New Delhi: Pearl Academy, India’s leading institution in design, fashion, business and media, hosted the 7th edition of ‘What’s Next’, a World Café style confluence at its Rajouri Garden campus here recently. Eminent influences and thought leaders gathered to discuss “Education for Tomorrow”, this year’s theme, with Gen Z learners and academicians.
The day-long confluence included three sessions around the themes – Setting the context, Building a shared perspective and Preparing the learner for future – in which 110 change makers debated skills, essential for today’s learners.
The first session started with the introduction of the two eminent speakers Biju Dominic, CEO, Final Mile Consulting, and Geetanjali JB, Head, Academics, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh, who spoke about the importance of changing skills needed for the future. The second session entailed a 30-minute table discussion, wherein the participants were divided into 10 groups dispersed around 10 tables. Each table had a representative who presented five different skills and came out with several ideas and solutions to prepare students for the future. A few top skills included – Collaborate & co-create, Critical Thinking & Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Building Value system, Ability to Contextualize, Motor and Sensory skills and Learnability.
The third session began with the unveiling of the institution’s new learning model – Pearl Total Learning System, which was presented by Prof. Nandita Abraham along with other faculty members. The interactive sessions saw principals, leaders of high school education, industry experts and career counsellors like Pervin Malhotra, Director – Career Guidance India (CARING), Vinita Kher, DPS Society, Ashok Wadia, Jai Hind College, Mumbai, Dr. Rajpal Shripat Hande, Mithibai College, Mumbai, Balasubramanian Murali, DPS Srinagar, Michael Thompson, JBCN International School, Mumbai, Sr. Jessy SND, Notre Dame Academy, Patna to name a few. All the participants came up with interesting and practically implementable ideas to build connected communities, empower learners and prepare them for future.
