CHENNAI: Appreciating The New Indian Express' choice of themes - India at 75: Vision for 2022 - for the ThinkEdu Conclave as being 'extremely relevant', Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished that discussions at the Conclave would be "enriching and thought-provoking and would provide a roadmap for a sectoral growth trajectory", in a message sent to Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express.
Reflecting on India's timeless tradition of valuing education, Modi said, "Weaved with the guru-shishya parampara an enabling environment of imparting education and learning has been an integral part of our society and culture since ancient times."
He added that his government has a high regard for the importance of education and recognized it for the true transformative potential it held, "Education is the basis of progress and prosperity of a nation. The purpose of education, hence, should not be limited to a transfer of information or formulae, it should rather be to inspire young minds to think creatively, to innovate, to expand their horizons and learn new things with values," he added.
Continuing about how they were using technology to kindle a spirit of innovation and research in every student, he said, "All the people of the country together are resolved to realise the vision of a new India by 2022, and education, as a key to inclusive growth, is vital in realising this vision." He concluded by wishing the Conclave and the group every success in being a harbinger of change to the education landscape as we know it.
With 65 powerful speakers spread across 32 sessions, the eighth edition of the ThinkEdu Conclave is all set to take the conversation about education several notches up - to debate about whether we need to focus on elite institutions or government schools, to expound where we need to study in English or our mother tongues and talk about what the Indian of the future will be like.
Get ready to listen to the regal delivery of the Governors of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit, and Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan, the plans and propositions of the people in power, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Union Ministers Ramesh Pokhriyal (HRD), Smriti Irani (WCD) and Kiren Rijiju (Sports) and education stalwarts from across the spectrum. Thrown into the mix are parliamentarians Shashi Tharoor, Subramanian Swamy, Manish Tewari, Supriya Sule and Tejasvi Surya. Think Himalayan innovator Sonam Wangchuk or Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej and you'll have an idea of what's in store this year.
The top 24 non-governmental colleges from across the state will receive the ThinkEdu Awards from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami on January 9.
You can watch the live stream of the entire Conclave at www.newindianexpress.com/thinkedu2020