August 12, 2021, New Delhi
A distinguished panel at the event:
- Ms. Gowri Ishwaran - Padma Shri Awardee 2004, Renowned Educationist and Founder Principal, Sanskriti School, she is a renowned educationist with over 30 years of experience, she is the former CEO of The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (TGELF).
- Col. Gopal Karunakaran - CEO of Shiv Nadar School and Member of the National Committee of Education of the Confederation of Indian Industries. He is a former Indian Army officer with 30 years of service, including key roles in Kashmir and a UN mission in Kuwait. He is now a prominent leader in education.
- Prof. Ajay Rana - Dean, Director & Professor, Amity University Greater Noida, Dean chairman, AUN Labs & CISCO Net Academy Senior Vice President – RBEF (A Trust of Amity). He is a visionary educationist with over 24 years of leadership experience he has elevated institutions like SUM University to NAAC "A" Grade and top patent rankings.
- Major Harsh Kumar - Secretary, NCERT, is a distinguished educationist and an active participant in various education-related policy reform forums and platforms.
- Prof Rajib Dasgupta - Professor and Chairperson, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He is a distinguished public health expert with a medical degree from the University of Calcutta and a Ph.D. in Community Health from JNU.
- Prof Binod Khadria, Moderator - Ex Chairperson of the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ex-Director of the International Migration and Diaspora Studies (IMDS) Project and Chair Professor of Contemporary Indian Studies at School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, New Jersey USA.
The event focused on the Indian Education System and its related issues in the post-pandemic era the panelist at the event touched on various issues related to the Indian Education System. The panelist discussed issues that included giving ‘More power to teachers’ - in terms of continuous evaluation by teachers and educators, ‘Upskilling teachers with annual evaluation’- in terms of centralized annual tests for educators to standardize the ecosystem nationally. ‘National e-school’ - A proposed new national e-school, through which students can finish schooling digitally and ‘Fortifying public schools’- by providing the requisite technology for uninterrupted schooling during pandemic kind of situations. The panel at the event organized by Think Change Forum was of the view that the pandemic had disrupted the education system, they released a set of recommendations titled “How to Make the Indian Education System Future Proof”. Detailed suggestions were given by the panelists for navigating the education system in the post-pandemic era. One of the eminent panelists Padma Shri Ms. Gowri Ishwaran, was of the view that academic quotient must be balanced with life skills like problem-solving ability, creativity, and innovation. The other esteemed panelist at the event Col Gopal Karunakaran – CEO of Shiv Nadar School believed in the post-pandemic era, an assessment of the emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and adversity quotient of the students’ needs to be done. One of the reputed panelists Major Harsh Kumar, Secretary of NCERT said the NCERT along with the CIT (Central Institute of Technology) adapted well to the pandemic as a challenge and were able to launch online classes within two weeks of the onset of the pandemic. Noted panelist Prof Rajib Dasgupta - Professor and Chairperson, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University believed that most of the population had no access to technology in the pandemic era. Another eminent panelist at the event Prof Ajay Rana - Dean, Director & Professor, Amity University observed that 70% of our student population is not served by these private sector institutes. This is where the government needs to provide a solution. The event was a resounding success as the panelists touched on various progressive interventions related to the Indian Education System in the pandemic era and beyond.