Academia ponders upon AI’s impact at BW Education’s EduNext Summit

BW Education in association with BW Businessworld hosted day-long event 'BW Education EduNext Summit & 40under40 Awards' on Wednesday, 31 January 2024 at India International Centre, New Delhi. The event saw participation from industry stalwarts and experts who involved in various panel discussions, powerpoint presentation and keynote address. A book based on parenting was also launched on the occasion. Later in the day, the award ceremony took place. 

Quality & Excellence Does Not Come So Easy

Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, National Board of Accreditation (NAAC), in his keynote address shed light on the transformative journey India's education system is embarking on. With a focus on innovation, collaboration and leveraging technology, Sahasrabudhe outlined a vision that extends beyond accreditation, aiming to create a holistic and dynamic learning environment. The chairman commenced by acknowledging the pivotal role of accreditation in assessing educational institutions. He emphasised the need for institutions to embrace accreditation willingly, revealing that only about 25 to 30 per cent of institutions currently opt for institutional accreditation.

Answering a question by Team BW Education regarding the decision to do away with gradation in accreditation of higher education institutes, he said, “There are two elements to it. The first aspect is, despite a lot of thrust on accreditation, not more than 25-30 per cent institutes come forward for institutional accreditation. And as far as programme accreditation of National Board of Accreditation for engineering, management and others is concerned, not even 10 per cent programmes are accredited. We want that all the institutes should follow a minimum quality benchmark. When the gradation was there, there was stigma attached to low grades. Whereaas we want all the institutes to come forward.”

He pointed to the practice of institutes providing data “which was not truthful”, engaging consultants and other practices to get the desired grades. Those measures will not be required when you will be accredited or not accredited.

Talking about the other aspect, he said, “Quality and excellence does not come so easy. Institutes that aspire to do better should challenge themselves, and globally compete to become level 5.”

The new system of levels 1 to 5, he clarified, will not be equivalent to grades. It will not be easy to get to level 5. Only institutes like IISc Bangalore, IIMs or IITs could get to level 5, he said.   

Sahasrabudhe announced a shift, with the focus on the newly introduced Automated Permanent Academic Account, providing a unique ID for every student in India. This innovation aims to link with the Academic Bank of Credits, facilitating easy verification of student credentials by employers.

The chairman stressed the potential of gamification and comics to make learning enjoyable for students, revolutionising the conventional education system. Furthermore, Sahasrabudhe shared insights into the efforts to promote multilingualism in education. He unveiled an indigenous translation tool called Anuvadini, developed to facilitate the translation of educational content into various Indian languages. The tool, currently in its learning phase, is poised to challenge global translation tools within a year, he said.

Highlighting the collaboration between startups and educational institutions, Sahasrabudhe urged startups to engage with institutions and provide insights into the changing dynamics of the job market. He encouraged startups to bridge the gap between industry requirements and academic offerings, fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability.

Throughout his address, Sahasrabudhe highlighted the role of technology in shaping the future of education. He lauded initiatives like the National Educational Alliance for Technologies, promoting personalised learning through adaptive tools. The chairman also commended efforts in the internship space, where technology, including AI, is utilised for matchmaking between students and industries.

Unlocking the Potential of Emerging Technologies in Education

In the panel discussion on this theme, Himadri Das, Director General, International Management Institute, said, "The biggest boon for students in the last year is generative AI since it allows one to develop large language models on very specific customised tailored content," stated

Discussing the use of technology during the Covid-19 pandemic, the director explained that while technology was used to enhance content delivery, it did not change the way students learned.

"The ultimate learning pedagogical objective should be a flip classroom model. Students learn concepts and theories on their own and come to the classrooms to learn applications and cases from the faculties," he added.

Meanwhile, Abhay G Chebbi, Pro Chancellor, Alliance University, stated, " Generative AI has taken us to a scale where we can truly augment ourselves, to do this we need to recognise that this is good, and not just for the country or society but for us as individuals…. Institutions must funnel technology as a tool and chart out a plan."

Uma Shankar Venkatesh, Professor, Marketing, Great Lakes Institute of Management Gurgaon, stressed on accessibility over quality. 

