The Education Summit commenced with the inaugural session which was themed “Transforming Education – For making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25” and was moderated by Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, a Principal Director of PHDCCI. This session focused on the role of education which forms the social infrastructure and the need to reform the education system. Furthermore, it stressed on the aspects of skill development and vocational training. “We should map the skill requirement and accordingly we can devise training programmes”, said Dr. D K Aggarwal, President of PHDCCI. Talking on the economic and employment front, Mr. Pradeep Multani, Vice President of PHDCCI, added that there is no unemployment but lack of skills for the employment. He further emphasized on the importance of internships at college level.
This was followed by the address by Mr. Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative to India of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, who stated that a good economy in the future is based on a good education today. Education is not merely about creating manpower which is able to contribute to the economic growth. Most importantly, it is all about empowering the citizens to make right choices which go beyond the economic dimension to the social realm and sustainable dimension. Furthermore, he explained the concept of German educational system stating that it is considered a role model for many and enunciated the following reasons for this:
Firstly, a few years ago politicians followed Nelson Mandela’s quote not just in letter but also in spirit, where he highlighted that education must be the top priority, both in the political agenda and in financial considerations. Investment in education pays off in the long term more than in any other area.
Secondly, in Germany, a great importance is attributed to the fact that education is never something that is only for a certain class of people. That is why in Germany, both, school education and university education are free of charge. This leads to the notion that every person, no matter in which circumstances he or she grew up, has the chance of advancement. This increases social mobility and leads to a better social climate.
Agreeing with the preceding speech, Mr. Alexander Stedtfeld, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in India, highlighted that Germany and India share a strategic partnership. He gave a presentation on “Next-gen Industrialization, Skill Re-orientation and Sustainability – A Case of Knowledge Partnership with Germany”. Mr Stedtfeld focused on the vocational training system and pointed out that success is based on public-private-partnership.
Furthermore, the event included two panel discussions. The subject of the Policy Session I was “Education, Skill Development and Employability – Best Practices in States”.
Dr. Debarata Ghosh, Director, KPMG commended the initiatives undertaken by Indian states like technology-based integration and development of ICT capabilities, vocationalization of education, enhanced industry interaction and establishing COEs (Centre of Excellence) and Skill-universities. He also presented statistics and key-focus areas as well as the measures taken by different states of India:
Andhra Pradesh: Set up COEs and employment generation schemes
Kerala: Vocational training as a part of school education
Rajasthan: Multiple schemes for increased participation in labour force
Karnataka: Multiple schemes to cater to students in every segment
West Bengal: Leveraging PPP for enhanced training delivery
Telangana: Focus on quality, entrepreneurship and industry collaboration
Tripura: Focus on health and local trades
Madhya Pradesh: Focus on Internationalisation of vocational training
Orissa: Entrepreneurship
Gujarat: Enhanced synergies and increased industry participation
Moreover, there have been programmes in Maharashtra such as the Integrated University Management System for the development of professional teachers in order to increase the educational standards. The panel also encapsulated aspects regarding education research, healthcare assessments and addressed employability challenge in India.
The post-lunch panel discussion provided insights into creating interface of government, industry and academia for making new knowledge eco-system in India. Education bundles resources and brings a country forward economically. Opportunities for advancement for everyone in society are an important building block for good society and a successful economy. Dr. Suvrokamal Dutta, Senior Advisor, Sharda University, laid emphasis on the need for the education imparted to be of practical in nature, allowing students to select their subjects and courses according to their interest. It was further deliberated that there should be no scoring system in order to enable free flow of ideas rather than rote-learning. Agreeing to this motion, the CEO of Global Nexus, Mr. Bhupendra Renjen outlined that we should instil creativity in children.
Presentation by Mr. Ajay Oberoi showcased the interplay of academia and industry, whereby the Academia provides ASK (Attitude/Aptitude, Skills, Knowledge) and Industry’s needs VALUES (Veracious, Adaptability, Life skills, Understanding, Empathy, Sharing).
The one-day long Education Summit saw an amalgamation of new ideas, discussions on multilateral issues impacting the education system and participation of more than 200 people from various fields. The aim was to take a step forward towards fostering a better understanding of education structure and building focused discussions on ideology, shared values, and current challenges in the education sphere. This is an important step towards creating and reinforcing existing apparatus through interactions with academicians and people from Department of Education from across different states in India.