FIRSTperson WES 2011 THEMES Geared towards promoting an enabling environment for all vis-à-vis education, WES 2011, spread over three days, ran parallel sessions in three tracks – School Education, Higher Education, and Skill Development and Vocational Education. Each of these three tracks included the following specialised themes:
l
l l l
l l
l l l
l l
Learning in the 21st Century: Right and Access to Education Creating Opportunities for Students with Disabilities: Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Teachers State Policies on Education: Analyses from Across the World Role of Government in the Development and Implementation of Education Policies Case Studies of Best Practices From Across The World: School Education, Higher Education, Skill Development and Vocational Education Industry Market Trends in Education: A World-Wide Perspective Challenges in Planning, Managing, Deploying and Policy Development in e-Learning
cation system could be embarked upon. He also drew attention to the parallel system of vocational education exactly like the formal system of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). “To collaborate between the universities and impart quality education within the higher education system, you need mobility, choice and a set of standards that will allow a student from one university to easily move to another university. You need to reform the examination system and ensure that there is only one exam for children who come out of school. All these things require a whole range of reforms and a uniformity of standards within the university system. This cannot be done by the government. This has to be done by the Universities themselves, which must ensure that there’s a national goal to be achieved. The entire objective of education should be inclusive,” he said. For this to happen, we must allow Public Private Partnership and encourage the private sector to invest in education, he added. Underlining the importance of skills, Shri Sibal said that the contents of the curriculum need to be changed in order to ensure that the students have employable skills. “Vocational education should be introduced at the school level. Just as there is a CBSE degree given for academics, there should be
l l l l l l l l l l l
Quality Assurance and Accreditation: Review of Education Programmes to Ensure Acceptable Standards of Education, Scholarship and Infrastructure Localised Learning in a Globalised Context: Capacity Building, Content and Training Public vs. the Private in Education Leadership and Knowledge Management Teacher Training Learning English, Science and Math in a Lab: Innovative, Interesting Means Virtual Lab vs. Classroom Teaching Industry-Academia Linkages and Gaps Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in Education Gross Enrollment Ratio: Perspectives from Across the World Evaluation and Assessment Pedagogy and Andragogy in ICT Mediated Classroom Industry Participation in Education: Necessity or Value Add? Skills and Information Literacy Educating their Wards: Parents’ Perspectives from Different Countries
a CBSE degree given for vocational education as well. We are developing a National Vocational Education Qualification Framework, which will be launched this year, and will set standards for vocational education so that learners are able to get a CBSE degree in vocational education.” Defining the discipline of knowledge as the acquisition of knowledge and nothing else, the minister said that the whole concept of Science, Commerce and Arts should be done away with. Children must be given the choice to easily move from one subject to another. “Why can’t a child take music with mathematics, commerce with history or geography with physics? We need to change the mindset that is ingrained in us,” he remarked. While delivering the opening address, Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said that there is a great diversification in educational and institutional forms – from small colleges and universities of applied sciences to complex university systems and from private colleges to global online universities. “The universities are responding to the challenges inherent in the modern world and are adapting themselves with the changing times. The World Education Summit is about the changing cultures and landscape in education all over the world. It is significant that this is happening in New Delhi at a time
“The education scenario in India is going through a very good time. There is an exponential growth in the education sector, especially with the coming up of universities like IGNOU. I hope that this World Education Summit becomes a routine event now.” –Dr. M.P. Narayan, President, CSDMS
“At a time when our society is giving way to the onslaught of mechanism, there’s a need to identify the core purpose of education, both related to skills as well as the development of the brain. A new educational civilisation is the need of the hour.” —Loynpo Thakur S. Powdyel, Minister of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan
“Education is at the crossroads today. We have to move rationally and give a serious thought to quality in terms of the relevance of the national needs – both social and economic – of a particular country.” —Dr. Taseer Al Nuaimi, Minister of Education, Jordan
when there is an unprecedented and profound education change agenda in operation,” Prof Pillai said. According to him, the inter-connectedness of sectors and the establishment of institutions within these sectors should be viewed as a major strategy in achieving the targets of education at all levels. “Education today is not just about spreading knowledge and skills, but very much about developing successful networks of collaborative teaching, learning, training and capacity building. As education systems, we should focus on how people from different backgrounds of life work together to achieve success. Establishing universities, instituting reforms, creating a national vocational framework, technology integration, all these are important areas to network,” Prof Pillai said. This conference is a platform for educational institutions, corporate sector and social sector to collaborate and achieve the targets of education, he added. Other dignitaries present at the inauguration ceremony included Loynpo Thakur S. Powdyel, Minister of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan; Dr. Taseer Al Nuaimi, Minister of Education, Jordan; Dr. M.P. Narayan, President, CSDMS; and Dr. Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, digitalLEARNING Magazine.■
IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JULY 15, 2011 5