Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural conclave of Shikshak Parv on 7 September, 2021 via video conferencing. The inaugural conclave was followed by a technical session on the current year’s theme: “Quality and Sustainable Schools: Learnings from Schools in India”. Smt. Annapurna Devi, Minister of State for Education was the chief guest on the occasion. The session was chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chairman, National Education Policy Committee. Prof. J.S. Rajput Former Director, NCERT and senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Smt Annapurna Devi stated that the development of a nation is dependent on education as education is an important tool for national character building. Therefore capacity building of children is essential. She stressed that it is important that both teachers ad children learn together, they must also learn the local skills and acquire experience based learning to make education more relevant in present times. She also mentioned that quality and sustainability are two sides of the same coin. Smt Annapurna Devi hoped that the discussions and ideas that emerge out of this conclave will help in realising the vision of our Prime Minister of strengthening the education system of our country.
Sh. Kasturiangan appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Education in organising this important conclave with the Prime Minister setting the tone of the deliberations for the forthcoming sessions and also lauded the initiatives that have been taken to realised the vision of NEP 2020. He also appreciated the efforts taken by Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education for the steps taken by him to realise the goals of NEP in such a short span of time. He pointed out that owing to the outbreak of Covid 19 there were some disruptions as well as learning loss among children and hopes that many of these issues and challenges will be addressed during the conclave. He emphasised on focusing on four issues in this regard: Firstly, the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy is an important aspect mentioned in NEP 2020. Secondly, community engagement and support is also required to ensure that all children are retained in school. The thirds point is curricular transformation with regard to which the NEP focuses on lessening the burden so that there is more scope for other forms of learning. The fourth issue relates to the teachers who are central to the education system and have an important role to play in bridging the gap of learning loss. Thus restoring quality education and maintaining sustainability are the two major challenges, beside the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Prof. J.S. Rajput said there is a need to restore respect for teachers. He further said that, teachers must also remember that they must first know the child, understand the mind of the child and remember that nothing can be taught but learnt. Learning is the treasure within, teachers can only inspire the learners to realise the treasure from within, he added.
Prof. Rajput highlighted that there is a social responsibility of parents, principals, teachers and community to feel a sense of belonging towards the school. The pandemic has given us a chance to improve the environment of government schools in terms of access, security and quality of teaching, teacher student ratio, etc., he added. He concluded by saying that three things are very important to re- establish the glory of rich educational heritage of India in the world: Lifelong Learning, Learning to Learn and Learning to Live Together.
Prof. Sridhar Srivastava, Director, NCERT, welcomed the participants to the concluding session of the Conclave. He highlighted the active role played by NCERT during the pandemic situation by supporting the education in the online mode, developing teaching-learning resources such as the Alternative Academic Calendar, PRAGYATA Guidelines and NISHTHA 2.0 online training modules for supporting teachers. He further said that this year’s Shikshak Parv adopts a “whole-school” approach; one that extends beyond the curriculum and addresses the entire planning, operation and management of the school facility. He informed that the upcoming nine National Webinars during Shikshak Parv will focus on various themes that will help all those connected to the Parv learn from schools and teachers. NCERT will incorporate the learnings from schools into the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), which is under development at present, he added.
Smt. Anita Karwal thanked Smt Annapurna Devi, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Prof. J.S. Rajput and all the speakers. She stated some of the initiatives taken by teachers are eye openers such as starting entrepreneurship for grade I, exposure of nature these are excellent examples of connecting learning to real life. There is need to build capacity of school, society and of parents to participate hand in hand to bring sustainability, she added.
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நாட்டின் பண்புக்கு கல்வி முக்கியமான கருவி என மத்திய கல்வி இணையமைச்சர் அன்னபூர்ணா தேவி கூறினார்.
ஆசிரியர்கள் விழா மாநாட்டை(ஷிக்சாக் பர்வ்), பிரதமர் திரு நரேந்திர மோடி காணொலி காட்சி மூலம் கடந்த 7ம் தேதி தொடங்கிவைத்து உரையாற்றினார். இந்த மாநாட்டை தொடர்ந்து, தொழில்நுட்ப அமர்வு, தற்போதைய ஆண்டின் கருப்பொருள், ‘‘தரமான மற்றும் நிலையான பள்ளிகள்: இந்தியாவில் உள்ள பள்ளிகளில் இருந்து கற்றல்’’ என்பது பற்றி நிகழ்ச்சிகள் நடந்தது.
இந்நிகழ்ச்சியில் கல்வித்துறை இணையமைச்சர் திருமதி அன்னபூர்ணா தேவி சிறப்பு விருந்தினராக கலந்து கொண்டார்.
இந்நிகழ்ச்சியில் பேசிய அன்னபூர்ணா தேவி கூறியதாவது:
நாட்டின் பண்புக்கு கல்வி முக்கியமான கருவி என்பதால், நாட்டின் வளர்ச்சி, கல்வியை சார்ந்து உள்ளது. ஆகையால், குழந்தைகளின் திறன் மேம்பாடு அவசியமானது. ஆசிரியர்கள், குழந்தைகள் இருவரும் இணைந்து கற்பது முக்கியம். அவர்கள் உள்ளூர் திறமைகளை கற்க வேண்டும் மற்றும் தற்போதைய காலத்துக்கு பொருத்தும் வகையில் கல்வியை மாற்ற, அனுபவம் அடிப்படையிலான கற்றலை பெற வேண்டும். தரம் மற்றும் நிலைத்தன்மை, ஒரு நாணயத்தின் இரு பக்கங்கள். இந்த மாநாட்டின் மூலம் உருவாகும் ஆலோசனைகள் மற்றும் கருத்துக்கள், நமது நாட்டின் கல்வி முறையை வலுப்படுத்தும் பிரதமரின் தொலைநோக்கை நனவாக்க உதவும்.
–எம்.பிரபாகரன்