Call to harness digital tech for firing children’s creativity

Experts speaking at The Hindu Future India Club conclave ask teachers to nurture inquisitiveness among students

Technology, whether it is Artificial Intelligence, Data Science or Machine Learning, cannot replace the teacher but the latter should be equipped with the digital tools to be in tune with the generation next. Technology can also be harnessed to come out fresh pedagogy and students inquisitiveness should be nurtured to fire up their imagination, even while welcoming their ideas.

This was gist of the speeches and deliberations in the ‘Principals Meet – Education Conclave’ organised by The Hindu Future India Club (FIC) and SRM – AP here on Friday. Principals from various schools from within the city and from the districts participated.

First chairman of the Telangana State Council for Higher Education T. Papi Reddy, hit the nail on the head by candidly admitting that governments — Centre and State — have not given importance to education and as it should have been eventhough it is vital for societal development.

“We should see these aspects only on the expenditure as they play a key role in human development index. The budget allocation for education has never crossed 2% when ideally it should have been 6%. This year we have 7 lakh students going abroad for higher education whereas the poor and downtrodden have no access to education. We have a challenge in our hands,” he said.

SRM Vice Chancellor Manoj K. Arora said being educated means taking into consideration economic, health and mental well being. Curricula design should be based on the technology advancements and focus should be on making children learn by creating such an environment.

“Children at schools should be equipped with coding and problem solving capabilities before they join the university. It is time to integrate school education with higher education. In our university, we are creating an innovative and entrepreneurial culture,” he said.

Strategist and author Atul Tripathi underscored the need for the children to be allowed to learn more creatively. If children are taught to use mobiles “properly”, it can help the children since digital technology has become a way of life to expand the knowledge base, hence cannot be ignored.