Date: 28/04/2026
Time: 13:00 – 14:00 (BST)
Location: Online
Sustainable education reform in complex systems: reflections from a global perspective
In this webinar, Commonwealth Alumnus Bhagya Manjaree Hewa Siliyange will examine how education systems across the Commonwealth are responding to technological transformation, artificial intelligence, and the widening skills gap between education and employment. Despite ambitious policy-level reforms, progress in classroom practice remains uneven.
Using a systems perspective, the webinar will examine how the sustainability of education reform depends on alignment across policy design, assessment structures, institutional capacity, cultural context, and professional learning environments. Drawing on research-informed insights, including reflections from the Sri Lankan context, Bhagya will illustrate how complex system dynamics shape reform trajectories.
The webinar will introduce a conceptual framework that positions teacher professional capacity as a stabilising force, offering transferable principles for designing and sustaining reform across diverse contexts. It will also consider future directions, including collaborative professional learning and cross-context knowledge exchange.
Participants will be invited to consider how education systems can progress beyond reform implementation towards long-term reform stewardship.
This webinar will address the CSC development theme, Access, inclusion and opportunity.
The CSC’s Development in Action webinar series provides an opportunity for Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni to present on their work and contribution to development across a range of contemporary global challenges and provide insight into ongoing research and action.
Open to all Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni, the monthly webinars will address one of the CSC’s six development themes and provide an opportunity for attendees to engage in real-time Q&A discussion on the topic presented.
You can watch previous webinars on the CSC’s YouTube channel.
Bhagya Manjaree H S is a Lecturer in Science. She leads a global educator knowledge exchange pilot initiative designed to support reciprocal capacity-building across diverse education systems. She has held senior academic leadership roles in both national and international contexts, including departmental leadership within the UK.
Bhagya is a matriculated member of Homerton College, Cambridge where she is a Mentor for postgraduate students for the Homerton Changemakers Programme. Bhagya serves as an Advisory Panel Member for the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (2023–2027) and engages in international education dialogue, including contributions to UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) strategic debate forums. She is also a venture review panellist for innovation initiatives at the Imperial College London Innovation Hub.
Bhagya Manjaree Hewa Siliyange is a 2021 Commonwealth Split-site Scholar from Sri Lanka. She is completing her PhD in Science Education at University of Cambridge and University of Colombo.
