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Dr Manjuma Akhtar Mousumi

ড. মাঞ্জুমা আখতার মৌসুমী

Assistant Professor & Head of Academics

manjuma.akhtar@bracu.ac.bd


Brief Bio:

Dr Manjuma Akhtar Mousumi is Assistant Professor and Head of Academics. She mainly teaches the Master of Education/Post-Graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership & School Improvement. Dr Mousumi also teaches Open Society University Network GLOBALED courses in collaboration with the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyz Republic), Central European University (Hungary), and the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa). She has also served as a guest speaker/lecturer at Kanazawa University (Japan), Hiroshima University (Japan) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (India). At the institute, Dr. Mousumi played a key role in establishing the Learning Lab — a platform dedicated to offering short courses and webinars. Prior to this, she served as the lead for the Professional Development Centre, an initiative of BRAC University, housed at BRAC IED. Her research interests are focused on education, development, social equity, and social justice, particularly for minority and marginalised communities. Dr Mousumi is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of International Cooperation in Education, and serves on the Board for the Comparative Education Society of Asia. Dr Mousumi completed her Bachelor of Arts in English from East West University, Bangladesh, followed by a Master of Arts in Education and Doctoral degree from Hiroshima University, Japan.

Areas of Specialization

Comparative education, Sociology of education, Gender and education, and decolonising educational research

Research Interests

education, development, social equity, and social justice, particularly for minority and marginalised communities

Publications

  • Chowdhury P., Mousumi, M. A. (2024). School choice in rural Odisha, India: Understanding from a multi-stakeholder perspective, Prospects. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-024-09694-9

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2022). Access and equity: What do we know about government primary school students’ remote learning experience during school closures in Bangladesh? Journal of International Cooperation in Education https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-07-2022-0018

  • Mousumi, M.A. and Kusakabe, T. (2022) Private school choice among Muslim parents: the public–private school decision in Delhi, India. London Review of Education, 20 (1), 26. https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/LRE.20.1.25

  • Mousumi, M. A., and Kusakabe, T. (2019). Low-fee private schooling: Poor households’ struggle to support their children’s school attendance in unauthorised colonies in Delhi, India, Journal of School Choice, 14 (2), 280-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2019.1686594

  • Mousumi, M. A., and Kusakabe, T. (2019). The dilemmas of school choice: Do parents really ‘choose’ low-fee private schools in Delhi, India? Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 49 (2), 230-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017

  • Mousumi, M. A., and Kusakabe, T. (2017). The dynamics of supply and demand chain of English-medium schools in Bangladesh, Globalisation, Societies and Education, 15 (5), 679-693. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2016.1223537.

  • Mousumi, M. A., and Kusakabe, T. (2016). Proliferating English-medium schools in Bangladesh: Their educational significance among the “clientele”. Journal of International Development and Cooperation, 23 (1 & 2), 1-13

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2022). Government primary school teachers’ online teaching experience in Bangladesh: Challenges and opportunities. In M. S. Khine & Y. Liu (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Innovations and Practices in Asia (pp. 531-550). Springer Nature

  • Mousumi, M. A., and Kusakabe, T. (2020). Education system in Bangladesh. In P. M. Sarangapani & R. Pappu (Eds.), Global Education Systems: Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia (pp. 443-473). Springer Nature

  • Franco, I. B., dos Muchangos, L., Okitasari, M., Mishra, R., Mousumi, M. A., Nguyen, A., and Kanie, N. (2018). Gender Mainstreaming in the 2030 Agenda: A Focus on Education and Responsible Consumption & Production. UNU-IAS Policy Brief series. United Nations University.https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6567/UNU-IAS-PB-No15-2018.pdf

  • Mousumi, M.A. (2021). Barriers to secondary education in Bangladesh. In Smith, W.C., Voigt, A. & Zhang, Y. (Eds.), Barriers to secondary education in Asia pacific region: A scoping review of four countries. Edinburgh, UK: University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/mh-ceid-ap-full-report.pdf

  • Mousumi, M.A., Saha, S., Rashid, M., Farah, F. M. and Masud, A. (2019). Rohingya Adolescents-Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Refugee Camps: A Qualitative Exploration to Understand the Issues that Affect their Lives, BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED), BRAC University, 1-40.

  • Mousumi, M.A. and Rashid, M. (2019). Exploring EdTech Initiatives for BRAC Education Programs. BRAC Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University.

  • Mousumi, M.A. (2017). Diversified Human Resource Development of English-Medium Schools in South Asian Countries: The Indo-Bangladesh Context. Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Japan.

  • Prothom Alo (10 October, 2023). উন্নত জীবনের জন্যই প্রয়োজন মানসিক স্বাস্থ্যশিক্ষা https://www.prothomalo.com/opinion/column/b7ezcdjmhd

  • The Business Standard (10 October 2023). Rethinking mental health education in Bangladesh: A path to well-being. https://www.tbsnews.net/thoughts/rethinking-mental-health-education-bangladesh-path-well-being-715730

  • The Daily Star (2018) “Equal rights ensure a strong society” (Manjuma Akhtar Mousumi, Sarvajaya Choudhury and Isabel B. Franco) https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/human-rights/equal-rights-ensure-strong-society-1565476

  • Chowdhury, P., Mousumi, M. A., and Kumar, A. (under review). Analysing caste and class dynamics of school choice in India

Conferences/Workshops
  • Mousumi, M.A. (November 24-26, 2023). Caste, schooling and parental aspirations in Delhi, India, Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA), Hiroshima, Japan.

