Chennai (The Hawk): Emphasising that technology and innovation will be the key to "democratising development and prosperity" in overcoming the economic and social challenges of a post-Covid-19 world, Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Railways, Mr. Piyush Goyal, called for a mix of 'virtual education and classroom education' in tapping the current potential for online education.
Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic unwittingly opening up a huge potential for virtual learning, Mr. Piyush Goyal said the current potential for 'virtual education' was huge - estimated at US dollars ten billion-, adding, it would be preferable to "do a hybrid of virtual education and classroom education" in helping the youth cope with the present challenges and global competition.
The Minister was delivering the keynote address at the inaugural of an Industry Academia Global Virtual Conference on 'Emerging Economic Scenario - Identify and Create Competencies', jointly organised by SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), on Thursday.
Citing the initiative of the Indian Railways which has 300 training institutes across the country, Mr. Goyal said his Ministry was now setting up a 'National Rail and Transportation University', which will play a vital role in developing a modern railway system in India. The pedagogic programme will be partly virtual and partly in classrooms and will dovetail on-the-job training that will create skilled manpower to harness new technologies. That was the kind of hybrid educational model that was needed, he said, and quoted Michael Porter to drive home the message,"prosperity is created, not inherited."
Lauding the FICCI paper released at the inaugural on "Online Education, Opportunities and Challenges", Mr. Piyush Goyal said it will be a good starting point for policy makers, educational institutions and industry to engage with the best on what needs to be done as "education will decide the economic destiny of India."
Stating that technology and education was changing the way "you and me live", something which may not be visible but has a very deep impact on us, Mr. Goyal, speaking via video conference from his office in New Delhi, complemented both FICCI and SRM University for organising this global virtual seminar, to deliberate and initiate a dialogue on "this very important subject and come out with outcomes which will help us in the post-Covid world."
Calling for harnessing new and emerging technologies - whether it be big data analytics, block chain or Internet of things-, in a meaningful way, so that every single market opportunity globally was seized, Mr. Goyal said the rise of technology itself was not bad per se. "It is not something we should shy away from, but engage with it". Technology should be part of a newer way of studying and living and a mode of "re-tooling our skills". Some jobs may be lost due to new technology, but on the aggregate it will add to jobs, the Minister said.
Underscoring how technology was helping the government of India in certain sectors in better management of schemes that will lead to social and economic equity, Mr. Goyal cited the growing US economy triggered by technological innovation and development. "We need to skill our people to absorb technology, to help bridge the gap between haves and havenots," the minister said.
Referring to how Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi took 'Yoga' to the whole world and was instrumental in getting the UN declare observance of 'World Yoga Day', a very holistic combination of exercises for the wellbeing of the body, mind and soul, Mr. Goyal asked was there any start-up that took the 'power of Yoga' to the world, to seize the opportunity "opened up for us by the Prime Minister". India has the potential to "become a powerhouse" to provide this technique of Yoga to the World, he said.
Similar was the opportunity for India, with its excellent tradition of craftsmanship and carpenters, to export furniture to the rest of the world, Mr. Piyush Goyal said, adding, 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' does not close our doors to the world, but engages with it and using our natural advantages "competes with the rest of the world."
In her special address, Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI, and Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, said the apex national chamber was deep into the issues facing the education sector today, even as she underscored the deeper impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout globally.
Pointing out to industrial production in India plunging by 16.70 per cent post-Covid outbreak, and bleak prospects thrown up by other macroeconomic indices including FDI and migrating workforce, Dr Sangita Reddy said it was in this backdrop that it was imperative to deliberate on the adequacy of traditional educational models "to prepare our youth to live in a multi-dimensional, complex world." Covid-19 has fundamentally redefined our work order, even as social distancing policies demand the learning of new skills and re-ordering of the workplace. Over 220 million students of various universities and other educational institutions have been disrupted by the pandemic, she regretted.
Highlighting the importance of strengthening digital and online initiatives in learning, Dr Sangita Reddy proposed that if students cannot go to school in September, then it would be good to create a new platform that allows for synergies between global universities and Indian universities and enables students from abroad to spend a minimum six months in India. The Centre could consider such a new partnership programme and take steps to get the needed "permits and sanctions", she urged Mr. Goel.
Besides reskilling workers, Dr Sangita Reddy said we would need to impart high levels of cognitive skills to take advantage of the digital technology trends in a post-Covid world. There was tremendous scope in education for India with surge in online registrations, fruitful initiatives in digital learning, besides India emerging as providers to the world in pharma and healthcare, she stressed.
Dr. T.R. Paarivendhar, Chancellor, SRMIST, welcoming all the participants to the global webinar, said academia and industry were two sides of the same coin and the potential for collaboration was huge, particularly in enhancing the quality of education and research.
Stressing the vital role played by education in creating human resources, Dr Parivendhar said India still had a "long way to go" in funding for higher education as a percentage of the GDP. While Norway spent 6.40 per cent of its GDP on higher education, New Zealand 6.30 per cent, UK 6.20 per cent, USA 6.10 per cent and Germany 5.10 per cent, India spent 4.60 per cent.
The FICCI had a "very vital role" to play in enlightening the government on plans and financial allocations for education to help solve India's unemployment problem, Dr Paarivendhar, who is also Perambalur MP, said, adding, last academic year, over 8,500 SRM students were placed in different companies.
Ms. Shobha Mishra Ghosh, assistant secretary general, FICCI, who was instrumental in organising this event, said over 1,700 registrations had been received for this virtual meet including from abroad, besides the event going live on YouTube and Facebook. The Covid-19 pandemic has induced a 'paradigm shift' , forcing us to re-imagine the traditional educational model, explained Ms. Ghosh.
The inaugural was followed by two thematic and thought-provoking panel discussions- one on the 'New World of Work' and the second on the 'New Age- Industry-Academia Collaboration'. With eminent persons from industry and academia participating in both the panels, they were "wonderful, fascinating sessions" with great ideas thrown up for reflection and appropriate action, as Mr. Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, who chaired the second session, later put it.
In the first panel discussion on the changing workplace, the panelists included Bijay Sahoo, President HR- Reliance Industries Ltd, who remarked that Covid-19 has redefined the notion of work itself bringing the farmer and agriculture to the centre stage of the Indian economy. The others were, Mr. Arun Jain, CMD, Intellect Design, Mr. Anurag Malik, Partner and India Leader, Workforce Advisory, EY, who dwelt on how much percentage of 'remote working' or working from home could be institutionalized in today's context, Mr. Hemel Shah, senior VP and CIO, Dell, and Mr. Lokesh Mehra, Head, AWS Academy, South Asia, Amazon. Mr. Pranjal Sharma, moderated the first panel discussion.
The second panel discussion saw an equally colourful array of personalities including, Dr Ajit Ranade, President & Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group, Prof Tan Eng Chye, President-NUS, Singapore, Mr Andreas Schleicher, Director, Directorate of Education & Skills, OECD, Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Director- IIT Delhi, and Prof Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore. Mr. Mohandas Pai made the discussion very lively with his pointed queries, emphasising points such as linking farmers to markets for better prices for their produce and creating open systems, networks and platforms where technological innovation can flourish.
In the valedictory session, Dr. Sandeep Sancheti, Vice Chancellor, SRMIST, thanked everyone for their valuable participation including Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and ably summarised the take-aways from the global virtual meet on Thursday. From the FICCI side, Mr. Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General FICCI, proposed a hearty vote of thanks.
