New Delhi: A galaxy of education thought leaders congregated at the 3rd APAC Global Education and Skill Conclave to discuss and deliberate on the direction of the education system in India in a post-COVID world. The three-day virtual conference culminated with a physical award and felicitation function during a gala evening in New Delhi.
The inaugural session on December 1st brought together education policymakers, industry leaders and other senior functionaries discussing about the nuances of digital campuses for hybrid learning. ‘NCVET is focusing on integration and embedding of vocational education & training with technical and higher education,’ reiterated Dr Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, Chairman, National Council for Vocational Education & Training, Ministry of Skill Development & EntrepreneUrship, GoI.
From the industry perspective, Venkat Sitaram, Country Lead, Education & Healthcare Vertical, Dell Technologies informed, ‘We are helping customers to have a pragmatic approach through AI,’. Added Anand Swamy, Director Education, Microsoft India, “Data informed decision making is one of the trends seen in higher education.”
The other policymakers from Center and state levels also put forward their suggestions. “It is time to move to the next level of innovation for education sector in India,’ says Dr Mohit Gambhir, Innovation Director, MoE’s Innovation Cell. “We should think of multiple skill development programs being done in a hybrid mode,” reiterated Dr Biswajit Saha, Director (Training & Education), CBSE. Col B Venkat,Director, AICTE gave his perspective. “AICTE is going through a curriculum revision process aiming at multi-disciplinary education.” “There is a need for redesigning of courses. We want industry to come to us and suggest on how to redesign courses. Market will train the human resources accordinly,’ opined Andra Vamsi, IAS, Mission Director, UP Skill Development Mission, Govt. of UP. ‘Assesment is still a challenge as it needs technical support. We need to design hybrid model curriculum accordingly,’ remarked Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni, VC, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, Ranchi.
