorities, ministries, funders, and champions — that allow us to go further, faster, and do better for this generation of the most disadvantaged girls. And that work includes co-creation with young people, and leadership by young people — in the classroom, in their communities, and in policy-making spaces.
It can be exhausting to steer against a tide that focuses on individuals rather than the collective, because only collective resilience and collective action will help us accelerate towards the SDGs, with gender equity at the core. So every time I accept an invitation to represent our movement (when it has to be me), I will insist on bringing a young leader with me. Not because they need me, but because the world and I can’t deliver the change we need without them.
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Angeline Murimirwa
2020 Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureate; CEO, CAMFED