Indian Education Summit 2021 begins today.Indian Education Summit 2021 LIVE updates: Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank began his inaugural address on the day 1 of Indian Education Summit 2021. The three-day virtual conference dedicated to discussing the future of education begins today. From schools and colleges shut down due to the pandemic to the launch of the National Education Policy 2020 – the sector has undergone a complete overhaul in the past year.
Under NEP 2020, students will be taught self-reliance right from the school level. There are several overhauls including learning vocational courses from class 6, the introduction of artificial intelligence from the school level, freedom of choosing one’s own subjects at the college level, and setting up of Academic Credit Bank where students who have drop-out can resume education from where they left, said Pokhriyal.
Talking about the debate on teaching in the regional language, the Education Minister said, no language will be imposed on any student and they will have the freedom to chose.
This is just the beginning of the summit and upcoming sessions will include eminent personalities including Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi who also holds education portfolio Manish Sisodia, CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant — leaders from all spheres of education domain will talk about the education, teaching, learning and employment opportunities.
Join us again on Day 2 for discussion on ‘building a strong foundation’, infrastructure play, educators of the new world, and a special address by Manish Sisodia, deputy CM.
Education Summit 2021 begins today (Express Photo/ Representational)
You cannot replicate the offline day online. We came up with models where synchronous teaching, independent work etc worked for different sections of schools. It implied students do not have to be online all the time. We spent time working on the emotional well-being of students as well. Learning is more than just passing the exams, said Sumeeta Ghosh, Head - Ed-tech, Enlearn Xperiential Learning System, Heritage School
We need to change the way we think about it. While during COVID we were forced to do it but moving forward, we need to make people comfortable using technology. It has given us cross-campus proxy settings in case a teacher is absent. We can hire experts for 10 hours and all campus students can join and learn certain topics. Technology and teachers' experience have to blend for blending learning to be the future of learning, said Pramod Tripathi Director Academics, Global Indian International School, Singapore.
Pandemic has been a virtual climb for teachers too. We as a school had to figure out an online model. We were not only figuring out tools but also the right screentime for the right age-group. Online learning is not a new avatar but an extension of what we do, says Sowmya Narayanan, Head Centre of Excellence, Inventure Academy
The second session of the day titled 'Asynchronous Learning: a driving force post the pandemic' moderated by Roshun Povaiah, Editor, FE Digital. The session will have Sowmya Narayanan, Head Centre of Excellence, Inventure Academy, Ashutosh Batta, Chairman, Bloom Public School, Pramod Tripathi Director Academics, Global Indian International School, Singapore, and Sumeeta Ghosh, Head - Ed-tech, Enlearn Xperiential Learning System, Heritage School
We have realised that there is a gap in teachers' knowledge in impacting design thinking. Mentors have voluntered to work at Atal Tinker Labs to fill in this gap, said Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog
Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham said that NEP puts forth the right direction and articulates the goals well. Highlighting that students across the country lack foundation skills, she said that a focused approach is needed. she highlighted that over the two decades of her work with the ASER report, she has seen improvement when teachers "keep curriculum aside and focus on foundation skills" but highlights that this needs to be made a high priority more so in 2021 because of the impact of the pandemic on education.
I am excited about the direction and articulation of goals, says Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham. The basic levels are worrying low, if we don't fix it early it will be very difficult to fix it later. For more than 10 years we are working on a fruitful, low-coast solution. We need to start where the child is and move where we need to be. Over the last two years, the results when you work with partners with school systems, one can see that when you allow teachers to work on the foundation skills, there can be 20-25% increase. We know how to do things but we need to put it on high-priority. It is more critical this year because of (pandemic) last year, said Banerji.
Model schools can act as a basis to spread best practices from one school to others. There has been an emphasis on national professional standards for teachers. There has to be standardisation for the training of teachers. An organisation has been set-up regarding the same, said Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog.
Bani Paintal Dhawan, Head of Education India and South Asia, Google Cloud India is moderating the panel where Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham, Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog, and Ashish Dhawan, Founder and Chairman, Central Square Foundation discuss about the policy, its impact, and implementation.
Education institutes will be given access to devices and connectivity to ensure students who do not have access to devices at home have access at least at school. Students who do not have devices will be given a one-time grant for devices such as tablets, etc, said former ISRO chief.
Education of the future needs to be reconfigured, says former ISRO chief while addressing the education summit. He said that the new education policy replaces a three-decade-old policy. He said that the new policy integrates ICT in teaching learning methods. It streamlines education planning, education, and management.
We have already asked the top 100 universities under the NIRF ranking to impart online education. IITs, IIMs. KVs, IISERs have worked in this direction. We are creating a base for the future where regardless of the situation, India will continue its education. The online and offline preparations are simultaneously being carried out, said Pokhriyal.
There can be no alternative to physical classrooms but we are working towards bringing all the students to digital education. We have tried to reach students who do not have access to the internet via television, radio. About 10-20% of students are yet to have a digital access. But with the pace we have moved forward in the digital education space is work which would have taken years otherwise, said Pokhriyal.
Allocated of Rs 50,00 crore in Union Budget National Research Foundation shows the focus of the govt towards research. Now, we have a need of approaching with a new spirit. The NRF is being set-up under the NEP. A technological forum NETF is also being set-up. Now, students opting to study abroad will stay back home to pursue higher education, said the education minister.
When pandemics hit the world, students in many countries have to lose one academic year but we did not let that happen. We have conducted all the exams on time and declared the results timely as well. Now, we have the challenge of bringing the 33 crore students online in the digital space, said Pokhriyal.
Talking about the debate on teaching in the regional language, the Education Minister said, when students will have the freedom of studying and expressing themselves in their own language, students will flourish and grow. Pokhriyal also gave the example of Israel, Japan, and other countries and said that these countries have found their niche by teaching in their own language. He also clarified that no language will be imposed on any student.
India will be the first country to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) at the school level. Usually, AI is being taught at IITs and specialised colleges but we would start by giving the education right from school level, said Pokhriyal during his inaugural address at Indian Education Summit 2021.
The new era, new zeal, new content, and new curriculum will build the new India. This will begin with the initial stages of teaching in the mother tongue. As soon as a student reaches class 6, s/he will get vocational training. Right from class 6, we will imbibe atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in a student. By the time these students will complete school education, they will be warriors who can take on any task. We have also introduced a 360 wholistic assessment system. This will not only help students in introspection and build personality and networking skills in students, said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Education Minister.
While day one will begin with Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank's address. It will be followed by a panel discussion on 'NEP - a new approach to education'. This will be moderated by Bani Paintal Dhawan, Head of Education India and South Asia, Google Cloud India. The third session of the day will be another discussion on 'Asynchronous Learning: a driving force post the pandemic'. The would conclude on discussions on 'Content and the game of accessibility'