Innovation should become a culture in school education, says Samagra Shiksha official

Additional State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, M.R. Prasanna Kumar on Thursday said academic knowledge alone cannot shape a complete personality. “Students must be equipped with the ability to think critically, solve problems and innovate,” he said while speaking at the inaugural of a two-day ‘Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship’ training workshop at Siddhartha Deemed to be University in Vijayawada.

Mr. Prasanna Kumar said innovation, design and entrepreneurship should be integrated into the curriculum from Class 6 onwards and emphasised that innovation should become a culture across all schools and universities.

He highlighted the need to teach students to be thinkers, designers and entrepreneurs who meaningfully contribute to the nation’s growth. He said every school and every classroom should nurture discussions on innovation and provide opportunities to students to showcase their ideas at science fairs and other such events. He said if this was encouraged, India, which was currently the fourth largest economy, could reach the first position by 2027.

Assistant Innovative Director, Innovation Cell, AICTE (Ministry of Education), Elangovan Kariappan lauded Andhra Pradesh for establishing School Innovation Councils in 50% of the State’s schools. He recalled that last year, three student projects from the State were showcased at the national level. Dr. Kariappan announced that participants of this programme would be designated as District Innovation Ambassadors, who will play an active role in transforming districts into innovation hubs and schools into innovation labs.

The training workshop is being organised with the joint support of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Samagra Shiksha, PM SHRI, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), School Innovation Council and Wadhwani Foundation.

Head, IT department, and vice-president (Research Technology and Development), Siddhartha Deemed University M. Sunita, president (Higher Education) and vice-chancellor A.V. Ratna Prasad, representative of Wadhwani Foundation and others were present.