The National Progressive Schools Conference

The National Progressive Schools Conference (NPSC) is an association of 310 schools across India. It was formulated to address the emerging changes and challenges in education. A two-day conference was held at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on April 26 and 27, 2023, to commemorate its entry into its golden jubilee year. While the conference deliberates and discusses a number of contemporary themes on the shifting school education landscape in India under the larger theme of "Designing Human-Centred Education for a Sustainable World," the golden jubilee celebrations are also a subtext of the G20.

The Indian School was represented by Principal, Ms Tania Joshi, and teachers, Ms Aarushi Rawat and Ms Kaajal Manchanda. Our teachers Ms Rupinder Kaur, Ms Pooja Behl, and Ms Radhika Bhardwaj handled the registrations at the registration desk for the event.

The chief guests for Day 1 of the events were B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust, Marco Teixeira, UNODC Representative (who delivered the message to the conference virtually), and Maureen Welch, Former Director, Asia Education Foundation.

Mr Subrahmanyams message set the tone of the conference, where he talked about education being holistic in naturea system that provides active learning and does not make monoclonal kids. The kids should be taught vocational skills that will raise their employability in the future. He informed the gathering that "we are at the cusp of development, having left shortages behind and moving to become the third largest economy in the next 25 years". He mentioned that India's rise is benign, as it has been a peaceful country with a heritage rooted in seeing the world as one family. He talked about his organisations engagement with educational institutions and students through Atal Tinkering Labs and Atal Incubation Centres under the Atal Innovation Mission.

After Subrahmanyam's motivational speech, NBT Director Yuraj Malik communicated with the audience. He concentrated on the possibility for India to achieve economic, social, and cultural sustainability over the period of the following 20 to 25 years. He said that teachers and schools need to be very involved. He offered the audience the task of contrasting the actions and way of thinking of young people who read books and those who don't. He concluded by advising kids to mark their birthdays by contributing a book to the local library.

This was followed by the first session of the day on NCF 2022: A Journey from Annanmaya to Anandamaya Vikas'. The panelists for the session were Dr Ranjana Arora, NCERT, who explained the Pancha Kosha, and spoke about the 13 curricular goals contained in the NCF. She reflected on the fact that 40 million kids are still out of school, and teaching should have learner supremacy. Following her, M.C. Pant, Chancellor, NIEPA touched upon the new paradigms in the learning landscape that entail a critical shift in mindset and were discussed by experts.

The NCF for the foundational stage was launched by the Ministry of Education last year and according to the curriculum framework, the NCERT has developed and collected the learning-teaching material using the concept of Jaadui Pitara which includes puzzles, puppetry, posters, flash cards, worksheets and attractive storybooks.

The second session of the day was 'Life for the Environment' (LIFE). It was introduced by the Honble Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN Climate Change Conference. This initiative encourages a lifestyle that focuses on mindful and deliberate utilisation of resources and aims to change the present "use and dispose off" consumption habits.

The panel included Ms Kalpana Sastry, agricultural scientist; Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives and Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director-General, TERI. The moderator for the session was Dr Ameetha M. Wattal and the rapporteur was Ms Tania Joshi. The panel examined practises that encourage individuals to adopt simple changes in their daily lives that can contribute to climate change. Key takeaways from the discussion were the importance of agro-based foods, practising sustainability before preaching it, and the importance of systematic design for thinkingtraining children in the ability to think that instills behavioural changes for a society that survives the uncertain and the unknown.

The third and last session featured a kathak performance by Padma Sri Guru Shovana Narayan's students on the subject of "Women, Water, and the Blue Economy. Kathak is a traditional Indian dance style renowned for its deft footwork, quick spins, and ethereal gestures. The show was captivating and enthralling.

"Navigating the Tech Frontier for Shaping the Future of Learning" was the topic of session 4 on Day Two. The panelists were Mr Sanjeeva Shivesh, founder and CEO of The Entrepreneurship School, Prof. M.M. Pant, former pro vice chancellor of IGNOU, and Think Startup. The moderator was Dr Ashok Pandey, director of the Alchon Group of Schools. Ms Rashmi Malik, Executive Member of the NPSC and Principal of Gurugram's Salwan Public School, was the report's author. The coordinator was Ms Meenu Tiwari, an executive member of the NPSC and the principal of the CRPF Public School in Dwarka.

Technology "empowers instructors," thus one should embrace it, says Mr Pant. Our goal is sustainable development, where education is transformed and every educational issue is resolved by AI-assisted self-learning. The book "The Fourth Education Revolution" by Sir Anthony Seldon was suggested by him. Mr Shivesh spoke on the function that technology would have in the years to come. Why are kids bored in class, he asked. Will there be teachers and schools in 2047? As a result of a shortage of resources, he said ChatGPT will put the changes into practise. He reiterated that educational approaches must meet students' goals.

Another course that day covered "Financial Literacy for a balanced and inclusive ecosystem." Audiences were able to better understand the significance of sustainable investing through it. Professor Rashmi Barua from JNU, author Monika Hallan, head of the SEBI Advisory Committee for IPEF and Geetu Joshi, economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance, were among the panellists. During the seminar on the subject of "Realising SDG: The Life Force for Change," national award winner Lok Nath Das entertained the audience with a creative performance of the traditional dance technique Chhau.

Arif Mohammad Khan, Honourable Governor of Kerala and former union minister of civil aviation and energy, attended the closing session with the topic "Globalising the Indian Knowledge System as a Living Tradition." Shikha Nehru Sharma's lecture on Vedic Diet: A Journey Towards Holistic Wellbeing, commemorating the demand for 2023 to be the International Year of Millets, was an eye-opener to the rich tradition of holistic wellbeing. Last but not the least was speaker Mr Rajnath Gupta, chairman of the Ramjas Foundation management committee.

The conference represented a systemic revolution through the integration of educational institutions, policies, practises, and learning opportunities around the welfare of the stakeholders in the education ecosystem. All in all it was an enriching two day conference.