Day: January 18, 2022

School Education and Literacy to celebrate iconic week from 17th January – 21st January,2022

 Department of School Education and Literacy will be celebrating the iconic week under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav  from 17th January – 21st January,2022.

As part of the iconic week, the Department of School Education and Literacy will organize a series of events . These will include a two-day  International webinar on Toys  and Games to Play, Make and Learn,  27th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes and a webinar on Inclusive Education.

The Webinar on Inclusive Education will be organised in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), on 17.01.2022 through virtual and physical mode. The theme of the webinar will be ‘Ed Tech start-ups focused on children with special needs’.  Senior Officers of the Ministry of Education, Principals  State IE coordinators, parents and other Stakeholders will participate in the event. The main objective of the webinar is to make parents and teachers aware about the technology and assistive devices available for children with Special Needs.

CBSE will organize the 27th edition of National Conference of its Sahodaya School Complexes on the theme ‘PUNARNAVA – REDISCOVERY OF INDIA @75’ in collaboration with the Sahodaya School Complex, Gwalior on 17th and 18th January 2022 in a hybrid mode.The conference aims to engage participants in co-creating and contributing towards a sustainable future. It also aims at enabling the Principals and Management of CBSE affiliated schools to understand the new policies and innovative practices that have been launched by the Board in pursuance of  NEP 2020.

A two day International Webinar will be organised on 20th and 21st January 2022, with the aim of rediscovering the role of toys in cognitive development of children and to promote the art of creating toys with help of low/no cost materials which are not only environmentally sustainable but ignite creativity collaboration and problem-solving skills in children. During two days of the Webinar, focus will be on different aspects of toys at all stages of school education across all subjects and their mapping; pedagogical implications of toys; toys and games as learning through play and make; living/ local tradition of toy making; courses for designing toys and games as skill courses in school Education etc. The outcome of the Webinar will lay a roadmap for infusion and integration of toys and games in education at all stages.

The Department of Higher Education is also being organized from 10th January – 17th January, 2022 under the name ‘National Innovation Week’. The Innovation week  highlighted the various initiatives undertaken to spread awareness to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India.  An E-Symposium on ‘Building Innovation Ecosystem in Educational Institutions’, webinar on cyber security empowerment of Higher Education Institutions, virtual launch of capacity building of faculty as master trainers for Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) as part of Unnat Bharat were organized during the iconic week.

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Online workshop for Universities and Colleges on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

 University Grants Commission today organised online workshop for Universities and Colleges on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) under the iconic week of Ministry of Education.  Smt. Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary (ICC & Vig.) Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Shri Rajendra Ratnoo, Joint Secretary, DPIIT  & CGPDTM, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC addressed the Inaugural session.

Delivering the welcome address, Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC highlighted the importance of IPR and its importance in the image of the country and its relevance in building the knowledge pool of the country and its legal aspects. He shed light on the historical aspect of India’s position as creator and innovator. He expressed hope in the day’s deliberations in creating awareness about IPR.

Delivering the Special Address, Smt. Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary (ICC & Vig.) Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education  stressed upon importance of Intellectual Property as foundation of innovation, research and creativity. She focused shared that necessary steps have been taken in India to create a robust innovation and IPR culture in the country which has resulted in significantly improving the relevant innovation and IP numbers, be it the IP filing, IP grant and IP disposals. However, inspite of all changes India is behind a lot of countries in terms of IPR. She stressed that the reason could be a lack of awareness in students for filing of patents.

She shared about the Government’s initiative in the areas like the KAPILA programme launched for IP literacy and awareness in October 2020, the reduction in the fee for filing the patent. She concluded by suggesting that the way forward was by proactively protecting knowledge and inventions by respective IPRs not only in India but also in other countries.

Keynote address was delivered by Shri Rajendra Ratnoo, Joint Secretary, DPIIT  & CGPDTM, Ministry of Commerce & Industry who said that there is a need for converting energy into synergy by coming together. He said that there was a need to collaborate instead of working in silos. He further stressed that innovation and creation in both art and science that need to be promoted and that collective cultural heritage needs to be protected.

He further said that partnership between industry, academia and registry of IPR is importance.

The inaugural session was followed by the technical session which was addressed by experts from the field of IP that gave an overview on the theme.

Dr. Usha Rao, Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs presented an overview of Intellectual Property Rights. She provided an insight into the need and importance of IPR and the different types of IP and their governing bodies. She also shed light on the various acts and rules of IPR in India. She also discussed the various ways of filing the patent processes.

The second expert for the technical round was Shri Sukhdeep Singh Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs. He addressed the various schemes and privileges for Educational Institutes in the field of IPR. He concluded by stating that the way forward involved the establishment of IP management cells in Universities, have master trainers and establishing TISCs.

The webinar ended with the vote of thanks by Dr. Surender Singh, Additional Secretary UGC.  The webinar discussed pertinent aspects of IPR for HEIs and was an important step towards IPR awareness.

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Assistive Technology Innovation Showcase for Inclusive Education

 Minister of State for Education Shri Subhas Sarkar today addressed the Assistive Technology Innovation Showcase for inclusive Education organised by Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education in association with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.

Shri Subhash Sarkar highlighted the provision of NEP-2020 that mandates equitable & inclusive education so that every citizen has an equal opportunity to dream, thrive and contribute to the growth of the nation. He stated that schools & school complexes are working to provide all Children with Special Needs (CWSN) accommodations and support mechanisms tailored to suit their needs, ensuring their full participation and inclusion in the classroom.                    

