National conference on ‘draft new education policy 2019’ starts at Panjab University

Chandigarh, July 16, 2019: “Better connect between primary and higher education, stress on values and ethics, industry oriented quality education are the key essentials to ponder over as we contribute towards the New Education Policy”, said Prof.Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University. In his inaugural address at a two day national conference titled ‘Draft New Education Policy(DNEP) 2019: A Way Ahead’ at PU, Chandigarh. The conference was organized by Centre for Academic Leadership and Education Management (CALEM) and Department of Education, PU, under the aegis of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI. The two day event has experts deliberating on the draft of the New Education Policy 2019 with special focus on reforms in Governance and Governance Structures. Prof.Latika Sharma, Chairperson, Department of Education, welcomed the guests. Presenting the theme paper at the inaugural session of the conference, Prof.Nandita Singh,DIS said that international organizations like UNESCO, World bank have highlighted that education should enable students to develop cognitive skills and the draft of New Education Policy 2019 goes further by emphasising that along with cognitive skills there is a need to develop social and emotional skills, recognising the need to conceive education in a more encompassing manner. She also said that the DNEP provides a framework for the transformation and reinvigoration of the education system in order to respond to the requirements of fast-changing, knowledge-based societies while taking into account the diversity of the Indian people. Prof.Jatinder Grover, Coordinator, CALEM presented the vote of thanks. The first technical session for the day focused on school and teacher education. The session was chaired by Prof. Lalit Kumar Awasthi, Director, NIT Jallandhar. The panellists included Prof, Krishna Kumar, Former Director NCERT; Prof. Sudesh Mukhopadhyay, Former Chairperson, Rehabilitation Council of India, Prof. Keya Dharamvir and Prof. Kuldip Puri. The second session for the day focused on Higher Education. The session was chaired by Prof. Arvind, Director, IISER. He spoke about the multiple entry and exit points that the draft of New Education Policy focuses on, which gives an opportunity to switch between academics and job. The panellists for the session included Dr. Dalip Kumar , Dr. Jayanti Dutta and Prof. Yojna. The third session of the conference focused on Professional and Technical Education. Prof Patnaik the Director of NITTR asked the participants to read between the lines and appreciate the vision of the document which is taking education system to a different level so as to address future challenges. The second day of the conference will focus on Governance and Administration of Education and Research, and will include a roundtable discussion and compilation of recommendations. The two day conference assumes significance as it is an effort in contributing towards country’s first education policy of the 21st century. “The aim of this conference is to bring together various stakeholders and prepare a compendium of recommendations on DNEP 2019.The registration for the conference is open for administrators of educational institutes, teacher educators and teachers from schools as well as higher education institutes” informed Prof. Nandita Singh and Prof. Latika Sharma, Program Coordinator for the two day conference.