Department of School Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of Punjab, and Elets Technomedia hosted the State Education Summit in Chandigarh on 7th and 8th February, 2013
In the words of the programme Chair of the event, Kahan Singh Pannu, IAS, Secretary-cum-Director General, School Education, Government of Punjab, “The summit was convened with the objective of discussing and witnessing the huge dimensions in education which are taking place in the country.” Pannu added,“Technology plays a sole leader in our daily lives and a key role in how we teach, learn, and interact on the administrative platform in schools. Technology is the only answer to make students learn better. One of the most important components of education is to create curiosity and creativity among children. So, how can technology can be put to use in the best manner in this respect, especially in the government schools, was the objective of this conference.”
Esteemed dignitaries graced the conference
Sikandar Singh Maluka, Education Minister, Government of Punjab, was the Chief Guest at the conference. Among eminent Guests of Honour at the summit were: Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd), State Election Commissioner, Haryana; Vivek Atray, HCS Director & Special Secretary to Government, Haryana, Electronics & Information Technology Department and Managing Director, Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (HARTRON); Parampal Kaur, Additional State Project Director, Government of Punjab; Dr R S Khandpur, Director General Pushpa Gujral Science City, Punjab.
Reaching to those who matter the most
More than 1500 delegates including representatives from the government, education regulatory bodies and corporate organisations from across the country, district coordinators and school principals from different districts of Punjab attended the two-day summit. The summit facilitated one-to-one interaction among the key dignitaries and the attendees.
The summit agenda
The two-day summit included seven sessions along the school and higher Education track. The sessions included: Towards Transformative Innovation in Education, STEM (Science Technology English & Mathematics) Education, Role of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in School Management, Innovative Technologies in Education, Career Counseling: Choosing the Right Path, Revamping School Education through Skills & Vocational Education, Emerging Trends in Higher Education and Higher Education: 
Challenges, Opportunities and Insights.
Confederation of private sector and academicians
Corporates from across the country demonstrated their innovations towards propagation of interactive learning in classrooms. While teachers got acquainted with the advancements in other parts of the country with help of such innovations, the presentations from these corporate helped administrators to understand the role of ICT in bringing in transparency in administration.
The summit also witnessed presence of top level officials and senior academicians from different education regulatory bodies, universities, technical institutes and schools. To name a few: Prof Krishnamachar Sreenivasan, Sr Faculty Member, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Ropar; Dr A K Dwivedi, Director, NIELIT, Chandigarh, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; Dr RS Bawa, VC, Chandigarh University; Dr M B Dholakia, Joint CEO, Gujarat Knowledge Society; Dr Jessy Abraham, Associate Professor, Department of Teachers & Non-Formal Education (IASE) Jamia Millia Islamia; DNV Kumara Guru, Director, External Relations, Indian School of Business, Mohali; Dr Neelam Gulati Sharma, Additional Director, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology; Earnest Charles J Samuel, Founder and Principal, Mount Carmel School, Chandigarh; Komal Singh, Principal, Millennium School, Mohali; Dr Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab; Dr Amrit Lal, Principal, DAVIET, Jalandhar; Dr Lovi Raj Gupta, Vice Chancellor, Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology, Himachal Pradesh; HS Bawa, Industrial coordinator, Centre of Industrial Liaison and Placement Thapar University; Dr Rohit Dhand, Additional Dean, Lovely Professional University; Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, MD, Baba Farid Group of Institutions; Dr Maninder Singh, Head Computer Science Engineering Department, Thapar University; SPS Bedi, Executive Director, Chandigarh Group of Institutions; J S Dhillon, Professor in Electrical and Instrumentation, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology; Satish C Sharma, CMD, Maharaja Group Of Colleges, Udaipur; Virender Rawat, Director – Academic, B–Kanae School, Gujarat; Prof (Dr) Devendra Pathak, Vice Chancellor, APG Shimla University; Dr Aneet Bedi, Professor, Dean Academics, Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology; Jeet Singh, Doaba Institute of Engineering and Technology; Dr Jasvinder Pal Kour Shergill, Principal, Government Medical College, Sangrur Road, Patiala.
The summit also had a special session on the essence of Career Counseling that was conducted by Pervin Malhotra, Executive Director, CareerGuidanceIndia.
Recognising the best practices in Punjab
The summit was not only an insightful ride through ICT innovations in the education sector for the people of Punjab, but it also recognised and felicited some of the best practices in the sector in Punjab itself.
Useful ICT innovations in Punjab
1. Mobile Car Science Lab: A car that moves from school to school which does not have lab facility. The car is fitted with necessary instruments and material for conducting practical classes on science subject.
2. Project ePunjabSchool: The online portal has connected all middle, high and senior secondary school with centralised database and provides updated information of students, teachers & school infrastructure.
3. Udaan: The project is aimed at spreading awareness of general knowledge among students and teachers. Ten questions and answers are mailed to all the schools and put up on the notice boards so that students can note them and revision tests based on these are conducted during free period. This gives students a free access to questions on a particular topic.