  • Mousumi, M.A. (April 18-22, 2022). How teachers transitioned to online teaching in public and private schools in Bangladesh? Challenges and opportunities, The 66th Annual Conference of Comparative and International Education (CIES), Minneapolis, United States of America.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (November 25-27, 2021). Access to Secondary Education in the Asia Pacific Region: Marginalized Pupils in Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and the Philippines, The 13th Asian Conference on Education (ACE), Tokyo, Japan.

  • Mousumi, M.A., Saha, S., Rashid. M., Masud, A. A. (2019, 28 July). Psychosocial and Mental Health Issues of Rohingya Adolescents in Bangladesh Refugee Camps: A Qualitative Study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Rohingya Crisis in Bangladesh: Challenges and Sustainable Solutions North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  • Saha, S., Mousumi, M.A., Rashid, M., Masud, A. A. (2019, 28 July). Rohingya Adolescents- Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Bangladeshi Refugee Camps: A Qualitative Exploration to Understand the Issues that Affect their lives. Paper presented at the International Conference on Rohingya Crisis in Bangladesh: Challenges and Sustainable Solutions, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2019, April 14-18). Low-Fee Private Schooling: Poor Households’ Struggle in Supporting their Children in Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi, India, The 63rd Annual Conference of Comparative and International Education (CIES), San Francisco, United States of America.

  • Mousumi, M. A., (2017, June 23-25). The Rise of Private School Markets and Parental Choice: Cases from Dhaka, Bangladesh and Delhi, India. The 53rdJapan Comparative Education Society (JCES), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2016, November 26-27). School Choice: The Marketing Mechanism and Parental Demand of Private English-Medium Schools in Delhi, India. The 27th Annual Conference of the Japan Society for International Development (JASID), Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2016, November 22-23). Private School Choice of Muslim Community in Delhi, India. The 2nd Knowledge Sharing Seminar for Development of Inclusive Education System for Learning Improvement [(CICE), (UNESCO), (UNU), (JICA), (MEXT)]. Indonesia University of Education (UPI), Bandung, Indonesia.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2016, June 24-26). Comparing the Dynamics of the Supply and Demand Chain of Private English-Medium Schools in South Asia: The Indo-Bangladesh Context. The 52nd Japan Comparative Education Society (JCES), Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

  • Mousumi M. A. (2016, January 28-30). English-Medium Schools as a New Phenomenon in the Educational Landscape of Bangladesh. Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA), De La Salle University, Manila, The Philippines.

  • Mousumi, M. A., & Kusakabe, T. (2015, December 2). Discourses on Educational Disparity: The Case of Low-Fee Private Schools in India. The Knowledge Sharing Seminar for Development of Inclusive Education System for Learning Improvement [(CICE), (UNESCO), (UNU) (JICA), (MEXT)], Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2013, December 14-15). The Life Course Analysis of English-Medium Students in Bangladesh: The Case of O’ Level Students. International Education Development Forum (IEDF), Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

  • Invited Presentations:

  • Mousumi, M.A. (2019, 4-5 November). Determinants of private school choice of Muslim parents: The public-private decision about school choice in Delhi, India. 3rd Symposium on Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University, Indiana, USA.

  • Mousumi, M.A. (2019, 1-3 August). School Education System of Bangladesh. International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TATA Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru, India.

  • Mousumi, M. A., & Kusakabe, T. (2019, January 9-13). Low-Fee Private Schooling: Poor Households’ Struggle in Supporting their Children in Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi, India, The Worldwide Findings Circulation Seminar for Learning Improvement for All [(CICE), (UNESCO)], Bangkok, Thailand.

  • Mousumi, M. A. (2019, April 30). Rohingya Adolescents-Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Refugee Camps: A Qualitative Exploration to Understand the Issues that Affect their Lives, Reflection on Rohingya Crisis: Since and Beyond, BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  • Mousumi, M. A., & Kusakabe, T. (2018, January 9-13). The Dilemmas of School Choice: Do Parents Really ‘Choose’ Low-Fee Private Schools in Delhi, India? Sustainable and Inclusive System Model for Educational Improvement [Funded by (CICE), (UNESCO), (UNU), (JICA), (MEXT)]. Organized by United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo, Japan.

  • Mousumi, M. A., & Kusakabe, T. (2016, July 29). Examining the Trends, Emergence, and Demand of Private English-Medium Schools in Bangladesh and India: Understanding from Two Countries' Perspective.第49回　アジア教育研究会 (The 49thAsia Education Research Meeting) Kobe University, Kobe, Japan.

  • Role: Panelist Date: 14 December, 2022 Title: Most vulnerable to most valuable: A scoping study to put young children at the heart of environmental climate change actions Organised by: ARNEC https://arnec.net/events/webinar-launch-most-vulnerable-most-valuable-scoping-study-put-young-children-heart-climate

  • Role: Panelist Date: February 16, 2021 Title: Non-State Actors in Education Organised by: Comparative Education and International Development (CEID) Research group, Moray House School of Education & Sport, University of Edinburgh https://www.ukfiet.org/events/non-state-actors-in-education-a-discussion-with-unescos-global-education-monitoring-report/

  • Role: Expert Panelist-Reviewed research papers on Growth mindset initiative Date: Jan-Feb 2021. Organised by: Yidan/OECD, The Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute, USA https://txbspi.prc.utexas.edu/yidan-prize-oecd-practitioner-panelists/

  • Role: Participant. Date: 18 November 2020 Title: Coherent and Resilient Education Systems Post-COVID: Championing Proactive Policy Making Organized by: Global Online Learning Alliance (GOLA) in partnership with Cambridge. https://www.cambridge.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Cambridge_GOLA_Report_181120_002.pdf