Technology can’t replace teachers: UGC Vice-Chairman

Yash Goyal

Our Correspondent

Jaipur, June 21

India should not make the education system automatic as technology could not replace teachers, warns Dr Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice-Chairman, University Grants Commission at the IIHMR’s led webinar here on Sunday.

“Though India’s future education will be a blended education where institutes will be focused on delivering content with quality, along with this, the higher education system in India should also focus on achieving sustainable goals which are important for our existence,” interacting with a dozen of other speakers, including top academics, scholars and media professionals, Patwardhan anticipated.

On the webinar seminar titled “Heartful Leadership: Transforming Education and Supporting sustainability”, the Vice-Chairman referred to the ancient system of education saying that the visionaries had identified the ways of transforming education way back.

“Due to COVID-19, people are in an adaptive mode of change. The education system in India has adopted and accepted the webinars so fast, which is remarkable but we should not make our education system automatic as technology cannot replace teachers,” he added.

Dr Pankaj Mittal, Secretary-General, Association of Indian Universities (AIU), said: “COVID-19 enabled us to face the practical aspects of the education system in India.”

She further pointed out that within the next two months, the higher education institutes in India should be ready with technical infrastructure, capacity building of teachers and faculty staff, evaluate cost-effective online platforms.

“Where education can be imparted, assessment and evaluation system should be streamlined, placement and internship opportunities should be identified, national and international collaboration should be made for students and counselling and mental health session should be organised to culturally engage students,” she added.

The new online system has increased the screen time of students and faculties both, which might hamper their mental health in the near future, said Dr Pankaj Gupta, President, IIHMR University.

In his keynote address, Dr Kamlesh D Patel, founder and guide, Heartfulness Institute, popularly known as Daaji, said the new pattern would bring phenomenal changes in the education system by laying emphasis on empathy, ethical intelligence, and emotional intelligence.

Patel largely defined the purpose of education as flexible consciousness and focused on the process of continuity in improvement and learning. He suggested a harmonious way of living and conducted online meditation session for the speakers and participants.

Hailing the Indian education system, Dr Geoffrey Clemants, chairman, Commonwealth Infrastructure Partners, London, UK, reacted that it has deep traditions of knowledge and skills. India should look for global leadership in the domain of higher education and it would inevitably emerge as a world-known leader in transform education.

Dr H Chaturvedi, Director, Birla Institute (BIMTECH) and alternate president, EPSI India, said: “With more than 40 million students in higher education space in India, and more than 1.45 lakh teachers, India lacks personal touch in communicating with each other. In the coming years, education institutes should be empathetic towards students who lack technology and are facing monetary issues in their families. We should focus on transforming education by cultivating heartful leadership and heartful teaching methods.”

Dr DP Goyal, director, IIM, Shillong; Dr Sandeep Sancheti, Vice-Chancellor, SRM Institute, Chennai; Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Tiruchirappalli; Dr Elizabeth, editor-in-chief, Trainer & Curriculum Development, Heartfulness Institute; Dr Ravi Gupta, founder, CEO & editor-in-chief, Elets Technomedia also spoke on the subject.