School Envisioning workshops in India

19 July 2011
Education Impact delivered three School Envisioning Workshops in India between the 2nd to the 15th of June in three separate States. These were lead by our Fellow Owen Lynch and supported by an Associate Fellow and an Associate Consultant. This was an important opportunity for Education Impact to engage with some of the key actors involved in Education (and ICT) in India.

Travelling to the cities of Chandigarh, New Delhi, Raipur and finally Lucknow, the Education Impact team met with teachers, principals and officials of different schools as well as certain educational institutions. At each location, a School Envisioning Workshop was delivered to a very receptive participant group. Through presentations and group work and discussions, the attendees were able at the end of each workshop to define concrete objectives for their learners, teachers as well as their community and leaders through to the year 2030.

As importantly, Education Impact was invited to meet with some of India's key actors in Education and ICT, both at the Federal and State levels. These regularly resulted in lengthy discussions which were seen by all sides as very positive.

Among the senior officials with whom the Education Impact team met with was Dr. Rajaram Sharma, Head of National Council of Educational Research and Training (an organisation of the Federal Government), who welcomed our team. He was kind enough to share with us his view of India's main economic and social challenges for Education, and subsequent discussions were wide ranging where ICT and education are concerned.

Education Impact's expertise in ICT for Education, gathered from all contexts and in all regions, is of significant value in developing country contexts, not least India which is due to undergo the biggest growth  in its youth population worldwide and consequently is considering large scale the implementation of ICT in schools to help support this very significant growth.

Additionally, T.C.S. Naidu, Joint Commissioner at the talent school network Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti was happy to share NVS's strategy with us and to consider future partnerships with Education Impact. Dr. Jawahar Surisetti, Advisor to the Government of India also welcomed us in Raipur during the second workshop and introduced us to the Secretary of Education in the state of Chhattisgarh with whom further discussions were had.

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