Isha Foundation today hosted its debut annual 'Isha Education Conference' on Innovating India’s Schooling at the Isha Yoga Centre at the foothills of the Velliingiri mountains. This conference brought together top educationalists, policy makers, including senior governmental officials, school heads, CSR managers, heads and representatives of various NGOs who discussed the challenges and demands that the education system is facing in this 21st century. This occasion also marked the 10th anniversary of Isha Vidhya, an Isha Education Initiative aimed at transforming the educational landscape of rural India.
Spiritual Head and Founder of Isha Foundation, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister, Human Resource Development and Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Minister, Human Resource Development, Andhra Pradesh were the Chief Speakers for the event. Bringing schooling in line with 21st century India, re-imagining curriculum as a blend of modern and traditional thinking, re-imagining the role of teacher in a tech-enabled learning environment and re-imagining teacher training for the contemporary classroom among other subjects were discussed at this day-long programme.
In his address to the audience Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister, Human Resource Development said “About 70 million students are currently a part of our Indian education system from kinder garden up to the post graduation. Education is not a political agenda. Prior to India getting Independence, the community was involved in the education sector. However, currently, education is treated as the responsibility of the Government. If the community actively participates in education the quality of education will improve.”
He also told his audience that unity in diversity is the strength of our country. “Our country can improve only when its citizens are educated.” Prakash Javadekar said.
Also emphasizing on the importance of education for the evolution of human beings, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said “Education plays an important role in completing the process of evolution of human beings. We should ensure that our entire adult population is involved in one form of education. Parents in our country send their kids overseas to pursue their higher education. This points out that the education system in our country lacks something. We must identify what our education system lacks and work towards filling the gaps.”
Students of the Isha Vidhya entertained the audience with a variety of cultural programmes. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar appreciated the children for putting up a brilliant performance. Parsing the performance of the children of the Isha Vidhya, the HRD Minister shared that the school strikes a balance between academics and extra-curricular activities.
