A team of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) students stood out from over 80 teams and 300 participants and clinched the first prize of the Master Students Teams at the "2020 Tsinghua SPPM International Case Analysis Competition of Public Policy on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" in August 2020.
Consisting of 4 students, the team was supported, mentored and supervised by Dr. Caroline Brassard. The students in the winning team included:
- Gwendolyn Thong (Master in Public Policy)
- Lin Yuying (Master in Public Policy)
- Yao Bowen (Master in Public Policy) (also nominated for best team members of winning team)
- Jenny Jenish kyzy (Ensi Tszie) (Master in Public Administration) (also nominated for best team members of winning team)
Co-organised by the China Case Center for Public Policy and Management and Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University, the competition lasted over 3 months this year. Pit against participants from around the world, our students had to select case topics surrounding United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), research on real-world challenges, conduct interviews and identify innovative public policy solutions surrounding the SDGs.
The team’s winning research titled " Opportunities in Public Policy to Support Students in Rural China: A Case Study of Fujian Province" highlighted the growing digital divide and the educational inequality that has been exacerbated by COVID-19. The pandemic has forced almost all countries to shut down schools and approximately 1.2 billion children to continue learning online overnight. The pre-existing digital gap between rural and urban China had widened during this period resulting in greater educational inequality between the rural and urban children as children from rural China are less likely to have access to internet and digital devices.
From June to August 2020, the team conducted qualitative research in the form of interviews and fieldwork to clearly define the problems encountered by both rural and urban children.
Watch this video for a quick overview of the research.
Consisting of two rounds of pre-assessment and a final online live pitch to over 7,500 viewers online, the students had to present and deliver their research findings that aligns back to the judging criteria –
- Ability to provide a comparative analysis of their case study;
- Ability to apply critical thinking
- the team whose policy implementation can be replicable in other places and/or countries.
The team soared through the competition, finally winning the top prize at the competition (recorded video of our students' performance at 1:39:00 - 1:55:00).
Collectively, the team expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to be able to take part in the competition. The journey has just begun, where they have started to raise the public awareness on the growing digital divide and educational inequality. More can be done, and the team will continue to contribute to this research.
For more information on their research findings and for further collaboration on issues related to the digital divide and educational inequality, please feel free to reach out to them via the below contacts:
Jenny JENISH: decb64_amVuaXNoa3l6eS5qZW5ueUBnbWFpbC5jb20=_decb64, decb64_ZTAzOTkxNzRAdS5udXMuZWR1_decb64
LIN Yuying: decb64_bGlueXV5aW5nQHUubnVzLmVkdQ==_decb64
Gwendolyn THONG: decb64_Z3dlbmRvbHludGhvbmdAdS5udXMuZWR1_decb64
YAO Bowen: decb64_Ym93ZW4ueWFvQHUubnVzLmVkdQ==_decb64