Saurabh Kumar Chaubey, CEO, IHUB Anubhuti, IIITD Foundation, said AI can make education more personalised, immersive, and cost-effective. "The possibilities that can open up with edtech and technology are immense -from customising textbooks to examinations and even to selecting careers."

Yogendra Patidar, Director, CIVOM, stated that educational institutions' expectations depend on how we look at the goals. 

"How strongly we discover the programme will help us enable the technologies around it, that where we can set it right. The role of a teacher has also changed in regards to technology, with traditional approaches being replaced with a guide-by-the-side approach," concluded Patidar. 

From classrooms to careers: how to nurture 21st century skills in students

Pritam Kumar Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Hello Kids Preschool & Riverstone School, emphasised, “Teachers must be inspiring; children should feel like talking to you, listening to you and working with you. Till the time we don’t understand this, NEP or any other policy does not work.”

Jyotsna Davar, Lecturer, Directorate of Education, Govt of NCT of Delhi, said, “Teachers must undergo a paradigm shift and be level with today’s children. The whole pedagogy must go through a change including the evaluation system. Something dynamic is required which is why we keep conducting teacher trainings.”

Anju Gaur, Principal, JKG International School, Vijay Nagar asserted, “Communication between two people has a purpose, it’s to make the person you are conversing with understand what you want to say. If children are taught in their mother tongue in their beginning years, it helps a lot.”

Sneha Rathor Khandelwal, CEO, Sanfort Group of Schools highlighted, “As educators, mental health is something which is very important nowadays especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. We see the consequences of it now especially when talking about mental health. For children and teachers, the biggest thing in dealing with mental health is being closer to the people you are working with. The problem is that you’re not hearing people out, so you’re not able to connect.”

Book launch by Dr Manjula Pooja Shroff, MD and CEO, Kalorex Group

The event saw the launch of a book on parenting – ‘Baby Steps to Big Dreams' authored by Manjula Pooja Shroff, MD & CEO of the Kalorex group. The book was launched on the 23 August 2023, in Mauritius in the presence of president of Mauritius Prithvirajsing Roopun GCSK.  

A regular columnist, vlogger and life coach, Shroff has been honoured with several awards including the Secular India award from the President of India.

The book delves into a whole range of issues pertaining to parenting. Speaking on the occasion, Shroff said pre-teens are not just growing at home, but on the wide world of internet. They are being subjected to cyber bullying and body shaming. They are suffering from low self-esteem as a result. Hence, it is important to talk about sex, alcohol and drug abuse and not to shy away from addressing these issues. She informed that the book, based on development sciences has data, case studies and what’s happening on the ground and resonates in society.

Building future ready schools

In this session, Neeru Madhuri Parti, Strategic Director, Cyboard School, emphasised the urgency of adapting to the digital age, “Today universities are already online, schools need to be online as soon as possible.”

Mousumi Mukherjee, Teacher, GD Goenka International School, advocated for a balanced approach to learning, "Children are more comfortable in the digital world than us, but they should also understand traditional learning methods." She stressed the importance of parent orientation and providing children with diverse experiences beyond digital learning.

Amol Arora, Managing Director, Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools, acknowledged the challenge of digital access and emphasises the need for careful implementation, "Learning happens at home first. Flip classrooms should be there, but expecting children to study solely from devices is not correct."

How Are Edtech Transforming the Indian Education System

The key industry experts shared their insights on how edtech is transforming the Indian education system.

Nirvaan Birla, Managing Director, Birla Open Minds and Birla Brainiacs, said, “Technology and edtech is a supplement to the traditional method of education. I don’t think technology can ever replace traditional schooling methodologies, but technology somewhere helps teachers as well to analyse students’ strengths and weakness.” 

Sameeruddin Khan, Dean, School of CSE & IS and Presidency University, Bangalore, stated, “I won’t say that edtech will lead to hybrid learning, but edtech can be very helpful for teachers.”

Atul Bharat, Group Director, Acropolis Institutions, Indore, emphasised, “As per the need of the education system, the academicians have to redefine their methodologies. In our education system, by 2030-35, Tier 1 and Tier 2 institutions may become enablers of better hybrid modes, while Tier 3 will take additional years to develop,” Bharat stated.