Stressing on the need for innovation in the assistive tech space Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer, AICTEmentioned about the textbooks conversion into Indian Sign Language (ISL) and ministry’s innovation ecosystem to take forward assistive-tech innovations through incubation and acceleration support.

Shri Manoj Kumar, Founder Social Alpha highlighted that assistive technology for education should not only be considered as a social venture but it has a solid business model of its own and the same needs to be developed further.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Chapal Khasnabis, Head of Assistive technology, Medical Devices and Diagnostics, WHO highlighted access to assistive technology and global best practices and stressed how India can become truly inclusive.

The highlight of the event was presentation by 12 start-ups, having compilation of top solutions in the form of applications or devices which have been created by young entrepreneurial minds of India. These young minds are leveraging frontier technologies such as AI to provide socially relevant solutions to aid the learning of children who suffer from various disabilities such as Autism, Dyslexia, Hearing and Speech impairment disorder, Visual impairment disorder, Cerebral Palsy etc.

The event also featured innovations from young innovators from schools. Children from Atal Tinkering Labs presented their innovations ranging from innovative device to convert sign language to speech to a device that scans and converts printed text in any book or newspaper into an audio clip.

A panel moderated by Prof PVM Rao of IIT Delhi and consisting of Prof. Anupam Basu, NIT,Durgapur, Prof. Anil Prabhakar and Prof. Sujata, IIT Madras participated in the discussion about research and innovations and partnership required for an inclusive education. Prof. Rao focused on the need for promotion of research in assistive devices and its inclusion in curriculum. He talked about the need of flexibility in examinations and assessments and of taking different aspects into consideration for a true inclusive education. Prof. Prabhakar expressed his concerns that while as a country we have several solutions in assistive technologies, we need to reach scale and focus on functional disabilities to make solutions acceptable at scale. He also talked about the need to foresee the needs of students in colleges and universities who are presently in schools. Prof. Sujata provided details on the assistive device landscape where the solutions are concentrated on the ends of spectrum- one end with low tech and low-cost devices, on the other hand hi-tech and expensive assistive devices. The research at R2D2 center at IIT Madras has focused on challenges such as affordability, awareness, access and appropriateness of the solutions.     

Dr Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission commended the innovators and highlighted how can an Innovation Ecosystem be built for assistive technology in education. He stressed upon support through AIM’s innovation network of incubation centres and community innovation centres.

Closing the event Shri Santosh Sarangi, Additional Secretary, MoE highlighted the challenges and way forward in mainstreaming the assistive technology innovations. He highlighted the role of the ministry to scale-up and institutionalize solutions.

The Event designed to promote and give start-ups a platform to showcase innovations received an overwhelming response. Youtube views crossed 2+ lakh views before the event culminated.

Ms Ritu Sain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, gave the closing remarks and as an end note called upon continued work to leverage tech-based interventions for early identification and support to children with special needs in rural and remotest part of the country. She also stressed that Ministry of Education will work with these start-ups to get product pilot in place on merit and indicated upcoming similar events to solve sectoral challenges.

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27th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes

 The 27th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes organised by CBSE and hosted by the Sahodaya Samiti Gwalior commenced on 17th January 2022 in a virtual mode. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Minister of State for Education Shri Subhas Sarkar also graced the occasion.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan applauded the efforts of the Sahodaya Samiti Gwalior to host the Conference in a virtual mode. In his speech, he informed about the contribution of the education sector in Madhya Pradesh and inspired the audience with teachings of Swami Vivekananda illustrating how education is what makes us human. In his exemplary speech, he inspired the students to be on a journey towards truth, knowledge and holistic development. He informed that the government’s endeavours have brought about development that allow state-wide access to education institutions in the past, and he is looking forward to working on the outcomes of this conference to lead the state towards future development.

Shri Sarkar commenced his speech with ‘Aao kal ke Bharat ki tasveer banaye’. He asserted the supreme power of knowledge, unity, collective thinking and cultural sharing. Shri Sarkar highlighted the vision of NEP-2020 to shift from rote learning to holistic, integrated, enjoyable & engaging learning through arts & sports-integrated education.

He also highlighted the micro-learning programme launched by Prime Minister which concentrates on a competency-based education system. The Minister lauded the efforts of CBSE in delivering effectively to all its affiliated schools a variety of programmes to enable students to be in sync with all the latest trends in education. He also stated that the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is being celebrated across the country and what better way to mark the celebration by hosting the 27th CBSE Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes with the theme on celebrating 75 years of independence.

Shri Subhas Sarkar inaugurated the digital art gallery, Nav-Kala Vithika, showcasing extraordinary artistic skills of young students of CBSE schools from across the country. He also released an e–souvenir titled Amiyotsav – Celebrating 75 years of Independence under the theme Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat consisting of case studies on preservation of heritage of the country.

The gathering was also addressed by Chairman CBSE, Mr. Manoj Ahuja. He provided a brief overview of the conference, highlighting the growth of CBSE and progression of Sahodaya School Complexes, acknowledging the evolution of education systems with current times and addressing future objectives. Mr. Ahuja pointed out that CBSE endorses innovative and children-friendly education by concocting combinations of experimental, scientific and social skills, competency-based education and meaningful and joyful pedagogies. He implored the teachers to facilitate students to partake in ‘Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat’ campaigns.

The inaugural session of the conference saw the presence of around 15,000 Principals from the school community from India and abroad.

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