Jaipur, 9 August: Our country is rich in untapped potential and resources, especially in education. To truly elevate the quality of education, we must focus on transforming not just the larger institutions but also the smaller schools. Investing in capacity building for teachers is crucial, enabling them to shift from traditional, theory-based teaching to more practical, hands-on approaches. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, an invention of human ingenuity, there is a growing uncertainty about the future. It is essential that we prepare our children to navigate and thrive in the challenges of the 21st century. This was stated by CEO and Secretary of Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), Dr Joseph Emmanuel today. He was delivering the Keynote Address at the inaugural session of the 6th edition of the ScooNews Global Educators Fest (SGEF) taking place from 9 to 10 August at Rajasthan International Centre. The fest is being organized on the theme, “Competencies Beyond Content: Aligning Today’s Curriculum with Tomorrow’s Unknown”.
Founder & CEO of ScooNews, Mr. Ravi Santlani informed that over 1000 delegates are representing more than 3000 schools at this fest. At the same time, over 500 school leaders, 400 teachers and 400 high school students will be a part of SGEF 2024. He mentioned that all discussions at the conference are being meticulously documented. AI and technology are being leveraged to prepare a white paper, ensuring that the insights from the event can be used to train and benefit additional stakeholders in the education sector.
Co-founder of NatureNurture, Akshal Agarwal while sharing his remarkable journey from kindergarten to Harvard, talked about the the importance of engaging the students beyond the set curriculums in school. He further said that with the core domains of education, new domains of the 21st century like Global Dimension, Ethical Thinking, Socio-Emotional Development, Financial Literacy, Young Entreperunship, etc should also be included.
Trustee of MSMS II Trust, City Palace, Ms Rama Dutt proposed the Vote of Thanks to the curators of SGEF. She noted that bringing together such diverse experiences in one place is no easy task, but SGEF has done an outstanding job. School leaders from Jaipur and across India are fortunate to be part of this exceptional opportunity, she added.
Earlier there was a special performance by the students of Disha school. The launch of the Great Indian School Tour and the inaugural of Expo space, where 40 exhibitors are partaking, were other highlights of day 1.
The fest featured S.L.E.A.K (‘School Leaders Exchanging Actionable Knowledge’) Summit designed specifically for educational leaders such as Heads of Schools, Directors, and Chairpersons. The six tailored tracks in the summit included, ‘AI in Education’, ‘Early Childhood Care and Education’, Vocational and Skill-Driven Education’, ‘PBL: Projects, Places Problems, and Beyond’, ‘Innovative Learning: STEM, STEAM, STREAM’, and ‘Makerspaces and Teacher Training for a Future Unknown’. The second conference being held is TeachCamp, which is designed in response to the pressing need to prepare teachers for an uncertain future. During the two days of the fest, six of the nation’s top teacher trainers will deliver 2-hour master classes each on critical topics. The third conference, Futurescape Forum, aims at high school students from grades 9-12 to design tomorrow’s world. Through this platform, students will unite to share knowledge and craft a vision for the future. The forum is featuring both international and national young leaders.
The second day (10 August) of the fest will feature marquee speakers like Anand Kumar of Super 30, Maheshwer Peri of Careers360 focus on the revision of the previous plenary sessions, concurrent tracks and open house. The fest will conclude with the ‘Global Education Awards’.
