Talking to Educationbiz, in an exclusive interview, The Associate Director, International Innovation Corps, University of Chicago, Mr. Rohan Sandhu gave us a clear picture of the Education system that needs to changes and the presence of several challenges that needs to be addressed.
Tell us your views regarding Teacher Training in India and the skills required to cope up with Technology minded Education today.
Addressing the technological aspect of it, I think we are in a fortunate time where we have access to technology and the new technologies can help us lead our Education system in the best way. However, the biggest challenge is that instead of looking at technology as a tool, which the teachers can use, we should now look at teachers as facilitators who can use technology. Until now, we were looking at teachers first, teachers as how they train their students. Now, we have changed the scenario by focusing on technology first.
This is problematic for several reasons. It looks at education purely in terms of skills, which is of course important but it ignores the socialization, community building that education does because education is much more than we can discuss.
The Education segment varies in different countries. What are the differences in the Education system in India and in Chicago?
To be clear, there are common challenges that the education system is witnessing all over the world. Everyone is contending with the giant problem of the change in Technology and its effects on everyone. There are several studies done, for example, The Centre for Universal Education, which has found a 100 year gap between developing and developed countries which basically means that countries like India, given the learning outcomes that they have right now, it will take them 100 years to accomplish the learning levels that the developed countries have right now.
So, the big difference is the goal and also that if our learning outcomes don’t improve, we cannot compete in the global marketplace.
Any future plans to venture in Indian Education or from the Franchising point of view?
I am currently working with a variety of state governments in India. The International Innovation forum works with the Government of Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. It is important that we change the Education pattern at a systemic level . How do we scale this great oasis of Excellence, is the biggest challenge in India today.
