From Blackboards to Zoom Whiteboards: Experts discuss changing paradigm of school education, post-Covid
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New Delhi/August 7: In view of changing dynamics of teaching and learning post Covid-19, experts from across the globe stressed the need for exploring ways and means to shift to a technology driven education ecosystem.
At the 8th Oswaal Books Education Conclave, experts from education, technology, pedagogy and social sciences said that Covid has thrown open new challenges and it was imperative for all stakeholders to revisit strategies and processes to ensure quality of education delivery and design was not compromised. Experts from across India, Mexico, Chicago, the United Kingdom participated virtually in this conference held on Saturday.
Talking about the impact the pandemic had on education globally, Dr Yukteswar Kumar, Deputy Mayor, Bath, United Kingdom, and an educationist, said, "The pandemic proved catastrophic for the education sector. This pandemic not only affected academic learning but also social skills, physical education. But we are quite overwhelmed how the community worked together and provided all the resources for learning."
A host of issues including learning environment, digital exposure, role of parents and teachers in the new milieu, reforms in curriculum, reorienting text books to accommodate changing external environment, and better integration of technology tools in learning for better outcomes were discussed and pondered over by the education experts and stakeholders in the conference.
"Education system in India underwent a metamorphosis after COVID19 outbreak. We have to adapt to the changing times and prepare for whatever the future beholds," said Avatans Kumar, Trustee Indic Academy, USA.
Stressing on the need to incorporate latest technologies in the education system, Hari Saravanabhavan, VP, Global Analytics and Research at Concentrix, spoke about the usage of data analytics to provide tailored and personalized education for each student.
Jadav Balaji Rao, Google Innovator Teacher, shared his experiences during Covid. ”I created a model of education for children hailing from rural parts of India. I used storytelling as a tool of education. It has done wonders,” he said.
While discussing the future of education post-pandemic, Rishabh Shekhar, a young entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Pepper Content, said, “Post COVID classes for creative problem solving should be made compulsory in every school. This will prepare students for turbulent times like Covid.”
Swaati Jain, Editorial Director of Oswaal Books said that digital education is the future. “Covid helped us adapt to e-learning and new modes of imparting education,” she said.
As many as 20 teachers from across India who used innovative methods to ensure that teaching and learning continued during Covid-19 were also felicitated during the event.
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
