The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a session on Making Delhi the Knowledge Hub of India today.
Mr Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi congratulated CII for organizing this session and its commendable efforts in Delhi in various sectors. He appreciated CII’s vision of making Delhi the knowledge hub of India and added that we should focus on making Delhi the Knowledge Hub of Leaders rather than Followers.
Innovative thinking is the key to success and the need of the hour. Education should move towards making students leaders and innovators. He highlighted that quality of education has to be improved and should be more research oriented. Critical reasoning and thinking should be imbibed in students from a very young age, said Mr Sisodia.
Skilling will go a long way in bringing change and there should be sync between the need of the industry and the education system. Mr. Sisodia also appealed to the industry and other stakeholders to join hands with the Delhi Government in improving the Infrastructure and quality of Government Schools. He also announced that a new concept ‘Be A Teacher’ will be launched on the Teachers Day. The Honorable President of India Mr. Pranab Mukharjee will kick start this program by Teaching a Government School class on that Day. This Program will encourage inspiring individuals to teach children. He also mentioned that Delhi has a big skill and talent pool, which needs to be aligned with the industry demands and expectations.
Delhi Government is working towards minimizing Government interference in Education related matters and will also aim to reduce paper work and other bureaucratic hurdles. Mr Sisodia further urged the industry to join hands with Government for the up-liftment of Education Infrastructure in Delhi.
Mr Aditya Berlia Convener, CII Delhi Panel on Education, and; Member of Management Board, Apeejay Stya and Svran Group, and; Co-Founder & Pro-Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University while setting the theme suggested that every private school in Delhi should be converted into a knowledge hub. This will allow educational activities such as skill development and incubation in one place. Secondly he suggested raising the height restriction of schools from current 4 to 9 stories to match other major cities and remove FAR restrictions. This will help in doubling the number of school seats in a short time span. Thirdly he recommended launching neighborhood innovation programs allowing entrepreneurs to create startups within their home offices as long as they have less than 10 employees. Such privileges are already extended to Doctors, Lawyers and other professionals in Delhi.
Mr Berlia further requested the Government to allow private players to run experiments on smart city technologies with the help and support of the government at their own cost. He also urged the Government to concentrate on making Government schools as the number one choice for Delhi parents.
Dr Alka Kaul, Chairperson, CII Delhi State Council, and; Director, Horizon Industrial Products Ltd. While delivering Welcome Remarks said it is important on leveraging education as a tool to foster inclusive growth and providing equality of opportunity to all segments of society. The primary objective of education and skills development must be to integrate the beneficiary into the work process in an optimally productive and personally fulfilling manner.
Dr Kaul further highlighted the disconnect which is growing between the needs of the industry and the skills that are imparted through education which needs immediate attention and focus on soft Skill Development Programme for our students who wants to go for job or higher studies should be imparted.
Ms Punya Srivastava, Secretary-Education and TTE, Government of NCT of Delhi was also present at the session and highlighted the dire need to expand and improve the infrastructure of Government Schools. She said that Government Schools in Delhi are facing challenges such as logistics, infrastructure, etc. There are not enough Teachers and class rooms to suffice the demand of imparting quality education to students. She said that Educators should focus on teaching basic life skills to students from a very young age. She also said that vocational trainings should be an integral part of Schools and Colleges pedagogical philosophy. She laid emphasis on developing centers for students with Special education needs.
Mr Madhav B Shriram, Vice Chairman, Delhi State Council; and; Director, DCM Shriram Industries Limited said riding on the back of a strong GDP and low unemployment rate, Delhi has a lot to achieve in the coming times and education will play a major role in that. Delhi can be widely recognized as a knowledge hub powering the Indian economy by 2020 the young talent base with entrepreneurial mind set, strong Research and Development capabilities and social innovations will play a critical role in enforcing Delhi’s position as a knowledge hub further added Mr Shriram.
19th August 2015
New Delhi