HYDERABAD: Educational leaders, parents, and Indian Knowledge System enthusiasts on Saturday gathered in Hyderabad to know how the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) can be a curricular and co-curricular value addition to the current pedagogical context as per the new National Education Policy. A half-day workshop was arranged by the Annadi Foundation in this regard.
Close to 350 participants including more than 50 schools attended the event and gained key information on how Indian Knowledge System clubs and camps can be organised.
During his address, Prof Mohan Raghavan, Head, Department of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT Hyderabad emphasized the importance of gaining exposure to Bharatiya Jnana Parampara and how it ensures the happiness of all. He added that it does not conflict with the existing school curriculum and in fact, helps to enhance participation in the educational process as one feels more fulfilled pursuing IKS.
Majukeshwar, founder of Parampara Educational Trust shared his experience of implementing Anaadi Foundation’s Sadvidya Preschool curriculum. Smt. Sharmila shared her experience of integrating IKS into homeschooling.
A panel discussion also brought out various merits of introducing IKS at the school level, the ways to go about it, other civilizational parallels, and how it naturally instills pride in knowing scientifically accurate accomplishments in our traditional knowledge systems.
Following the panel discussion, there was a session on pathways to implement IKS at Schools by Gurupriya Chaitanya, Pradhana Acharya at Dharma Gurukulam, and a Research Scholar from IIT Bombay. He brought out examples of how geometry, quadratic identities, wellness, and astronomy were taught in traditional texts and the merits of drawing from the rich pedagogical texts in ancient commentaries.
They presented models for organizing IKS Clubs, whole-school camps, and teachers’ capacity-building programs in IKS.
A parent shared how the insights from the workshop have convinced her to introduce IKS to her children who are in middle school and another parent shared how he plans to introduce Sadvidya preschool content to his 3-year-old son.
This being the year of millets, participants were served a full course millet meal on leaf plates as part of the workshop.