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IOCES Leadership

Dr. Mmantsetsa Marope, Honorary President
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Dr. Mmantsetsa Marope is the Executive Director of the World Heritage Group and Honorary President of World Curriculum by Comparative Education Societies. Prior to this, she was the Director of the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland, UNESCO’s Centre of Excellence in Curriculum and Related Matters. Other prior experiences include Director positions at UNESCO headquarters in Paris including the Director of Basic to Higher Education and Learning, 10 years as a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, 11 years as a professor at the University of Botswana, and 2 years as the Executive Secretary for the Education Research Network for East and Southern Africa. She has given extensive consultancy and advisory services to Ministries of Education, Regional Economic Communities, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, and social sciences research networks. 


Dr. Marope has served on advisory boards of diverse intellectual and technical groups, including the Cambridge University’s Partnership for Education, the New York Academy of Sciences’ Global Alliance for STEM Education, the Global Education Monitoring Report, the Global Sciences of Learning Education Network, the Regional Center for Quality Education in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin, Germany. Between 2014 and 2020, she was the Editor-in-Chief of one of the world’s prestigious journals of education, PROSPECTS: Comparative Journal of Curriculum, Learning and Assessment, as well as the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of an innovative education and learning magazine, IBE IN FOCUS. In recent years, she has gained eminence as a global thought leader on futures education and learning; the future of education and work; and futures global competences all global citizens require to thrive in the rapidly changing 21st century contexts.

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Dr. Kanishka Bedi, President

Dr. Kanishka Bedi is President of Indian Ocean Comparative Education Society (IOCES) and Executive Director of World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES). Professor Bedi held several leadership and academic positions at various institutions in India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the USA in more than 25 years of his career. He has been bestowed with several awards globally for his academic leadership, teaching and research. His current research interests are comparative studies of national and international curricula, online education, and life management through sustainability. He is the Managing Editor of Global Comparative Education: Journal of the WCCES and Editor of World Voices Nexus: The WCCES Chronicle.

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Dr. Narendra Deshmukh, Senior Vice President

Dr. Narendra Deshmukh is Scientific Officer-E at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Mumbai, India and has an extensive record of publications in the field of science education.

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Dr. T.M.S.S.K. Yatigammana Ekanayake,  Senior Vice President

Sakunthala Yatigammana Ekanayake received her PhD from the Graduate School of Education, The University of Bristol, UK in 2011. She was conferred upon with a scholarship for the STELLAR Doctoral Consortium Workshop, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany during 2-3 December, 2009. She was also a recipient of a scholarship for the Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning, 2010, Gothenburg University, Sweden. She has published more than 30 papers in journals and conferences, and has also co-authored two books. Dr. Ekanayake currently teaches at the Department of Education, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her current research interest focuses on the use of mobile phones for science teaching and learning, Pedagogy and Educational Technology. 

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Dr. Swaleha Sindhi, Vice President

Swaleha Sindhi teaches at the Department of Educational Administration, The M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat, India. Her doctorate is in the area of Quality Assurance System in the Secondary Schools of Gujarat State. Dr. Sindhi’s current research follows two core themes: Quality Assurance in Education and Policies in Secondary schools.  Her other areas of interest are Educational Administration, Educational Management and Economics of Education. Besides writing columns on education theme in newspapers, she has 32 research articles to her credit. She received the Best Teacher Award in the year 2007 for Excellence in Teaching.

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Dr. P.R.K.A. Vitharana, Vice President

P. R. K. A. Vitharana is Head of the Department of Education, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  Dr. Vitharana has more than thirty five years experience in teaching at different educational institutions.  She started her professional carrier as an English teacher and then worked as a Lecturer at National Colleges of Education prior to joining the university.  She completed her doctoral degree in the field of Science Education in 2006.  Her research areas of interests are science education, primary education and assessment in learning.

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Dr. Gauri P. Hardikar, Executive Director

Gauri Hardikar presently works as a teacher educator in Mumbai, India, since the past 16 years. She teaches Psychology, Mathematics method and Inclusive Education. Her doctoral thesis is in the area of development of life skills training modules for teachers. Dr. Hardikar is a certified life skills trainer, and is passionate about propagation of life skills education. Facilitation of workshops on topics like well-being, self management, conflict resolution, development education and progressive pedagogy are her forte. She has been invited to facilitate workshops on these topics in India and abroad. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Hardikar is trained in therapies like Mindfulness Based Therapy, Reality Therapy and REBT. She is a certified NLP Master Practitioner. Her research interests include life skills education, well-being, positive psychology, mindfulness, self compassion and andragogy.

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Dr. Godwin Kodituwakku, Member, Executive Committee

Dr. Godwin Kodituwakku is the Chairman, Institute for Research & Development, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka. He is former Director, Research & Development, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka.

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Dr. Mousumi Mukherjee, Member, Executive Committee

Mousumi Mukherjee is Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building (IIHEd) at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat, Haryana, India. Dr. Mukherjee is Member of the Research Ethics and Review Board (RERB) and founding Executive Director of the Centre for Comparative and Global Education (CCGE). She received her PhD degree in Education Policy and Leadership from the University of Melbourne specializing in comparative and cross-cultural education. She received an EdM in Global Studies in Education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MA in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies specializing in Comparative and International Education from Loyola University Chicago. She has received several awards for her exemplary teaching, research and community engagement.

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Dr. Hisako Inaba, Member, Executive Committee

Hisako Inaba is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University (Japan), where she teaches organizational behavior and english for economics. Dr. Inaba is PhD in education from Michigan State University (USA) and has research interests in cross-cultural comparative learning and education.

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Mr. Joel Mukwedeya, Member, Executive Committee

Joel Mukwedeya holds a Master’s of Education degree in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto/Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and a postgraduate Diploma in Career and Work Counselling, from George Brown College, Toronto. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Education from Worcester College of Higher Education in England. He is both an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT) and a Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) holder in the United Kingdom, in good standing. Mr. Mukwedeya feels a great sense of accomplishment when he helps individuals achieve their educational and employment goals, thus improving their lives, and the community. His areas of research include Indigenous ways of knowing, cross-cultural comparative learning and education, as well as the best practices in teaching and learning of English Language and Literature in English.

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