CESI from the Lens of the Former Presidents

Prof Jandhyala B G Tilak
Former VC, NIEPA, New Delhi
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​“The Comparative Education Society of India, a constituent of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, originally formed in early 1979 had a brief but golden period, which was followed by a long lull.  After its revival in 2008, it grew in strength miraculously in no time, with the participation of not only enthusiastic young and talented but also committed and experienced seniors from every nook and corner of the country and also abroad.  Today it can be said that CESI is the most active and vibrant professional association in India and one of the most active and vibrant comparative education societies in the world. It has become an important platform for many scholars in the area of education for exchanging research, and sharing ideas on national, regional, and international aspects of education, stimulating further new research, and thus prompting comparative education as a significant research area as well as a subject for teaching in universities”
Prof. Geetha Nambissan
Former Professor, ZHCES, JNU, New Delhi

“In the last thirteen years CESI has been able to create a critical institutional space to engage with educational studies from diverse disciplinary perspectives. The Society has  been able to build networks among young researchers who now have a forum for  interaction and  dialogue and to share their scholarship and research interests. This is important in order to understand and address the complex challenges for education in contemporary times and envision possibilities for the future. For me being a part of CESI's journey has been professionally and personally deeply enriching.” 
​Prof. Poonam Batra
Former Professor, CIE, University of Delhi, New Delhi

“At CESI, we have constantly reminded ourselves that our task as comparative educators, is to cognize the unique trajectories of education and development in countries of the South, including their struggle to institutionalise systems that can deepen democracy. Using the heuristics of comparative education, CESI has tried to investigate, influence and shape policy narratives, educational thought, and practice to meet the many challenges of contemporary times, including the intimate yet deeply challenged relationship between education and society; the demands of a globalized world, heightened modernity; the threat of homogenization and climate change; and the political as well as educational response. ​CESI must continue to enquire into and negotiate the tensions between comparative thinking that sets the agenda for “internationalizing” education; and perspectives that disrupt this discourse with insights from decolonized and subaltern knowledges. Providing a critical platform for diverse sets of scholars and practitioners CESI has the responsibility and immense potential to compel comparative educators to remove the “epistemological veil” by engaging with the multiple realities that characterize diverse and often contested societies of the South”
Prof. Saumen Chattopadhyay
Professor, ZHCES, JNU, New Delhi

“Education as a field of study is highly complex and layered and it is a site characterized by various intersectionalities, like class, caste, and gender which vary across the rural-urban divide. Education is deeply embedded in the socio-economic and cultural landscape of a country. A meaningful study of this realm entails a multi-and interdisciplinary approach which makes research on education a big challenge for any researcher. The Annual International CESI conferences provides an ideal platform to deliberate and debate various issues related to education with active participation from the academia, research institutes, NGOs and the international scholars.  My association with CESI for more than a decade has been an enriching experience. Participation in the CESI conferences widens the scope for academic networks and peer groups which is important for doing good research and its dissemination.” 
Prof. S. Srinivas Rao
Professor & Dean, Indira Mahindra School of Education, Mahindra University, Hyderabad
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“CESI is built collectively over the years for facilitating meaningful dialogues through sharing of research and ideas among scholars of educational studies in India. In the past one decade of its revival, it has been successful in drawing the attention and confidence of scholars of education from across the world. For young researchers, CESI Annual Conferences have become ‘to go places’ for interacting with scholars and peers from diverse fields of education and seek their feedback, guidance and advance collaborations. I am glad with increasing numbers over the past 13 years, CESI has not compromised on basic principles -academic rigour, quality of discussions and inclusive participation of all. I wish and hope that CESI continues to uphold and evolve further to establish itself as a professional academic body with a difference!”
Prof. Nandini Manjrekar
Professor & Dean, School of Education, TISS, Mumbai

​“Since 2010, CESI has emerged as an important platform for scholars engaged in interdisciplinary research in Education. It has been heartening to see how over the years CESI has reached out to non-metropolitan universities and worked to establish a presence in different regions of the country. Equally significant is CESI's focus on high academic standards, while working against binaries of university-based scholarship and research coming from grassroots-level engagements. As the themes of its annual conferences suggest, this is in keeping with CESI's consistent commitment to promote academic debates on educational theory and praxis and the multidimensional and complex linkages with equality, social justice and democracy. CESI also enabled dialogue between university scholars across disciplines interested in education and those working with communities It has been CESI conferences and seminars that have enabled collaborations across colleges and universities.”