Session on Educational & Skills   Speakers : Mr. Ashok Reddy: MD, TeamLease Services Pvt Ltd Ms. Sundari Ramakrishnan: Dean-Operations, National Management School Dr. A. Senthil Kumaran: Senior Councellor-Educational Excellence, CII-IQ Mr. M. Mahesh Patel Inaugurated the Session and Introduced the Speakers

Excerpts from the session Mr. Ashok Reddy – Topic: Driving excellence in vocational education In the job scenario, supply has not kept in pace with demand. Most graduates today are unemployable. They do not have the required skills. We need to teach people the right knowledge and skills to be employable. We need to give adequate focus on training and skill development. About 90% of our education system is on book knowledge alone which is why people lack essential skills when it comes to employment. We need to increase 81% literacy situation in Pondicherry to 100% and each of them must become employable. Skill set deficiency will increase inequality in population and result in social unrest in the long run. Now that the market is down, we need to concentrate on skill development. Ms. Sundari Ramakrishnan – Topic: Skill Development in Higher Education When imparting new skills in higher education, delivery mechanism is very important. Never introduce a skill in a college just for the sake of teaching or introducing. Knowledge is data transferred into information. A skill cannot be taught. It has to be acquired and experienced. An attitude to learn the skill and mindset is also important. A skill has to be bisected and dissected and delivered properly. Only then it can give results. The industry academia synergy also has to be improved. Community college approach and PPP model can be explored to bring about skill development initiatives in higher education. Mr. A. Senthil Kumaran – Topic: School Excellence model Continuous innovation and learning must be part of school education. School excellence clusters can be bought in. Quality education task force should be formulated. Schools must do a survey on student perception. Schools must also do teacher satisfaction survey to bring about excellence in school education. The Govt. and stakeholders (task force for quality education) must have a clear vision and competence. Well–defined roles and responsibilities must be introduced for the task force to make this initiative a success. Another challenge for the government in the school sector is longevity of the people who are responsible for quality education since they need time to study the process and take appropriate measures to enhance quality of education in schools. PPP model can also be experimented. CSR contribution from the corporate sector is also important.

Back