Bloomberg UTV hosts ED TECH FORUM 2011

Expansion is the biggest challenge of the Education Sector says Sam Pitroda.

September 19, 2011:

BloombergUTV PULSE Conferences & Summits, a specialized division of BloombergUTV, India's premier Business news channel hosted ED TECH FORUM 2011, a forum on 'Integrating Technology and Transforming Education' on 15^th September in New Delhi.

The Forum aimed at establishing an open platform for sharing of experience that have made national and international impact and encouraged a debate on the new opportunities and possibilities that can assist in expanding stakeholders' perspective on the effective use of technology in education.

The inaugural session of the Forum set the theme for the day with Ashish Garg, Former Regional (Asia) Co-ordinator for Global E School and Communities Initiative the chairperson of the summit delivering the key note address on 'Integrating Technology and Transforming Education – Evolving a Success Model' followed by Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Innovation Council, speaking on 'Envisioning a Technologically Literate Society: Lessons for Emerging Economies'.

Sam Pitroda, speaking about the importance of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in every sector said, “I believe that in today's time and age, IT and ICT play a vital role in every sector, be it Government, education, factories, hospital. Nothing today is possible without IT and ICT. Information Technology offers unique possibilities to make generational changes.' he added.

Mr. Pitroda while touching upon the crucial problems in the education system said, “The entire education system is obsolete. And the real challenge lies in expansion. Supply is not there but demand is very high. We also need to ensure that poorest of poor too gets quality education. IT can play an important role in educating the people in poor areas provided we are ready to break the barriers.

Prof Avtar Singh, Head of the Department – NCERT, said, “Technology has become an important element of the education sector. ICT can supplement and compliment the education system in India but in a classroom learning process, use of technology solely depends on the teacher. But complete dependence on the technology will not be appropriate. It is necessary that stand-by arrangements are in place in case something went wrong with the infrastructure. Technology is still an emerging field. Virtual labs and virtual classrooms therefore, are still very advanced concepts for our nation.'

Ashish Garg, Former Regional Asia Co-ordinator for Global E School in her address about the role of ICT in education system said, “ICT is all about new collaborative tools. However, without a strategic rational, education will become techno-centric without making proper usage of that technology. ICT will have to play the role of an integrator between stakeholders, government and the industry experts.”

Shankar Aggarwal, Additional Secretary of Dept. of Information Technology sharing his views on improving the quality of education said, “For any society or nation, Education is the most powerful endeavour as it helps in making well-informed choices. No country can make progress unless that nation can create new knowledge. The quality of education in our country is appalling. Entire focus still is on acquisition of knowledge and not on application of that knowledge. Unless we change our outlook, there is not going to be much progress. We need to empower every child by giving him good quality education.”

Aggarwal while speaking about the role of ICT in improving the education system and providing education even in the backward areas said, “It is imperative that we convert educational content into local languages and making it available for students & teachers. With the help of ICT, deliverance of excellent content into local languages becomes a good alternative for rural areas. If we really want to have a sustainable growth of 11-12%, it is necessary to improve the quality of education with the help of ICT.”

The addresses were followed by a panel discussion on Developing the right eco system: Stakeholder contribution to Policy Development' comprising of panelist like RP Sisodia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO – Pearson Education Services; Ms. Shipra Sarcar, Principal – Airforce Golden Jubilee Institute.

Sisodia speaking in the discussion said, “ICT can supplement and not substitute classroom teaching. Teacher and Classroom is essential but ICT is equally important. One of the biggest challenges the government is facing is connectivity with rural areas.”

Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO, Pearson Education Services said that knowledge application is very important while acquisition of knowledge is not and the fundamental thing which is lacking is about methodology of the education. She was also of the opinion that the Government's education policies need a reality check. Policies need to include service providers for their view and dialogue during their implementation.

Shipra Sarcar, Principal, Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute said, “Technology is defining factor that enables schools to improve productivity and efficiency of teachers, students and the administration staff.”

The Forum will be telecast exclusively on BloombergUTV as per the following schedule:

The ED TECH FORUM 2011 is supported by the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, Innovation partner, NComputing, Thought leadership partner, Mexus Education, Strategic Partner, Microsoft, Partner, SBF and Solution partners, Intel, Dell, HCL Learning, Next Education and Edurite.

PR@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com