Rana Singh, Director, Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna, shared his thoughts on the challenges faced by edtech inn Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities.

Etinder Pal Singh, Dy Director, Apeejay School of Management, said, “If a person is using technology for using Whatsapp and scrolling Instagram, then that person can use technology for educating himself as well, but schools/institutions need to take a step ahead to make education to be reachable to everyone.”  

Learning spaces: How to develop them in schools

In his presentation, Yogendra Patidar, Director, CIVOM, shared his thoughts on why learning and learning spaces should be changed and the importance of technology advancement, knowledge of learning and user behaviour in learning space.  

Patidar shared his point of view on how learning, education and schools are different, “According to me there is a small difference, learning is acquiring new skills and knowledge whereas education is the plant programme for learning and school is where the education ought to happen.” 

CIVOM, a space creating design organisation, collects students’ data from Indian genealogy to enable learning behaviour through space.  

Integrating Skill Industry, Academia Connect and Employability for a Holistic Education

In this panel, Punith Raj KN, Founder and CEO, Seminar Room Education said, “The employability rate has moved from 33 per cent to 51 per cent which is a phenomenal increment. Wherein, to push it from 50 per cent to 70 per cent, we cannot rely only on government initiatives and schemes. Instead, we need to focus on Universities and enablers like edtech firms to bring significant change.”

"We need entrepreneurs, but more than that, we need people with an entrepreneur mindset. Meta and Google of the world are not being run by the founders but by CEOs having an entrepreneur mindset,” said Ankit Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Unstop. 

Ketan Deshpande, Founder & CEO, Friends Union for Energising Lives (FUEL), also emphasised on ‘entrepreneurial mindset and said, “Such mindset needs to be conditioned at schools and colleges. We have been teaching students with academics which will not lead to creating entrepreneurs. Content should be structured in a way which will deliver and make them entrepreneurs.”

Kishor Acharya, Head - Marketing, Masai School, said, “We are getting interest from the students. However, conventional requirement of credentials from hiring managers particularly in tech acts as a hurdle. Such a mindset is gradually changing and further integrating skills with job demand will reduce the friction.”

“People are looking for ways to educate people better, but apprehension persists about their employability. That’s where industry has to come towards academia and help with curriculum and thought process,” concluded Puneet Dhiman, CEO and Founder, Chaabi.

Artificial Intelligence in education

Panellists discussed how Artificial intelligence (AI) is making significant strides in education, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the way we teach and learn.

Shailendra Dhakad, CEO, Smart Owl Education, said, “We use AI to get new activity suggestions; thus, AI is helping us in idea generation; education can be the biggest vertical use case for AI.”

Srishty Jain, Founder and CEO, Collearn, said, “30 per cent of our time and efforts and resources are saved because of using AI. We are about to induct our chatbot grading system, where AI will be used to ascertain a student's capabilities and map them with the required companies.”

Charan Lakkaraju, CEO, Student Tribe, said, “We use AI to promote vernacular language. However, the integration of AI in education comes with challenges. Concerns about biases and fairness arise as AI systems may perpetuate stereotypes and lead to unequal outcomes for different groups of learners.”

Nachiket Bhatia, CEO, Dr Bhatia Medical Coaching Institute, stated, “Ensuring transparency in AI operations is crucial, as complex decision-making processes may be challenging to understand or explain. Additionally, the reliability of AI-driven assessments and feedback must be maintained to uphold educational standards.

Nitya Prakash, Co-founder, Global Head & VP, Techacademy Campus, also shed light on impact of AI on the institute’s functioning.

40 Being Given 40under40 Awards

The BW Education 40under40 awards were given away on this occasion. Now in its third year, BW Education 40 under 40 aims to bring forth the sharpest minds and their contribution in the education sector.

The awardees were finalised after a rigorous screening process. The jury to decide the elite 40under40 winners' club included: Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities; Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIM Ahmedabad; Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder & Chairman, Harappa Education; Shyama Chona, Educationist and Founder President, Tamanna; SS Mantha, Former Chairman, AICTE; Rajan Saxena, Ex VC, NMIMS and Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4media.