Interviews

“We have a unique concept of peer-to-peer learning, where teachers can learn from their peers,” says Chirag Agarwal, Founder Director, EarlyVentions – Chain of Preschools, in an interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSABengaluru #ELSAKarnataka How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Bangalore? It’s a wonderful experience, as always. I’ve been associated with ArdorComm Media since its inception, and it’s always been a delight to be a part of this event. As you know, the theme of our event is “New Normal Karnataka.” What’s your take on this? Well, the new normal is already set in. We are talking about technology, AI, Chat GPT, and whatnot. So definitely, that is the new normal. As educators, we need to embrace it with both hands, and that’s the way forward. How are you implementing technology in your chain of preschools? Of course, preschools are called play schools for a reason, so too much technology cannot be implemented as interpersonal and social skills are essential. However, I do agree that we need to use technology as a tool to enhance the educational aspect. How do you take care of teacher training? Teacher training is crucial because if the teacher is not adequately trained, she cannot effectively educate others. We have a unique concept of peer-to-peer learning, where teachers can learn from their peers. Additionally, we have our own training team that takes care of day-to-day training. Training is implemented from the centre manager level down to the teaching assistants and other staff. What’s your take on skill development for this generation? Skill development is the most important aspect of education. Skills are required in everyday life, from basic tasks like holding a glass of water correctly to more complex ones like ironing clothes or getting ready for school. As educators, we need to teach life skills alongside academic knowledge. In events like these, where education leaders, EdTech players, and government officials come together, how do they benefit the education sector? Such events provide an opportunity to connect with people, build networks, and exchange ideas. The integration of the education fraternity with the government can lead to meaningful collaborations and innovations in the education sector. ArdorComm Media Group has completed two years of its existence, any message or wishes for us? Congratulations to ArdorComm Media for completing two successful years. I wish you all the very best and hope that you continue to excel in hosting events that allow us to connect and network with so many people.

“What we should be able to do is identify the talent DNA of a particular child at an early stage and embed the right skills for that talent,” says Dr. Prakash S, Sr. Vice President, East Point Group of Institutions, in an interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSABengaluru #ELSAKarnataka How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Bengaluru? It’s a great experience here, completely packed sessions, nice to listen from Col. (Prof) Y. S. Siddegowda, Higher Education Council’s Vice Chairman, had a lot of insights, and there are many good speakers you have picked for the sessions. The themes are very good, and there’s good networking quite naturally. It’s always getting people moving to get connected. What I feel is that now the technology is going to take the education sector, and a lot of transformation is happening in the education sector post-COVID. This is where all educators, industry, and academic people come to converge at one point. I feel happy that you people have created a great platform for this convergence and where interaction will happen, so it adds a lot of value to all the stakeholders here. The theme of our event is New Normal Karnataka, and Karnataka is an education hub. What’s your take on this? Karnataka, more specifically Bangalore, is a Silicon City where a lot of IT happens. Since the education sector is at the verge of transformation and the National Education Policy (NEP) is in place now, what I see is that the way we deliver education services is going to take a paradigm shift. This is one platform where we have LinkedIn, and people from LinkedIn have participated. LinkedIn is a great platform for learning today, a lot of people know about Anthology, Blackboard, and other companies. So, understanding the technology and how we can integrate it into our teaching and learning process, building it out, is where teachers can understand how to facilitate the teaching-learning process and enhance the productivity for the student and all the stakeholders. What’s your take on skill development? How can the young generation in this 21st century hone skill development for employability? I always tell this, I’ve been speaking at different platforms on this. We have talent on one side and there are skills, competency, and capability. If I want to connect all the four dots, if I go back and see my complete education system, probably in my times, our talent DNA was something different, and we had different skills. What we should be able to do is identify the talent DNA of a particular child at an early stage and embed the right skills for that talent. Then the student will excel in whatever profession they aspire to. Today, it’s all about the skills. LinkedIn, for instance, added around 33 million skill sets onto their platform. It’s not about the degree; the degree has taken a backseat. Now, if you have skills, you are deployable from day one. The focus is shifting towards skilling, and it’s the new norm. ArdorComm Media Group has recently completed 2 years of its existence, any message or wishes for us? It’s a nice initiative, and you are very young. I just came to know that you are just 2 years old. I wish you all the best. You’re doing a great job, especially towards the education sector. You need to continue this and do it at a bigger, larger scale for the next time. I’ll be happy to participate in the next coming events.

“We are talking about Education 4.0, where the education sector needs to adapt to the emerging challenges, especially coming from digital innovation,” says Dr. N. R. Bhanumurth, Vice Chancellor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar School of Economics University, in an interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSABengaluru #ELSAKarnataka How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Bangalore? Yeah, this is very interesting, I would say. It’s very timely, where this whole Summit is integrating users and producers of Education technology, and some of the best practices have been highlighted throughout the day. I’m sure the title of this Summit, “New Normal,” is certainly a new normal in the education sector. We are talking about Education 4.0, where the education sector needs to adapt to the emerging challenges, especially coming from digital innovation. At the same time, bridging the gap between supply and demand in the industry, where the necessary skills required for employability of students become a major factor going forward. Especially when we talk about India becoming one of the developed countries, I think the education sector is going to play a very major role, and this Summit is certainly a big contributor to making India a place for the education sector, not only for Indian students but also for attracting more students from abroad. How are you implementing technology in your institution? I’m from a public sector university, and we have synergized our curriculum where the National Education Policy suggests that we can have up to 40% digital learning. We started implementing it slowly and are trying to implement whatever flexibility is available in the National Education policy. We are one of the early universities to implement digital education for our students and make it customized for each student, which gives a lot of flexibility. At the same time, we’re seeing students using resources available on digital platforms. The progress in the Indian education sector has increased inclusivity for all students, but there’s still a long way to go, and some segments still exclude students. That’s where the sector needs to play a major role going forward. Any message or wishes for ArdorComm Media Group, which has recently completed 2 years of its existence? I would say that you are doing a great service to the nation, particularly in bringing together users and producers. My suggestion is that it’s important to equally focus on the public sector. You will play a major role and contribute significantly to the nation. India has been at the forefront of bringing digital public infrastructure, not just for our nation but for the whole world. The aim of ArdorComm Media should be to have inclusivity in terms of getting more public institutions. The long-term game lies in the public sector, in my view. The private sector is short-term, but the long-term game lies in public sector.