A CORRESPONDENT
PALASBARI: A three-day Innovation Design & Entrepreneurship (IDE) bootcamp for principals and teachers of PM SHRI Schools concluded on Friday at Girijananda Chowdhury University, marking a transformative milestone for school education in Assam. Over 190 dedicated teachers and principals from various parts of Assam participated in the intensive programme, which was designed to translate the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 into grassroots action by shifting the academic focus from rote learning to a culture of curiosity and creative problem-solving.
The event was a significant collaborative effort jointly organized by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), AICTE, the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC), and NCERT, in strategic partnership with the Wadhwani Foundation.
In Guwahati, the regional chapter was spearheaded by Nandajit Rabha, the Nodal Centre Head from the MoE Innovation Cell, and Dr S Robert Ravi, Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at GCU, who served as the university’s Single Point of Contact. Building on the success of previous IDE bootcamps that benefited 1,874 PM SHRI Schools, this new phase aims for a complete mindset transformation. To date, specialized programmes such as SIATP, SIC, DTI, KAPILA, and NPPIS have connected with over 91,000 teachers and 1.18 lakh students nationwide. The current bootcamp expands this reach, involving 9,000+ participants and 210 expert speakers across India.
The event’s state inauguration held on Wednesday featured prominent academic leaders, including Naranarayan Nath, Secretary of the Assam State School Education Board, and Jashoda Ranjan Das, President of the Shrimanta Shankar Academy. The final day of the bootcamp, themed ‘Launch Sprint: Build, Test, Fund & Grow Your Idea,’ focused on the practical execution of innovative concepts. Participants engaged in a hands-on group activity on the Business Model Canvas and received specialized training on the basics of financial literacy. A critical session was dedicated to providing an overview of grants and funding opportunities available for student start-ups, followed by the ‘Spot Light On: Two-Minute Pitch,’ where educators demonstrated their newly-acquired skills by presenting innovative solutions derived from real-world problems. The sessions were led by expert speakers Sree Vatsan and Dr Bhawana Bardia from Wadhwani Foundation.
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