Alliance University hosted the annual International School Leaders’ Summit themed ‘Education for Transformation’ to celebrate the individuals who through their contributions have redefined the paradigm of transformative education on August 20, 2022. The summit hosted school principals from across the globe and witnessed an array of addresses and panel discussions focused on the development of new models of learning that are transformative.

The welcome note was delivered by Dr. Punith Cariappa, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Student Administration & Affairs, Alliance University. Dr. Punith shared few insights on the role of school leaders in shaping the framework and building the ecosystem of transformative learning.

Further proceedings witnessed an inaugural address from Mr. Abhay G. Chebbi, Pro-Chancellor of Alliance University. The address focused on the technological interventions in enhancing teaching learning processes at the grass root level while acknowledging the contributions of school education in creating a pool of young talent ready to go for higher education.

Dr. Anubha Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Alliance University shared her real-life experiences of observing the instant changes that students embrace through immersive learning. Dr. Singh also spoke about the importance of imbibing life-long learning values and emphasized the critical role of school teachers to encourage creative, emphatic and design thinking in young students to lead them on a path to become guardians of a new era.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Chaitanya N. Sreenivas, CTO at Kyndryl and President of the NHRD Bengaluru Chapter in his address accentuated the value that data provides to draft changes in the educational framework. He spoke on the future of industry and its requirement in terms of talent and human resource in driving the ecosystems of new economic structures.

Session on NEP was delivered by Prof. Gowri Joshi, Professor and Director at CESS. During the session, Prof. Joshi deciphered the education policy simplifying its frameworks while sharing valuable insights on the reforms that NEP envisages. He spoke on the comprehensive guidelines and importance of committee formations to implement the policy. While addressing the gathering, Prof. Joshi also threw light on understanding the learning profiles of children to drive the pedagogical shift and align it to maximize the learning potential for students at a foundational level. Prof. Joshi encouraged the school leaders to lead the progressive development of transdisciplinary education to ensure the transition towards new educational framework proposed by the NEP through its implementation and teacher-training approaches.

The summit had the first panel discussion on ‘Future of Pedagogy’ witnessing thought provoking debate between Mr. Uttam Kumar Jha, Principal, Choithram School, North Campus, Indore; Ms. Chitrakala Ramachandran Principal, Chennai Public School; Dr. Padmavathy Tungaturthi Principal / Director of Fusion International School, Hyderabad; Ms. Suchita Malakar, Principal at Podar International School - Powai CIE Mumbai and was moderated by Dr. Julien Paret, Assistant Professor at Alliance School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University.

The second panel discussion on ‘Making Humanities Great Again’ had Dr. Pramod Mahajan, Director & Principal at Sharjah Indian School Sharjah, UAE; Ms. Anisha Sharma, Principal, DPS Siliguri; Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra, Principal, Kunwars at Global School Lucknow; Ms. Pallavi Mishra, Principal at Oakridge School, Bengaluru, as panellists. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Anthony Archdeacon, Professor at Alliance School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University.

The last panel discussion ‘From Textbooks to College: New Paths to Higher Education’ had Ms. Reena Khurana, Principal of Golden International School Indore; Mr. P. K. Sankaralingam, Principal of DPS-BPKIHS Dharan Nepal; Mr. Sadananda Hotta, Principal of DAV Vedanta International bringing out several aspects of relooking at the contemporary education practices. This discussion was moderated by Dr. Sheila Mahapatra, Assistant Dean - Research, Alliance College of Engineering and Design, Alliance University.

At the end of the panel discussions, the vote of thanks was presented by Ms. Surekha Shetty, ISLS 2022 Summit Chair and Sr. Director of Admissions, Career Advancement & Networking and Alumni Relations, Alliance University who extended her gratitude towards delegates and the leadership team of Alliance University for creating avenues of debate and discussion towards the development and progress of transformative education in the country.