Convoke 2020: A platform for research presentation, academic discussion and intellectual exchange

‘Enabling girl child empowerment through education’

30^th November 2020: Bharti Foundation convened its pan India conference Convoke 2020 in its sixth edition. The two-day long conference was themed ‘Towards School Excellence: Enabling girl child empowerment through education’. Convoke is a platform for research presentation, academic discussion and intellectual exchange among school principals, teachers, academicians, and other grassroots educationists.

The First day of the conference started with a short introduction on CONVOKE by Mr. Antony Nellissery, Chief School Excellence, Bharti Foundation, followed by a welcome address by Mamta Saikia, CEO, Bharti Foundation. The chief guest for the inaugural session Dr. Sridhar Srivastava, Joint Director, NCERT, Director (I/c), NCERT, and Chairman (I/c), NIOS graced the event.  The guest of honor Mr. V. V. Ranganathan, Formerly Sr. Partner, Country Leader, Strategic Growth Markets – E&Y, India, and Jury partner, Kadambari Anantram, Vice President, Research and Advisory Services also were present.

On the second day, a panel discussion on ‘Education: Challenges faced by underprivileged children’ between Ms. Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder, Design for Change, Ms. Kalpana Morparia, Chairman, South & Southeast Asia, J. P. Morgan, and Mr. Arun Kapur, Director, The Royal Academy, Bhutan; Pallavan Learning Systems, highlighted the hurdles that underprivileged children have to face in terms of seeking a quality education. For the valedictory session, the chief guest Mr. Anil Swarup, Author & Former Secretary, Education (GoI) along with the guest of honor, Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-chairman, Bharti Foundation, Ms. Kalpana Morparia, Mr. Arun Kapur, Mrs. Syeda Bilgrami Imam and Ms. Mamta Saikia, CEO, Bharti Foundation.

 launched the book ‘Karma Kurry: Kidpower (Children Championing Change) along with the author of the book, Mr. Jeroninio (Jerry) Almeida. ‘Karma Kurry’ is a compilation of 22 stories of Satya Bharti School children, who did not give up irrespective of several challenges they faced in life.

There were three sessions on the first day and three on the second, with a total of 20 papers presented by 16 teachers and four students, who went beyond regular academics and bringing research closer to everyday education. The papers presented covered topics including New Education Policy – A review of education in the times of the “new normal” with special focus on Girl child. Some of the topics covered included – Changing Mindset-up\Trends Towards ECCE in present times and its impact on NEP, Early Education: Nature versus Nurture, Need and Awareness of ECCD, Let the Light Shine, Tools of the mind: Developmental milestones, Analysis of the impact of COVID 19 online education on the 3 learning domains of students, Education in the time of new normal, Online education – a tool or a barrier for the Girl Child, Online education – A tool or a barrier for the Girl Child.

Speaking at Convoke 2020 Mamta Saikia, Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Foundation said “My hope is that CONVOKE would encourage educationalist to look at education in a research mode and constantly experiment with new practices, thriving to do better every day.”

About Convoke

Convoke, a Bharti Foundation initiative, is a conference designed to address challenges in imparting education and strengthening its quality with a special focus on rural India. Convoke serves as a forum for academic discussions, collaboration and intellectual exchange for all those interested in academic research and practice. It is a platform for networking and knowledge sharing among the participants – school principals and teachers, academicians and other educationists working at the grassroots.