BITS Pilani Celebrates National Education Day 2009 with a Panel Discussion
The National Education Day was celebrated across India on November 11 to commemorate the birthday of Bharat Ratna Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a great freedom fighter, an eminent educationist and the First Education Minister of Independent India.
National Education Day 2009 - Panel Discussion at BITS Pilani
-- The lines "Every individual has a right to an education that will enable him to develop his faculties and live a full human life. Such education is the birth right of every citizen" which are excerpts from AIR Broadcast, New Delhi, September 30, 1953 still reverberate in everyone's heart.
Educational institutions at all levels across the country organized seminars, symposia, workshops, panel discussions and rallies to highlight the importance of literacy and nation's commitment to all aspects of education on the 'National Education Day'.
The Birla Institute of Technology and Science - BITS Pilani Rajasthan which is one among the top ranking universities in India with global reputation organized a panel discussion on "Reforms in Secondary Education: Students' Perspectives" to celebrate the National Education Day at Pilani in the Lecture Theatre Complex of the Institute on Wednesday November 11, 2009 at 5PM.
Apart from Shivam Rai and Valleri Agarwal first year students of BITS Pilani who won the coveted Aditya Birla Group Scholarships (ABGS) Tomorrow's Leaders Today for the year 2009, students Rutviz Bhavsar, Mohit Kumar Soni and Simran Dhillon from Birla Public School (BPS); students Himanshu Kothari and Manasvi Raghurama from Birla Senior Secondary School (BSSS); Caruna Bhat and Pooja Natarajan from Birla Balika VidyaPeeth (BBVP) which are the lead schools at Pilani also participated in the discussion. Miss Shweta Ramakrishnan final year student from BITS Pilani moderated the discussions.
Prof AK Sarkar Dean Instruction Division of the Institute highlighted the contributions of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad to the cause of Education in India. Prof LK Maheshwari Vice Chancellor of the Institute also graced the occasion and spoke on various challenges pertaining to education in India.
The panel discussions largely centered over Honourable HRD Minister Kapil Sibal measures and suggestions such as abolition of board exams, grading system instead of mark system, raising board exam performance to 80% for IIT entrance eligibility, etc. After the discussion was over, an anatomy and surgery of the topic was carried out enthusiastically by the audience which included faculty members of BITS and senior teachers from the participating schools.
Everyone undoubtedly felt that the need of the hour was to have an education echoing Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize winning Gitanjali lines "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where Knowledge is Free".
Notes to Editor
About BITS Pilani
The Birla Institute of Technology and Science - BITS Pilani is a Deemed to be University established vide Sec.3 of the UGC Act, 1956 under notification No. F.12-23/63.U-2 of June 18, 1964. NAAC - National Assessment and Accreditation Council reaccredited BITS with 3.71 CGPA out of 4 and awarded "A" grade "Very Good" status. It is indeed a matter of pride that for the year 2009, BITS Pilani has been ranked among the top ranking universities along with IITs in various Magazine surveys such as India Today, Outlook, LiveMint etc. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses. BITS Pilani has done pioneering work in industry university collaborations in terms of Practice School and Work Integrated Learning Programmes. Alumni of the Institute who are Proud to be BITSians are spread across all continents from Australia to America.
