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| Manjot Dhillon, Chairperson FICCI FLO Amritsar and panelists talking to media after education summit 2021. Photo by Nannu Sudio |
Amritsar, October 02, 2021 (Nannu Studio): FICCI FLO Amritsar pioneered in bringing together the most celebrated, most elite minds of the nation and, thus, hosting the biggest education conclave of the region- FLO Education Summit 2021. The panelists of the event featured the renowned stalwarts of academia – Dr. Sumer Bahadur Singh, President, Boarding School Association of India, Lt. Gen. Surendra Kulkarni, Director, Mayo College, Ajmer, Padmini Sambasivam, Principal, Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun, Jayshree Periwal, Chairperson, Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur, and Manit Jain, Co-Founder, Heritage Group of Schools. Amidst the education milieu that has been vitiated by the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus, the summit aimed at deciphering the most reliable and effective pedagogies and measures to ensure unhindered, quality learning of the children.
The conversation with the Titans of education was moderated by Manjot Dhillon, Chairperson FLO Amritsar. The engaging session revealed various trends that emerged in the education sector, the precautionary measures that the renowned schools of India took, and the remedial actions that the schools planned to fill the gaps that were caused during the Covid era.
Jayshree Periwal shared her take on the abrupt shift of instruction to virtual mode and said, “The shift was indeed abrupt but firm convictions, boundless ideas and a positive attitude can help us overcome any hurdle that comes our way.”
Mrs. Sambasivam put light on the safety precautions that they have reinstituted for reopening and welcoming Welhamites back to campus, and shared her advice to the government to make up for academically lost ground. On being asked about the future of residential schools, she shared that despite the repercussions of the pandemic, the residential schools will continue to function as parents with jobs that entail a lot of travelling prefer boarding spaces for their children, to give them stability and continuity that is needed for learning to happen seamlessly.
Dr. Sumer Singh added to the discussion with his enriching thoughts and valuable analysis of the education system. He further highlights the issues faced by school management during the pandemic and in general and said, “Indian education management has changed drastically in the last couple of years. In fact, one has to learn a lot about new regulations to manage an education institute now.”
The conversation was further made fruitful by the though-provoking insights on the requisites of education system today shared by Mr. Jain and Lt. Gen. Surendra Kulkarni. Sharing the advantages of online learning, Mr. Kulkarni said, “In the past few years, educational technology and infrastructure have advanced, and it’s time we make use of it and not wait for a pandemic for such reforms. Teaching online gives them more time to pick up on skills like attention to detail, better plagiarism check and how to keep students engaged.” The event concluded with the felicitation ceremony of all the dignitaries by Manjot Dhillon, Chairperson FICCI FLO Amritsar, and core committee members.