The fourth edition of Difficult Dialogues commenced with the focus on ‘Education: Illuminating
Myriad Facets’, which has seen leading experts and academics discuss education
policies in India over the last two days. Difficult Dialogues, an annual forum
examining critical issues in South Asia, founded by philanthropist Surina
Narula, has previously highlighted issues around India’s position in a
globalised world, health and gender equality.
The inaugural ceremony had in attendance
the Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha, Varun Sahni, Vice Chancellor, Goa
University; Surina Narula, Founder and CEO, Difficult Dialogues; Paul Flather,
Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford University; Yatin Kakodkar, President, The
International Centre Goa; Dr Constantino Xavier, former fellow Carnegie India;
executive committee members and a distinguished audience.
The chancellor of Oxford University Lord
Chris Patten said in a video message that he felt that the Asian economic
miracle which refers to South East Asia (China) was in large part because of
strides made in basic health and education and so it was important to “get
the basics right” with better primary education in India.
The evening programme at Goa University’s
auditorium also saw a lively interactive session on ‘Educating Minds – Changing
Mindsets’. Moderated by Anurradha Prasad Shukla, Chairperson and Managing
Director, News- 24. The panel discussion set the tone for the remaining two
days of the forum, and served to engage the audience in a conversation about
issues surrounding the education system in India.
The speakers on the panel were Arif
Mohammad Khan, former cabinet Minister in the Union of India; Deepa Narayan,
International Poverty, Gender and Development Advisor; Manjushree Patil, India
Country Director of Samanta, a sister organisation of THINK EQUAL – UK and
Founder Director of Aatman Academy; and Renuka Chowdhury, Indian politician and
a member of the Indian National Congress.
Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said “The three ‘A’s of education
are affordability, accessibility and availability… In the last five years, the
budget for education has actually declined… The government of India needs to
wake up and realize that true progress lies in investing in education, not
arms.” She also added, “One student per hour commits suicide in India. The
terror of exams is very real.”
Deepa Narayan, researcher and author asked, “When you think
back about school, what emotion comes up? I’ve been asking this question for
many years and people don’t respond with a positive response.”
On the following day, there was a panel discussion titled
‘Building World Class Universities’. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr
Pushkar Sinha, Director, International Centre Goa (ICG) and had the following
panelists: David Mills, Associate Professor (Pedagogy and the Social Sciences)
at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education, Francisco Marmolejo,
Lead Tertiary Education Specialist, Education, World Bank , Niraja Gopal Jayal,
Professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru
University and Pankaj Chandra, Vice Chancellor of Ahmedabad University.
There was another panel discussion on Value Education. Moderated
by Dr Allen Abreo, Dean, Faculty of Education, Goa University and Principal of
GVM’s Dr Dada Vaidya College of Education, Ponda, the panelists were
Apoorvanand Jha, Professor, Hindi Department, University of Delhi, Yudhisther
Raj Isar, Professor of Cultural Policy Studies, The American University of
Paris, Varun Sahni, Vice-Chancellor, Goa University and Victoria Chowgule,
Programme Director of Dempo Vishwa Gramshala.
The next panel discussion was on the topic ‘Education for All:
Inclusion in Education by CBPS’. This was moderated by Jyotsna Jha, Director,
Center for Budget and Policy Studies(CBPS) and had Arathi Sriprakash, Faculty
of Education, University of Cambridge, UK, Niveditha Menon, Feminist writer and
Professor of Political Thought at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shyam Menon,
Faculty at the Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi and
VrindaSarup , IAS (Andhra Pradesh 1983) on the panel.
There was also a discussion on the topic‘ Financing of
Education: Binding Constraint?’, which was moderated by Rathin Roy, Director
and CEO of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi; and
Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. The panelists
for the discussion were Sukanya Bose, Faculty at the National Institute of
Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief
Executive of Center of Policy Reverse (CPR) and Yasmin Ali Haque , UNICEF
Representative in India.
The
final discussion on Day 2 was on Primary Education, which was moderated by Anjali
Mody, Journalist and had Atishi Marlena, Indian Politician, Educator, and
Political activist, Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief Executive of Center of
Policy Reverse (CPR) and Nila Mohanan, IAS and currently serving as the
Secretary of Education for the State of Goa on the panel.
