Two Day National Conference on Sharing Best Practices: Leadership, Ethics and Values

Chandigarh, April 9, 2019: Addressing the pertinent issue of ethical leadership, a two day national conference on the theme, ‘Sharing Best Practices: Leadership, Ethics and Values’ was inaugurated today at Panjab University, Chandigarh. The conference has been organized under the Centre for Academic Leadership and Educational Management under Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission for Teachers Training (PMMMNMTT), MHRD, GOI and Department of Education, PU.
The conference was inaugurated with a poster exhibition on the theme of ‘Best Practices’ and brought an opportunity for an exchange of ideas on the work being undertaken in diverse fields of education, health and social work. Prof. Nandita Singh, Conference Coordinator, presented a welcome address and shared that the aim of the conference was to provide a training program to Educational Administrators and Managers. She highlighted the need to revisit our value system to address the challenges being faced by academic leaders.
The guests of honour for the inaugural session were, Sh. Deepak Gupta, former chairman UPSC and Gen (Prof) G.G Dwivedi an army veteran and an academician. In his inaugural address, Deepak Gupta brought out the need and relevance of ethical behaviour as an essential component for the fabric of a democratic society. He stressed on the fact that the need of academic institutions was not only to train the students in their disciplines but also encourage them to delve on behavioural ethics.
The key note address was presented by Gen ( Prof) G.G. Dwivedi, who drew out the essentials of Leadership. “ Leadership is not about position, but action” said Gen Dwivedi. He further enlisted the essence of leadership as art of persuasion, idealism in practice, empathy , empowerment and self – actualisation. Further speaking on academic leadership, he mentioned that global perspective, shaping the environment, systematic approach, student centric focus and service oriented approach were very essential for effective academic leadership.
The inaugural session was followed by a panel discussion on need of ethics and values in leadership. The panellists included Sh. Deepak Gupta, Dr. K.P. Singh ( D G Haryana Human Rights Commission), Dr. Anil Koul ( Director CSIR- IMTECH). Prof Rajiv Lochan, Deptof History, PU moderated the discussion. The panellists brought out the various dimensions of effective leadership. While Sh. Gupta and Dr. Singh drew out interesting anecdotes from their careers, Dr.Koul touched upon the intervention of technology in the redefining the need for ethical leadership and Prof Lochan spoke about leadership from historical perspective.
The next session for the day had deliberations on the theme , ‘ Academic Leadership : Ethics, Values and Sustainability’ . The session had expert talks from VivekAtray, IAS and an author, Prof. Surinder Mehta and Dr DheerajSanghi, Director PEC. The last session for the day was on the theme, ‘Academic Leadership Models : Preparing teachers for new roles’. The experts for this session included Prof. Ashutosh Kumar, Director HRDC, PU; Prof. Surender Mohan Misra, from Kurukshetra University ; and Gen G.G, Dwivedi. The day ended with an interactive session.