ET Edge, an initiative of the Economic Times organised the “Future of Learning Forum – Classrooms of the Future” on 19th November 2014 at Mumbai. The keynote address was delivered by Shri Vinod Tawde, Hon’ble Minister of HRD, Govt of Maharashtra. Keeping in mind the growing importance of Physical Education, Sports and Fitness Programs in Schools, one of the key Panel discussions included “Importance of Structured Physical Education in Schools”.
The session on “Importance of Structured Physical Education in Schools” was moderated by Mr. Sujit Panigrahi, CEO, Fitness365, and had Mr. Saumil Majumdar, CEO, EduSports, Mr. Vasant Bhardwaj, Co-founder, Tenvic and Mr. Sudhansu Fadnis, Director Sports Seed. The panelists covered a range of aspects – the need for structured physical education, the benefits of an effective sports and fitness program in bringing in good health, active living and providing important social and life skills. There was healthy discussions on how to get over difficulties in terms or infrastructure and time to play. The idea of getting children to play during and outside the school hours where school leaders, teachers and parents have important stakes was discussed in depth. Age-appropriate curriculum and activities, assessment methodologies and monitoring were key components of the discussion. Mr. Sujit Panigrahi made it a highly interactive session by engaging the school leaders and teachers in getting their comments on the different discussion points and getting the panelists and other school leaders to share their experiences and views.
Other sessions included “Future Policies of K-12 and Higher Education: Achieving Global Standards of education in India”, “Institutional Collaborations in Teaching and Learning”, “Digital Learning Technologies: Road Map for imparting Modern Education in India”, “highlighting the need for privatisation of Indian Education”. The speakers for other sessions included Dr. Pranabesh Ray, Dean Academics, XLRI, Dr. SS Mantha, Chairman, AICTE, Mr. Anuraag Saxena, CEO, South Asia, World Education Foundation, Ms. Eliza Hilton, Founder, Flow India, Mr. Deepak Lamba, President TCL-BCCL amongst others.
